Skittles pulls Twitter feed from homepage

by Andrew McCormick, Revolution UK 04-Mar-09, 12:22

LONDON - Skittles has been forced to rethink its bold social media strategy after its homepage featuring a live Twitter feed was hi-jacked by users.

Skittles this week went live with a new homepage featuring a live Twitter feed alongside Facebook, Flickr and YouTube content but a series of profanities have led to the confectionary brand moving the Twitter feed from a prominent position on the site to being filed under its 'chatter' sub-heading.

The brand had been attempting to build on the growing popularity of Twitter but has been forced to rethink its website after consumers posted comments that were unrelated to sweets and aimed at causing offence to other users.

The experiment is the first time a large consumer brand has put a live Twitter feed on its homepage and could be the last unless brands are prepared to invest heavily in moderation or delaying the feed and only publishing edited posts.

Skittles is pushing on with its social media strategy albeit without Twitter as the centre of attention.