UPDATE: Despite an overwhelmingly positive response from Twitter users, Gogo has apologized for its tweet making fun of Justine Sacco:
@JustineSacco,apologize for response to your tweet.Right or wrong,It’s not our policy to engage on these subjects.We clearly need a review.
— Gogo (@Gogo) December 21, 2013Original item below:
By the time her tweet mocking AIDS in Africa had been deleted tonight (followed shortly by her entire Twitter account), corporate PR director Justine Sacco had already become more than a target of public loathing. She had become a hashtag.
#HasJustineLandedYet was popping up across Twitter as word spread faster than an intercontinental jet about the IAC spokeswoman's tweet, "Going to Africa. Hope I don't get AIDS. Just kidding. I'm white!"
And in a marketing coup de grace so pointed it's almost painful, Gogo in-flight Internet used Sacco's lengthy silence as an example of why you really need to use Gogo in-flight Internet:"Next time you plan to tweet something stupid before you take off, make sure you are getting on a @Gogo flight! CC: @JustineSacco."
Here's the original tweet:
And here's a sample of a few other tweets of note arising from Sacco's situation:
#HasJustineLandedYetpic.twitter.com/Y1wyXapARm— Gators & Goats (@gatorgoat) December 21, 2013 First Cape Town airport photo.... Wow. #hasJustineLandedpic.twitter.com/xRembgHwpU— jason (@Jason) December 21, 2013 Where were you when @JustineSacco landed? Second photo released, well done @reddit ! #HasJustineLandedYetpic.twitter.com/1a3XKPEg1Y— jason (@Jason) December 21, 2013 Glad I’m not the trending Justine right now, phew! #hasjustinelandedyet#shehaslanded— iJustine (@ijustine) December 21, 2013 Someone registered http://t.co/7urbUo449y and pointed it to an AIDS charity. Oh, Internet — you complete me. #HasJustineLandedYet— Imani ABL (@AngryBlackLady) December 21, 2013 Anyone else feel like they're in the dark, crouched behind a sofa, waiting to jump up and yell "SURPRISE!!!"? #HasJustineLandedYet— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) December 21, 2013
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