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Social Lessons From KLM Tweet


It was meant as a cheeky tweet from Dutch airlines, KLM, but it ended up pissing almost the whole world. So what went?

KLM tweeted "Aidos Amigos!" #NEDMEX" with reference to the lost by Mexico to Dutch. Sounds innocent, but the whole world found it be "racist".

Wrote The Guardian,
The Hollywood actor Gael García Bernal launched a foul-mouthed Twitter attack on KLM after the airline posted a tweet mocking Mexico and their defeat to Holland.

The A-list star wrote: “I’m never flying your shitty airline again. F--- you big time,” after the Dutch airline posted a picture and an infographic of a sombrero, moustache and serape blanket under the heading “Adios Amigos!”.
So why did KLM drew so much ire?

1. Be Humble In Victory and Gracious In Defeat 

Most sportspeople would have learn that those who are humble in victory and gracious in defeat are the best sportspeople around.

KLM, while trying to celebrate Dutch victory, sounded arrogant in bragging about it. At the end of the day, Mexico did lead and played a great match, only for a 88 min shot and a penalty in injury time to end the dreams of the Mexican.

If KLM did a more gracious tweet celebrating the match and its opponents, it would have gotten more goodwilll.

Humility goes a long way or many retweets. 

2. Your Passengers Are Not Just Dutch

KLM may be a Dutch airline, but given the flat world today, your passengers come from all over the world, including Mexico.

While it is great to celebrate the nation's victory, KLM should have considered that they do have a percentage of passengers, no matter how small, who take the airline.


Alienating your passengers isn't a great idea.

Social media isn't just an exercise of creating new ideas. You also have to consider your audience as Twitter is the medium of retweets.

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