Companies Whose Social Media Managers Mastered The Art Of The Clap Back

Many companies established a solid social media presence in recent years. The internet personalities of companies and brands are often exceptionally personalized. Sometimes it works in their favor, like when Denny’s or Wendy’s tweets relatable content. Denny’s Diner once tweeted that “if you close your eyes while holding a warm pancake, it’s almost like holding hands with a real human.” This type of content on social media often engages a broader audience because it gives companies a personality, which is a funny concept in itself. It also introduces a brand, franchise, or business to a new generation of internet natives. However, these relatable and personalized brand statements don’t always go as planned. To make your day, we’ve compiled a list of funny posts where companies either got roasted or delivered serious burns.

Doritos vs. Chester Cheetah

Banter on social media can rake in serious engagement. Arguing and bickering between brands – now that’s pretty new! It would have worked for Doritos and Cheetos if not for a noisy customer who is probably very good at trivia!

Well, the jig is up! This could have been a hilarious back and forth interaction if it wasn’t for user @NotDental, who exposed the two companies. Frito-Lay owns both. Therefore, this interaction seems a little futile. Maybe even like bickering with yourself?

Leave it to the customer service, maybe 

Sometimes it’s not the ingenuity that gets the brand caught off guard when charting the unknown social media waters. In Walmart’s case, they should have left the surveying to customer service. We don’t think the marketing team wants to hear everything the customers have to say.

Twitter user @Murk361 said innocently they love spending time at Walmart. To which Walmart replied with curiosity. The curiosity backfired immediately as Murk shot back with something pretty hilarious, even if it’s untrue. He left the Walmart marketing team speechless.

We bet Specsavers did not see that coming! 

Pun intended! We don’t know what a glasses company was doing interacting with a retired British gardener. Reaching out to this demographic did not quite work out as planned for them. Gerald Stratford had feedback on their business model they did not expect. 

Specsavers thought Gerald would be an appreciative customer. However, when they asked him if he had any tips on stopping his glasses from falling off while gardening, the response was dry humor. Or maybe it was a genuine response. Either way, not what they expected.

Stifled Stouffer’s

Stouffer’s tried to interact with Brooklyn 99‘s Chelsea Peretti, and she was not in the mood. Peretti served them some ice to go with their frozen dishes. The frozen food company wanted personalized interaction, but things did not go as planned. 

Stouffer’s innocently asked the actress if she would be into some mac & cheese, given that she posted she is in the mood to “eat excessively.” And her response – well, they might need to apply some of their product on that wound. 

When life gives you lemons…

… Make lemonade. Beyoncé knows that saying all too well, as we learned from her 2016 album. However, the clothing brand ASOS had to learn it on Twitter. The company tried to evoke Beyoncé’s fierceness but got a harsh response from an unhappy customer.  

ASOS posted a reminder for their followers and customers on their account, implying that they could be as successful as Beyonce. However, instead of inspirational content, they got owned by a customer reminding them they have the same hours too, yet they were late with their refunds.

Bojangles vs. Eater NY

We are not sure who won in this Twitter feud or if it’s even a real feud. It seemed more like one company was trying to be optimistic while the other one was reminding them of a reality we all lived in.

Bojangles was excited to be opening up again and tried to get customers to join them in the lobby and order in person. On the other hand, Eater NY could not let them have this moment and reminded them that people preferred to stay in. 

Pink Wash

This callout was not aimed at a specific company, but it was a burn for all the companies using personalized social media tactics. Big corporations are trying to mask this marketing strategy as a relatable brand personality, and people are on to it!

Most big companies showed genuine interest in the LGBT community only when it became “cool.” They’ve been accused of going all out during Pride Month and then putting the phone on silent mode for the remaining 11 months of the year, and Twitter user @schereeer was having none of it. 

DiGiorno vs Axe vs Twitter user

This was a chain reaction the companies did not expect. Axe and DiGiorno were looking to start a Twitter feud with each other, but a lone user interrupted their intentions and roasted one of them instead. Does this count as a self-own? 

DiGiorno asked for a new slogan, to which AXE replied cheekily. But Twitter user @KrisValukis has other ideas about where this should have gone and roasted Axe instead by saying their product is not that great, to put it nicely.

