KitchenAid, maker of the iconic stand mixers beloved by home and professional chefs worldwide, made a nearly unbelievable Twitter gaffe tonight during the first of three debates between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
KitchenAid’s official Twitter account boasts 24,000 followers, and, sometime during the debate — presumably after President Obama mentioned that his grandmother had sadly passed away three days before seeing him win the election in 2008 — the brand’s official account tweeted:
“Obamas gma even knew it was going 2 b bad! She died 3 days b4 he became president.”
The KitchenAid tweet about Obama’s grandma was likely in response to the president’s comments during the debate, referenced above, in which he said:
“You know, my grandmother – some of you know – helped to raise me. My grandfather died a while back. My grandmother died three days before I was elected president. And she was fiercely independent. She worked her way up, only had a high school education, started as a secretary, ended up being the vice president of a local bank.”
KitchenAid’s strangely insensitive tweet about Obama’s grandma was quickly removed, and the company tweeted the following after the deletion:
Deepest apologies for an irresponsible tweet that is in no way a representation of the brand’s opinion. #nbcpolitics
— KitchenAid (@KitchenAidUSA) October 4, 2012
Still, the KitchenAid Obama tweet was retweeted numerous times, and screenshots abound, but why would a well-loved brand take such a divisive stance, ostensibly, during a heated election period?
The likeliest explanation is that the person who manages KitchenAid’s social media accounts, or at least their Twitter account (and who is also likely no longer employed at the moment), uses a service allowing them to tweet to multiple accounts using a single device.
While KitchenAid has not confirmed what happened, the most plausible explanation is that the social media manager for the brand meant to upload the tasteless joke about Obama’s grandma to their own personal Twitter account and instead allowed it to post to KitchenAid’s main Twitter page.
Do you think KitchenAid’s Obama tweet will harm the brand in the election lead up?
