The Oscars are making global headlines for all the wrong reasons, yet a bunch of savvy brands have been quick to make the most of #EnvelopeGate.
Following Warren Beatty reading out the incorrect film as winning picture, the accident has opened up a Pandora’s box of online parodies and brands couldn’t help but jump in on the action. The reactions ranged from savvy, to bizarre and some completely irrelevant.
Specsavers’ global Twitter account was one of the first to respond, with the tweet receiving more than 20k likes and 10k retweets.
Not getting the Best Picture? #shouldve #Oscars pic.twitter.com/G9RTp3IDVh
— Specsavers (@Specsavers) February 27, 2017
Specsavers Australia:
Skittles, Progressive Car Insurance and Ryanair are also milking the event, as well as smaller brands.
Look on the bright side, you’re ALWAYS right when you’re opening a bag of Skittles! #envelopegate pic.twitter.com/oC76iJDTuM
— SKITTLES (@Skittles) February 27, 2017
Maybe next year…Envelope Insurance? #InsureEverything #EnvelopeGate pic.twitter.com/BrNuqThw6E
— Flo from Progressive (@ItsFlo) February 27, 2017
Get the name wrong? We offer 24hr grace periods to correct minor errors. So you won’t be left in La La Land. #Oscars https://t.co/OJfTN8vOrA pic.twitter.com/his6t9hJiZ
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) February 27, 2017
Don't get caught in your own #envelopegate. Learn best practices & skills from top AEC experts #bestperformance #facadesplus NYC April 6+7 pic.twitter.com/Qf3AYUwRBW
— Facades+ (@FacadesPlus) February 27, 2017
The general reaction to the incident was expectedly shock, from viewers and celebrities alike.
People were a little surprised when it was revealed "Moonlight" actually won best picture. #envelopegate https://t.co/JVkWG2KitT pic.twitter.com/z0oTUKYME6
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) February 27, 2017
https://twitter.com/BrittPettibone/status/836176777139507205So what happened last night?#envelopegate #Oscars #Moonlight #LaLaLand pic.twitter.com/Ev3bA6KdNY
— TonyBet Canada (@tonybetcanada) February 27, 2017
According to The Hollywood Reporter, this year’s Oscars recorded the lowest TV ratings since 2008, with an estimated 33 million viewers worldwide, down 4% from 2016.
During the event, host Jimmy Kimmel featured in more than 500k tweets, with best supporting actress winner Viola Davis following with roughly 350k mentions.
Mobile advertising tech company, Amobee, gathered social insights from the night, reporting these as the top 10 most talked about brands during the Oscars:
- The New York Times
- A.C.L.U.
- Samsung
- Red Vines
- Junior Mints
- Cadillac
- Audible
- WalMart
- Rolex
- Hyatt
There were 78.2k tweets about The New York Times while the Oscars were screening, making it the most mentioned company of the evening. This possibly comes off the back of the magazine's latest billboard campaign and its Oscars TV ad debut, which drew the attention of President Trump.
Non-for-profit organisation, the American Civil Liberties Union (A.C.L.U.), ranked in at second place, with celebrities including Karlie Kloss, Busy Philips and Emma Stone creating awareness of the union by donning a blue ribbon in support.
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