Old Spice vs. Taco Bell

We talked about roasts and owns so far. This one is a little different. While roasting and owning was involved, it was a successful Twitter interaction between two brands looking to start a quasi-feud. We give Old Spice vs. Taco Bell a 10/10.

Old Spice called out Taco Bell for their sauce, but Taco Bell added some spice and fire to their reply. In this humorous interaction, both called each other out for alleged false advertising. They shouldn’t worry; none of us thought the fire sauce contained actual fire, or that the deodorant was made of old spices. 

LinkedIn not linking 

LinkedIn is famous for its motivational blogs and posts by aspirational personalities, or at least those who present themselves as such. The company tried to profit from this reputation on another platform, Twitter, but it ran into some sass that day. 

LinkedIn India asked their followers on Twitter about their motivation. They were not ready for the viral reply from user @poonameh, who had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Don’t ask questions if you can’t handle the answers. 

Wendy’s vs. McDonald’s

Wendy’s might not be the most popular fast-food franchise globally, but they sure have online fans worldwide for their sassy content. On the other hand, McDonald’s took a minute to find their brand voice on the internet. Wendy’s saw an opening fired the first shot.

McDonald’s ice cream machines are NOTORIOUS for being broken ALL THE TIME. People even made maps to track this phenomenon! Wendy’s might have just pointed out the obvious, but it is not like McDonald’s can’t afford a digital media team!  

Pets of the Internet

If you have ever been on the internet – and you are reading this, so umm, you have – you know that pets are sacred animals worshiped in the digital sphere. Dogs and cats in particular! Vox usually knows better. We don’t know what they were thinking the day they posted this.

Twitter user @cuberti immediately pointed out that blaming individuals and their pets for the state of the environment today is a stretch at best! While we all have an individual responsibility to reduce, reuse, and recycle, our fur babies are hardly to blame.

Manage expectations

Arby’s fell for the classic trap of opening itself to criticism on the internet… As we’ve seen so far, that rarely works out in favor of the brand as customers always have grievances to share. The fast-food chain innocently wanted to share their new burger, but customers had opinions about it already.

Twitter user @soaresjdsoares shared a picture side-by-side to Arby’s burgers in a classic expectation vs. reality meme format. Fast food chains usually take professional photos of their burgers, setting unreal beauty standards for their product! Oh, Arby’s, you should have known. 

Real Kraft Mayo vs. their eggspectations 

By now, the brands should have learned not to interact with celebrities if the brand deal is not prearranged. Real Kraft Mayo, like Stouffer’s, learned it the hard way. They saw an opening on Dionne Warwick’s Twitter, but Warwick wasn’t about it. 

Ouch. Well, lesson learned. If the post is not about you and it’s not positive – do not give it more clout! Brands, take notes, please. Or don’t. The internet needs more entertainment. At least the brand gained some people’s sympathies for the harsh rejection. 

Arby’s can’t catch a break

Poor Arby’s. It seems like Twitter users love roasting this fast-food chain. The rumor has it that the TV host Jon Stewart started making fun of the sandwich restaurant on The Daily Show. It seems like the trend caught on quickly. 

Again, Arby’s innocently pilled on the Emoji Mashup Bot, which is super cute, in our opinion. Good marketing there. Twitter user @liluziassistant was not about to let the fast-food chain have their moment. Their response was clever; we’ll give them that.

Spotify vs. Door Dash (kinda)

We all know these brands are in unknown waters with this personalized marketing content. While there aren’t many rules, we have already spotted some patterns here. If it’s not a shoutout and it isn’t positive, don’t go there! Spotify went there…  

One Twitter user gave a shoutout to his Door Dash driver, who pinned his Spotify on the order. Spotify saw an opening and sang the artist’s praises. But user @ryanfi7zgerald quickly jumped into the conversation to call them out. Oof.

Subway’s worst date story

Subway did not fall for the trap of asking but fell for a Twitter troll. We can’t blame them for falling for this. No one saw it coming. The poor fast-food sandwich restaurant was just hoping for a date but got swerved. 

Twitter user @eiavolo asked the fast-food chain on a date, and Subway accepted, knowing it was a joke. But when Subway asked where they would be going, the user gave a savage reply. Talk about a failed first date! Poor Subway, we hope they moved on. 

