A promotion intended to give football fans the chance to win tickets to the UEFA Champions League final has gone wrong after being flooded with photos of serial killers, disgraced celebrities and memes.
The #WalkersWave campaign asked fans to tweet their photo to the crisp brand, after which an image of ambassador Gary Lineker would be generated holding their photo.
The internet had other ideas, however. The competition has been flooded with images of the likes of Harold Shipman, Fred West and Jimmy Savile, as well as popular memes.
After tweeting Walkers a photo, the account automatically tweets back the generated video with Lineker and the message: “Thanks for joining the #WalkersWave, enjoy the video. Here’s hoping you bag those Champions League final tickets.”
#WalkersWave provides yet another valuable reminder to brands on why you should never let the Internet customise anything pic.twitter.com/WwaVdxqLUU
— Andrew Bloch (@AndrewBloch) May 25, 2017
Walkers have deleted most of the tweets from #WalkersWave.
Luckily I managed to make a GIF of my favourite. pic.twitter.com/u4CfBa1F3a
— Tom Clazie Flynn (@TomClazieFlynn) May 25, 2017
According to Twitter users, the company has been deleting the offending tweets. One user reported Walkers had erected big screens in Cardiff, where the Champions League final is to be held, showing the tweets in real time.
The #WalkersWave disaster could be about to get even worse, apparently there's some massive screens in Cardiff showing tweets in real time! pic.twitter.com/d9SYTrz2nR
— Alex Rhodes (@AlRhodes92) May 25, 2017
Juventus and Real Madrid will compete in the final on June 3, which is to take place at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.