7 Times ‘Twitter For IOS’ Tripped Up Brands And Celebrities BTS Anushka Sharma Oprah Alicia Keys Samsung Blackberry Tim Cook Google

Instead of hosting a fanfare-filled event, Apple recently simply announced its new lineup of iPads. In order to get the buzz around the new series of tablets, Apple CEO Tim Cook got the hashtag #TakeNotice going. Now, when a tech brand like Apple takes to Twitter to get attention, the competition does sit up and take notice. On this particular occasion, one of Apple’s biggest rivals used this opportunity to take a slight dig at the brand. Google’s official Pixel US handle took to Twitter to reply to Tim Cook’s tweet and while these things are pretty normal to see in the tech arena, what was supposed to be a sly dig at Apple turned into a marketing nightmare for Google. 

While the tweet itself was fine, it was the subtext which got team Pixel in trouble. Twitter has this feature which mentions the platform that was used to make that tweet and this turned out to be Google’s undoing in this case.  

Even though the tweet (screenshot via Ian Zelbo; Neowin) was hardly newsworthy, it was the “Twitter for iOS” tag under the tweet which made it go viral. 

A brand like Google, which supposedly is one of the biggest rivals of Apple, and which has recently launched its own line of flagships, is using an iPhone to make a tweet from its official handle. While that tweet was later removed and the same tweet again was made from the handle with the “Twitter for Web” tag, the damage unfortunately had been done. 

Believe it or not, this is not the first time something of this sort has happened. In fact, there have been many incidents of such communication catastrophes where celebs or official handles of various smartphone makers were caught using iOS devices while promoting Android smartphones and other devices. 

Here is a list of seven such marketing mishaps that started out to promote a brand or product, but ended up damaging it: 

Samsung promotes the Galaxy Note 9 from an iPhone

While Google’s Pixel team has slipped up this time, another arch-nemesis of Apple has been in the same situation before. 
Samsung and Apple’s rivalry has been more than iconic in the tech world and when stakes are this high, even a small comms error is enough to get you trolled heavily on Twitter. 

This happened back in 2018 when Samsung launched one of its flagship phones, the Note 9. While hyping up the AMOLED display of Note 9, team Samsung made a tweet but unfortunately, that tweet did not sit too well with people on the Internet because of one small problem — the tweet was made from an iPhone.

This led to some brutal trolling after which Samsung even disabled that particular Twitter handle for some time. 

Alicia Keys signs up for BlackBerry, tweets from an iPhone

Back in 2013, when BlackBerry was still a thing of the present, popstar Alicia Keys was made its brand ambassador. It was the time when Blackberry had launched its BlackBerry Z10 and at the launch event of the phone, Keys had talked at length about how she had given up her iPhone for the amazing BlackBerry Z10. 

In an interview with the New York Times, the singer had also mentioned that she was exclusively using a Blackberry Z10 but the singer was caught using an iPhone only a while later, thanks to Twitter.  

Keys made a tweet on February 11, 2013, with singer Drake’s lyrics. The only problem here was that the tweet was made from an iPhone. The singer was called out immediately and later responded by saying that her Twitter account was hacked.  

Samsung-backed BTS uses an iPhone

Keys’ mistake was the highlight of tech goof-ups for the longest time until it was overshadowed by a similar mistake made by BTS’ Twitter trouble. 

Samsung and BTS are openly in a very tight-knit marketing relationship. This means the band has to be very visibly Samsung centric but the wheels of this marketing wagon got rocked briefly when BTS’ official Twitter handle used an iPhone to make their anniversary tweet on the social media platform. 

Although the tweet was quickly removed and then was made again with ‘rectifications,’ the very active and large BTS fanbase caught this comms casualty in no time and thoroughly shared it on the Internet. 

BlackBerry’s official account Tweeted from an iPhone

After the Keys event, you would think BlackBerry would be one brand that would tread extremely carefully through Twitter waters but that unfortunately was not the case. 

Something similar to the Alicia Keys BlackBerry fiasco happened soon after and this time it was Blackberry’s official Twitter handle that was behind this goof-up (screenshot via Crowdbabble).

While pushing Blackberry for keeping up with conversations on the Internet, BlackBerry infamously made the tweet using an iPhone, which led to Twitterati pointing out that even people at BlackBerry cannot use BlackBerry themselves to get on the Internet. 

Needless to say, the tweet was soon removed and replaced. 

Oprah endorses a Microsoft Surface from an iPad

Another major celebrity blooper happened when the much-loved Oprah Winfrey used an iPad to highlight how much she loves her Microsoft Surface on Twitter. 

This happened back in 2012 when Oprah decided to hop on the #FavoriteThings hashtag.

Winfrey decided to take to Twitter to publicly announce her love for the Microsoft Surface tablet. The only catch here was that the tweet was made with an iPad (screenshot via CNN). 

This caused a frenzy of trolling for Microsoft. It eventually settled but remains one of the biggest marketing mistakes in the tech world. 

Gal Gadot shares Huawei ad from an iPhone

While Wonder Woman may not commit any blunders on screen, there have been times off screen when Gal Gadot was caught making marketing mistakes. 

In one such case, Gal Gadot took to her Twitter to share an ad she had created in partnership with the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Huawei to promote the Huawei Mate 10. 

All that was great until Twitterati noticed that the ad was shared from an iPhone.  

After popular tech Youtuber Marques Brownlee pointed out this simple yet significant mistake (screenshot via 9To5Mac), Wonder Woman did not take too kindly to it and ended up blocking him on the platform. 

Anushka Sharma endorses Google Pixel with an iPhone

Indian celebs are not immune from the Twitter police either. Many stars have also been caught on record endorsing Android smartphones while using iPhones. 

One such incident was when actress Anushka Sharma took to Twitter to share some images she claimed were taken by her brand new Google Pixel 2XL. 

Unfortunately, a small error became a big point of embarrassment with this tweet — it was shared from an iPhone. This immediately caught on the platform and needless to say many took to Twitter to highlight the irony.