Wendy’s vs. Deadpool impersonator 

Wendy’s usually leads in the personalized brand content game. However, this time they slipped and did not use Grammarly. While it could have been avoided, we are happy the internet is a gift that keeps on giving. In this case, giving us something to write about!

Twitter user @ImLiterallyBen, who appears to be a Dead Pool-inspired personality, asked the restaurant chain about the shape of their patties. Wendy’s replied, they do not cut corners, which would have been a great pun if it wasn’t for the spelling mistake.

Burger King vs. Burger King? 

As we’ve seen, the internet never forgives and forgets, or so it seems. Burger King tried to share its thoughts on drive-throughs, but Twitter had to turn things sideways. While Burger King’s original tweet was overshadowed, they probably got clout for this.

It would have been a hilarious stand-alone statement if it wasn’t for the Twitter user @thelexikitty, who reminded Burger Kind they actually did have a drive stay – when somebody crashed their car into the restaurant. This whole exchange made our day.

Rage against the machine

As a rule of thumb, you should not ask open questions on the internet as a brand. It opens you up to ridicule and scrutiny. This question was asked in a closed survey, so the brand respected the general rule, but the users found a way to make fun of them anyway!

Microsoft asked its users whether they would recommend the Windows 10 system. This user said what was on everyone’s mind at some point probably, and that is “who in their right mind casually recommends an operating system to a friend?” He’s not wrong. It does not come up often. 

Real Kraft Mayo falls into another trap

Real Kraft Mayo can’t catch a break. The brand asked Twitter to share their mayonnaise-related relationship problems and if they have any solutions. They even came up with hashtags and offered prizes! But the Twitter trolls emerged from their cave yet again.

Twitter user @BlueGoddessTrue used the moment to drop a bomb of sadness. This was not the mayo-related problem the brand was hoping to hear. Puzzled by the response, Real Kraft Mayo just said they have no mayo-related comedy to help her out. 

Broken Promises

When Facebook crashed around, other platforms and brands came to Twitter to gloat. Twitter, of course, beat everyone to the punch, saying, “Hello literally everyone.” Whatsapp cheekily followed, although it crashed soon after. But for McDonald’s, they got badly burned. 

As mentioned, the fast-food chain has a massive problem with broken ice cream machines. It was not long after McDonald’s joined in on gloating with a response that was super on-point that Twitter users asked about the broken machines. Here we go again. 

Bud Light needs a buddy

Damian Lillard from Portland Trail Blazers asked his followers and friends if anyone had a login he could use for the game. Bud Light saw an opening to promote their brand, and… it did not work out well for them. 

Bud Light offered to send a 12 pack to whoever gives the NBA player their log in for the game. While NBA’s Damian Lillard did not roast them himself, others jumped in. User @FrankNights jumped in to knock them down a peg.

Microsoft Office vs. Microsoft Office?

This time Microsoft Office falls into the classic social media trap – asking questions when you can’t handle the answers! In these uncharted waters of company and brand humanization, borders are hard to draw, and this Twitter user fired some shots. 

User @simonlauchlan bragged about finishing a ton of work in one sitting, which is impressive. Microsoft Office saw a natural opening there and asked him about the topic of his presentation, to which he replied, “corporate humanization.” We did not see that plot twist!

McDonald’s in a different twist

Believe it or not, this time, McDonald’s was not under fire for its consistently broken ice cream machines! Although we are willing to bet, they wish it was back to the ice cream machine jokes, considering how this interaction turned out…

McDonald’s Canada tweeted that they plan to drop something that everyone’s been asking for. What they were not expecting was for Twitter user @TheBlueGem3 to bring up the topic of salaries. Maybe next time, they will word their tweets better.

Snitches get stitches 1

While making this collection for your entertainment, we noticed a subgenre of companies getting roasted that can be classified as “snitches get stitches.” In this instance, a Lyft customer or an employee admitted to something, and the company was unhappy.

A Twitter user with a self-explanatory handle @DoNotAtMe tweeted he prefers using Lyft to sell drugs to anything else. Lyft asked for his number in the DMs, which was a nice try. However, the attempt was futile because, as they say, snitches get stitches!

