By Anna Wilson, Digital Strategist at Juice Digital

We’ve all done it, posted a cheeky tweet about something we didn’t particularly like or were a bit annoyed about.

You might get a few people agreeing with you, or (if they’re any good on social media) you’ll get a brand respond to resolve said issue, not in this case…

This week, a fan at a rap concert was forcibly removed after tweeting that he didn’t like the opening act.

In my view, fair enough, we’re all entitled to our own opinions. This guy isn’t doing any harm, he’s just caught up in the excitement of the event and using Twitter for its purpose – to share his OPINION.

According to Reddit, here’s what happened next.

After seeing the post, MC Chris (an American rapper) apparently took to the stage and asked for ‘Admiral Mikey’ to identify himself, when he did the rapper yelled

‘Security is going to take you the (expletive) out now! That’s what you get for talking shit on Twitter!’

Let’s stop for a second. From the brand’s perspective, this guy had 100 followers (most of whom were bots), let’s be honest – really, who is going to see this? What impact is it seriously going to have on your career? It might dent your ego a little, but when you’re in the public eye you put yourself out there to be criticised – live with it!

What about AdmiralMikey – what would you do if you were publicly humiliated for expressing an opinion, whether it was on Twitter or not?

Well, the man then turned to Reddit to post about what happened. His friends started a hashtag (#TeamProMikey) and now:

• It’s on the front page of websites
• The rapper has had to issue a statement and publicly apologise
• Mike Taylor has grown his follower base by 482 – in three days

So, what’s the moral of the story?

Well brands – this is a perfect example of how to alienate, upset and annoy customers.

Celebrities, morality aside, let’s just say no-one in our office had even heard of MC Chris before this debacle, and we’ve just been chatting about him for twenty minutes.

Clever publicity stunt, or genuine mistake? You be the judge.