Tuesday marks one year to the day since the death of the legendary David Bowie.
Suitable tributes flooded the internet like this example from BBC Newsnight.
David Bowie died a year ago today. Back in 1999 he made this incredible prediction about how the internet would change our lives forever pic.twitter.com/ITF9Wv6jlC
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) January 10, 2017
And this lovely animation from NME.
One year without David Bowie pic.twitter.com/cG0rgAUnSU
— NME (@NME) January 10, 2017
Then British Gas inexplicably got involved.
Morning all. A year today we lost a pop icon David Bowie, time flys don't it? We're here till 10pm if you need anything. Thanks, Paul #RipDB
— British Gas Help (@BritishGasHelp) January 10, 2017
OK...
@BritishGasHelp Paul; turn your autocorrect on, mate. And try to not be so blasé about something people truly care about.
— ire (@irepad) January 10, 2017
Let’s count the wrongs.
1/2) It’s ‘flies’ not ‘flys’ and ‘doesn’t’ not ‘don’t’.
@BritishGasHelp "time flys don't it" My God. "Time flies, doesn't it" is what you were looking for. You know this is visible to the public?
— Brian Keen (@thebriankeen) January 10, 2017
3) The hashtag is wrong.
Most people are using #DavidBowie, #Bowieforever or something similar but #RipDB appears to be mainly associated with a “Darius” last year.
4) It’s hardly appropriate.
@BritishGasHelp A really brazen attempt to hijack a Hashtag that has nothing to do with your business. Paul - you should be ashamed
— GrumpyMcGrumpface (@grumpyoldchris) January 10, 2017
5) It’s not your typical use of corporate Twitter.
@BritishGasHelp this is a cracking example of how not to do social media.
— Tinfoil Pants (@notquitededd) January 10, 2017
Whilst ‘Paul’ sent the original tweet, other people manning the account appear to be confused by the furore.
@BritishGasHelp Errrrrrrrrrr, really? Use your private account!
— Kat (@Waldmeisterei) January 10, 2017
@Waldmeisterei Hi Kat, we have a couple & this one is for customers who need our help & advice. Cheers, Claire
— British Gas Help (@BritishGasHelp) January 10, 2017
@BritishGasHelp
", time flys don't it"
That's really bad taste. I'm shocked a business account has written that.
— Ted (@tedreally) January 10, 2017
@tedreally Hi Ted, this is a bit worrying! I'm sorry if we've offended. Please can you DM details of what your post is about? Thanks, Janina
— British Gas Help (@BritishGasHelp) January 10, 2017
Eventually poor Paul chipped in again to explain the tweet.
Hey, David Bowie meant so much to me. I didn't mean to offend anyone & I only wanted to pay tribute to a master songwriter & true icon ^Paul
— British Gas Help (@BritishGasHelp) January 10, 2017
British Gas has been contacted for comment.
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