Last night Netherlands celebrated a win over Mexico in the World Cup 2014, which sent the latter crashing out of the tournament. While the Dutch celebrated, the country’s airline KLM sent out a victory tweet, which horribly backfired and created a social media storm and a PR nightmare for the airline, the HuffingtonPost reports. Also Read - Watch Germany vs Argentina live streaming and telecast on Sony Six TV: FIFA World Cup 2014 live on your mobile
Within minutes of the Oranje’s 2-1 victory over El Tri, KLM put up a tweet that read, “Adios Amigos! #NEDMEX.” If that wasn’t enough, the tweet was followed by photo of an airport departures sign alongside a picture of a man in a serape blanket and a sombrero. Also Read - Watch Brazil vs Netherlands live streaming and telecast on Sony Six TV: FIFA World Cup 2014 live on your mobile
The tweet immediately went viral and even saw Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal castigating the airline for the heartless tweet. He also tweeted that he would never fly KLM to his two million-plus followers. Amid the furor, KLM pulled down the tweet after about half hour. Also Read - World Cup boosts TV sales in football-mad Southeast Asia
.@KLM I’m never flying your shitty airline again. Fuck you big time.
— Gael Garcia Bernal (@GaelGarciaB) June 29, 2014
KLM issued a formal apology late last night. “It was meant to be a joke,” KLM spokeswoman Lisette Ebeling Koning told The Associated Press, adding that the airline never intended to offend Mexicans, which it serves via a daily direct flight between Mexico City and Amsterdam. “But there was too much negative reaction.” Mexico’s Aeroméxico however saw the funny side of this episode and put up a tweet that read, “Gracias por este gran campeonato, estamos orgullosos y los esperamos en casa,” which translates to ‘Thanks for this great championship, we are proud and waited at home’. This tweet was followed by a photo of an airport arrivals sign.
Gracias por este gran campeonato, estamos orgullosos y los esperamos en casa #VivaMéxico pic.twitter.com/GCE5u5Cj6r
— Aeroméxico (@AeroMexico_com) June 29, 2014
