“Fore” is the warning shout golfers use when there is a chance that a wild ball may hit other players or spectators.
NBC’s Golf Channel hit fans and players alike with a shout heard ’round the Twittersphere:
The tweet landed them in the rough.
The Golf Channel’s hasty retraction …
“Our earlier tweet was inappropriate. The intent was to celebrate this important date in history and we regret we failed to meet that standard.”
was an attempt at a mulligan (a do-over, or replay of the shot) but the penalty was already incurred.
They didn’t score on this one. Co-opting one of the most important and iconic speeches of the 20th Century as a branding opportunity was strictly out of bounds.
This isn’t the first time a brand wasn’t up to par by trivializing the Civil Rights Movement. On Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday in 2012, Taco Bell tweeted,
Someone should media coach these brands to visualize their targets and avoid the hazards!