Snitches get stitches 2

Within the subgenre, often employees confess to the company’s secrets, and naturally, the companies would like to find those employees. However, if they did give up the employee, the interaction would not be here but within the subgenre “how to get fired.”

Here, a user said she ordered food on the Zomato food delivery app. The user got a “corporate confession” from the delivery guy that users with 5-star ratings often get sent far and begged for a 1-star rating. Zomato tried to get the name unsuccessfully. 

Snitches get stitches 3

This one is one of the more wholesome owns. We hope that Kristen Arnett from Twitter never snitches! This Twitter user had an encounter with a lizard who likes the smell of coffee at a 7eleven, known to cashiers as “Marvin.”

Naturally, 7eleven tried to get Arnett to tell them the location of the coffee-loving lizard, but she said she would not narc on her buddy Marvin like that. Good for her! We wholeheartedly support the decision to keep the lizard happy. 

Snitches get stitches 4

Now this one is a little gross but shows solidarity, so that’s nice. An Amazon driver seemed to have an unhappy accident with last night’s meal in someone’s driveway. However, the person with a soiled driveway was not about to snitch!

As usual, Amazon Help tried to get them to report the incident and send them details. But Twitter user @diordied_ was not about to get upset! They know the workers often don’t get paid enough and have nothing but solidarity to share. 

Snitches get stitches 5?

This one is a little tricky because the potential perpetrator seems to have snitched! On himself no less. The user @rad_milk alerted American Air of a rowdy shirtless man who disrupted a pleasant flight. However, there was an unexpected plot twist.

User @rad_milk snitched that he was the rowdy shirtless man about to disrupt a pleasant flight! He announced he was on his way to pop his shirt off and board a flight. We don’t know if this got him in trouble. It’s tricky when you snitch on yourself. 

Pet Wigs?

Twitter user @MercedezUAZ2 took her fur baby to Petco, expecting a specific service. But she was not happy with what she got and took to social media to share her experience. Petco tried to mitigate the situation but somehow made it worse. 

Petco tried to get the location, but someone else jumped in and asked them how they could even help retrospectively since her pet can’t regrow fur that fast. She insinuated they might offer pet wigs, which is not the worst idea in this case. 

Walmart auto-goal 

Sometimes it’s customers doing the roasting, sometimes it’s the companies starting feuds with each other, and sometimes it’s a pile-on. But this is a first. Walmart roasted itself involuntarily, which makes it even funnier! Walmart in Saratoga Springs needs to hire a proofreader.

Walmart tried to share some of their employees in a post that was supposed to be about the appreciation of their employees. However, they copy-pasted the template that still had the “insert associate’s name” part instead of the actual names!

Dr Pepper vs. the housing crisis, kinda

Moving forward with the topic of self-owns, Dr. Pepper recently shared something that’s not quite that, but we just don’t know how to define it. The uncharted territory of brand humanization is awkward, but Dr. Pepper endorsing the housing crisis? Weird.

This meme understandably struck a nerve with millennials. It’s just overall weird and out of a dystopian novel for a brand to meme about an economic crisis to promote themselves. Dr. Pepper, you might make delicious soda, but this is beyond your scope.

BP spills the tea

Generally, if you work in a particular industry, like oil, you might not want to open your comments or replies section if you are posting about environmental concerns. Unless getting roasted is what you chose that day when you woke up.  

BP oil might have had the right intentions at heart when posting about their new carbon footprint calculator and inviting followers to share their pledges. However, as we all know and have seen time and again, the internet does not forget! 

Microsoft going hard 

Microsoft got roasted on this list a few times, but in this instance, they clapped back hard. They tried to be nice to Twitter user @lucidbillz, who was looking for a new squad to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 3.

But lucid billz took this opportunity to make a complaint about the Xbox console. This time Microsoft was on its game and said they now see why no one wants to play with him. Touchy topic for them! But nice comeback. 

GameStop does not play games

Similarly, GameStop was not holding anything back. In their promo for the Pokémon game, they posted a picture of a girl next to a giant Snorlax pillow. One person on Facebook commented that the girl was purposefully petite, and GameStop turned savage mode on. 

