** FILE ** Presenter Kim Kardashian arrives on the red carpet of ... more >First, Burger King’s Twitter account was hacked by a McDonald's fan, inadvertently gaining it more than 60,000 new followers. Then, Jeep’s account was hacked by Cadillac enthusiasts in an apparent connected prank.
But things got a little fishy when MTV’s account was hacked by BET fans Wednesday, seeing that they’re both owned by the same parent company Viacom.
MTV officially acknowledged it was a calculated ploy to gain more followers and recognition.
“It’s a coordinated gag between the social team for MTV and our sister channel, BET,” Kurt Patat, a vice president at MTV Networks, told The Huffington Post. “It’s all in the spirit of good fun.”
The stunt was to make it appear as if MTV’s account had been hacked by BET fans.
Users began heckling the company shortly after it appeared to be a PR stunt. Denny’s Diner even swooped in to make fun of MTV, tweeting, “OMG we hacked ourselves because it’s the cool thing to do!” Then it uploaded a photo of a stack of pancakes, labeled “waffles.”
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Jessica Chasmar is a continuous news writer for The Washington Times. Previously, she was part of the start-up team for The Washington Times’ digital aggregation product, Times247. She can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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