For those of you on Twitter, or those who keep up to date with social media news, you may have noticed an amusing story emerge over the last few days…
American tourist David Willis found himself imprisoned in a London Waterstones after employees had closed up for the night. In his desperation he Tweeted the store saying that he had been locked inside, pleading for them to let him out.
Unfortunately the social media team had also finished for the night, so as news spread around Twitter the momentum built with users following the story via the#WaterstonesTexan and #WaterstonesOne hashtags.
Luckily Willis was eventually released just after midnight with the help of the police, and a relieved Waterstones tweeted the good news.
However, thanks to the quick pace of Twitter and how quickly news spreads online, Waterstones have used this to their advantage…
Working with airbnb, Graze and Weetabix, Waterstones have responded to thousands of requests and are offering 10 people a chance to win an #WaterstonesSleepover at their Piccadilly store, complete with breakfast.
Now, that’s how you deal with bad press! But, this does raise a question…
Was the #WaterstonesTexan a crafty PR stunt to raise awareness? I guess that’s up for you to decide!