GameStop replied like a savage. Ouch. We don’t know who the person who commented was, but we hope they applied some ointment to that burn. There really is no coming back from that level of clap back. This one had us rolling.

MoonPie 10/10

Twitter user @singurbjornl started a fight with MoonPie he couldn’t finish. Many people find personalized brand accounts non-genuine, but MoonPie is often singled out as having a very relatable personality. User Singurbjorn should have started small by roasting McDonald’s! Lesson learned.

MoonPie clapped back on the comment they are wasting time managing a social media account by reminding him that it’s a Saturday night and he has nothing better to do than to try to roast a dessert online. Umm, when you put it that way…

It gets lonely at the top

Speaking of MoonPie and their relatability, MoonPie is definitely one of the leaders in the brand personalization game. Their sassy internet persona definitely does its job well. Now, we don’t know if it increases sales per se, but it is funny, and we are here for it. 

Maybe the reason it works is that they own up to it? They said brands talk to each other on Twitter because they have no friends in real life. Well, don’t they have customers and followers? We are sure somebody would trade with them. 

Wendy’s vs. Hooters

Everyone loves a good Twitter feud, and Wendy’s usually delivers. Hooters flew too close to the sun and got burnt here. Again, maybe for your first bickering and banter, pick on somebody less likely to roast you back so well.

Wendy’s put out a tweet asking who wants a roast for National Roast Day (we didn’t know that was a thing!). Hooters bit more than they could chew because they got roasted for their famously non-winter friendly uniforms. Although, we are sure they got over it. 

Wendy’s strikes again

Yet another Twitter user seemed to have beef (get it?) with Wendy’s square burger. Back at Wendy’s, they took that personally. They already clarified they do not cut corners, and now this? Smh. Cooper Franklin should have seen it coming.

The complaint was that the square burger seemed a little too “artificial.” To which Wendy’s responded with supreme, beautiful sarcasm that would make Chandler Bing proud. Well, fair enough, they have a point. Burgers are indeed shaped however you want.

Samsung vs. unsolicited pictures

Receiving unsolicited pictures of private parts is probably one of the least pleasant experiences on the internet. Somebody tried to make a joke about it on Samsung’s post, and the brand came out of it as the hero’s we needed.

Samsung asked followers who got their hands on the Galaxy 8 to show them the first photo they took. Twitter user @savEdward (jokingly, we hope) said it was a picture of something no one wants to see. Samsung then replied with the microscope emoji. Classic.

Amazon Prime vs. Minions

Yeah, you read that write. Prime Video tried to roast Minions. The internet was up in arms. Well, one angry New York Mets fan (self-described) was not having it. We don’t know what a streaming service was doing insulting a beloved children’s movie. 

Prime Video posted they “don’t get Minions.” First of all, you’re a streaming service trying to roast a kids’ movie. Wow. Second, user @LeAngryMetsFan asked them to elaborate as it is, after all, a movie about poorly treated workers. Yikes. 

Bird’s eye view

Now, this one is not a roast, a troll, an own, or anything. It’s just so darn cute, and we had to share it with you. During the Space X launch, an absolute cutie took over the show by blocking the camera.

Other than the viral conspiracy theory “birds aren’t real,” and the groups made for the believers of the theory, no one could have foreseen this epic photobomb. While it might be sad for some they missed some of the Space X live, we think the falcon looked cute. 

Shrek vs. the Guardian

Again, you read that right! We don’t know what these companies are thinking going after beloved children’s movies. Maybe they just grew up to be bitter adults… Anyway, it is at least less counter-intuitive than a streaming service roasting a movie!

Twitter user @vexwerewolf was not letting the Guardian get away with their roast of Shrek! Instead, he turned it around and accused the news outlet of paying freelancers to start fake feuds and harvest hate clicks. Guardian, don’t mess with people’s childhoods like that!

Burger King vs. Redbox

Burger King is our last honorable mention with its tweet summarizing top replies of 2019. Some of these are a real #throwback “like this or else” or a harsh one “silence, brand.” Another ouch, Redbox came in and started something they couldn’t finish. Who’s the boomer? You decide.

We’ve come to the end of our list. We hope we made your day with these feuds and banter. Uncharted waters of humanized brand content are a strange place to dive in. We hope you had fun diving in it with us!