Comcast “Cares” On Twitter. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

If there is one lesson that large corporations really, really need to take to heart about the 21st century, it is this: unless you are universally beloved (and maybe even then), probably don’t self-promote with Twitter hashtags. It will not end well for you. And who would be the latest business to fall for this trap? It’s Comcast, the cable company America loves to hate.

Like many other large corporations and conglomerates, Comcast participates in corporate philanthropy. Among their outreach efforts is an annual volunteer day, where Comcast and NBCUniversal employees don branded t-shirts and go serve meals, clean playgrounds, paint schools, and do a thousand other small good-works projects in targeted areas around the nation.

Corporate volunteer events are fairly common, and they’re usually a good way both to generate some positive PR for the business as well as to get some local projects completed with a small army of free labor — a win/win. And of course, in 2016, how else quickly to push images, video, and short statements but on social media? And naturally organizers unify the social media presence with a hashtag… something quick and easily searchable, like #ComcastCaresDay.

The problem, of course, is that Comcast is, well, not exactly known for caring, as such. Kind of the complete opposite, really. Their customer service is widely loathed, despite repeated executive promises and detailed improvement plans.

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian perhaps landed the most direct punch, tweeting, “Maybe @Comcast should extend #ComcastCaresDay so they actually care the other 364 days of the year?”

Ohanian was far from alone. A selection of other quips, comments, and complaints that made the rounds:

Show someone you care. Bill them for the three weeks their cable was out due to a hurricane. #ComcastCaresDay

— Gregor Mendel (@GregortheMendel) April 30, 2016

In honor of #ComcastCaresDay I'm also going to put everyone who calls me on hold for 20 minutes and then eventually hang up.

— Claire Zulkey (@Zulkey) April 30, 2016

#ComcastCaresDay unless you're an existing customer of course – you know what I'm saying

— Jon In Seattle (@JonInSeattle1) April 30, 2016

Comcast customer service reps hung up on me three times in a row one day#ComcastCaresDay

— Böb Jänke (@Bob_Janke) April 30, 2016

As far as Comcast is concerned, of course, their volunteer day was a resounding success. Over 100,000 employees went out and volunteered their time for the company’s 15th annual community day, and that’s a pretty big feat. And let’s be real: if Comcast actually cared about anyone’s complaints, it would be a very different company.