Airline Apologizes for World Cup Social Media Misstep

The World Cup's first social media gaffe involves a giraffe.

ByABC News
June 17, 2014, 11:00 AM
Delta posted this tweet on June 16, 2014 following the victory of the US soccer team in their first World Cup game against Ghana.
Delta posted this tweet on June 16, 2014 following the victory of the US soccer team in their first World Cup game against Ghana.
@Delta/Twitter

June 17, 2014— -- Well, it could have been worse. At least this social media gaffe involved an animal. Though it does have some questioning how much the folks behind the Delta Air Lines social media account know about Africa, a continent very much on their route map.

2014 FIFA World Cup TV Schedule and Results

The tweet, which has since been removed, pictured the final score of the game with a photo of the Statue of Liberty next to the U.S. score (2) and a photo of a giraffe next to the Ghana score (1).

Trouble is, there are no giraffes in Ghana. And the Twitterverse knows it.

But some think the Internet needs to relax.

Everyone can agree that this one -- tweeted prior to the controversial giraffe photo -- is much better:

Get real-time World Cup results and news about all the matches you care about delivered right to your phone every day. To start, just \"star\" this story in ABC News' phone app. More of a casual fan? Sign up for occasional dispatches from Brazil -- including the best photos and limited highlights -- by \"starring\" this story. Download ABC News for iPhone here or ABC News for Android here.

","publishedDate":"2014-06-17T15:00:59Z","contributors":[{"name":"ABC News","url":"","role":"","logo":"","logoAlt":""}],"modifiedDate":"2014-06-17T16:58:47Z","section":"Travel","wordCount":218,"relatedTags":{"heading":"Related Topics","tags":[]},"lead":{"ratio":"16x9","disableForMobile":false,"type":"xl","mediaType":"image","alignCaptionToBody":true},"ads":{"Sticky":{"kvps":{"test":true}},"RightRail":{"kvps":{"test":true}},"InlineBox":{},"InlineOutstream":{"disabled":false},"Taboola":{"position":"bottom","pageType":"article","config":{"network":"abcnews-abcnews","mode":"thumbnails-a","container":"taboola-below-article-thumbnails","type":"article","targetType":"mix","placement":"Below Article Thumbnails"}}},"featuredVideo":null,"featuredImage":{"caption":{"credit":"@Delta/Twitter","text":"Delta posted this tweet on June 16, 2014 following the victory of the US soccer team in their first World Cup game against Ghana. ","lines":2},"image":{"alt":"Delta posted this tweet on June 16, 2014 following the victory of the US soccer team in their first World Cup game against Ghana. ","src":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Travel/ht_world_cup_delta_kb_140617_16x9_992.jpg?w=1600","sources":[{"min":0,"max":374,"src":{"x1":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Travel/ht_world_cup_delta_kb_140617_16x9_992.jpg?w=384"}},{"min":375,"max":693,"src":{"x1":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Travel/ht_world_cup_delta_kb_140617_16x9_992.jpg?w=608"}},{"min":694,"src":{"x1":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Travel/ht_world_cup_delta_kb_140617_16x9_992.jpg?w=1600"}}],"fetchPriority":"high"}},"dateline":"June 17, 2014—","seo":{},"LivePromotion":{}},"autoUpdate":{"enabled":false,"topics":["general-elections-2020-balance-of-power"]}},"upw":{"balanceOfPower":{"electoral":{"header":"Biden Projected to be President-Elect","candidates":{"democrats":{"id":1036,"displayName":"Joe Biden","shortDisplayName":"J. Biden","firstName":"Joe","lastName":"Biden","party":"democrats","major":true,"incumbent":false,"winner":true,"votes":306},"republicans":{"id":8639,"displayName":"Donald Trump","shortDisplayName":"D. Trump","firstName":"Donald","lastName":"Trump","party":"republicans","major":true,"incumbent":true,"winner":false,"votes":232},"other":{"displayName":"Other","votes":0}},"parties":{"democrats":"democrats","republicans":"republicans"},"type":"electoral","votes":{"democrats":{"available":{},"total":306,"difference":{},"popular":{"displayValue":"81,283,098","value":81283098}},"republicans":{"available":{},"total":232,"difference":{},"popular":{"displayValue":"74,222,958","value":74222958}},"other":{"available":{},"total":0,"popular":{}},"total":538},"needed":{"displayText":"270 to win","displayValue":"270","value":270},"lastUpdated":{"value":"2020-12-18T21:15:13.850Z","displayValue":"December 18, 4:15:13PM ET"},"reporting":"99% of Expected Vote Reporting"},"senate":{"header":"Senate Seat Results","candidates":{"democrats":{"displayName":"Democrats","icon":"party-democrats","votes":46,"winner":false},"republicans":{"displayName":"Republicans","icon":"party-republicans","votes":50,"winner":false},"other":{"displayName":"Other","votes":2}},"parties":{"democrats":"democrats","republicans":"republicans"},"type":"senate","votes":{"democrats":{"available":{"displayText":"12 Democrats up for election","shortDisplayText":"12 Dems. up for election","displayValue":"12","value":12},"total":46,"difference":{"displayText":"Gained 1 seat","displayValue":"1","value":1},"popular":{}},"republicans":{"available":{"displayText":"23 Republicans up for election","shortDisplayText":"23 Reps. up for election","displayValue":"23","value":23},"total":50,"difference":{"displayText":"Lost 1 seat","displayValue":"-1","value":-1},"popular":{}},"other":{"available":{"displayText":"0 Others up for election","shortDisplayText":"0 Others up for election","displayValue":"0","value":0},"total":2,"popular":{}},"total":100},"needed":{"displayText":"51 for control","displayValue":"51","value":51},"lastUpdated":{"value":"2020-12-17T18:22:05.390Z","displayValue":"December 17, 1:22:05PM ET"}},"house":{"header":"House Results: Dems Retain Control","candidates":{"democrats":{"displayName":"Democrats","icon":"party-democrats","votes":222,"winner":true},"republicans":{"displayName":"Republicans","icon":"party-republicans","votes":210,"winner":false},"other":{"displayName":"Other","votes":0}},"parties":{"democrats":"democrats","republicans":"republicans"},"type":"house","votes":{"democrats":{"available":{"displayText":"233 Democrats up for election","shortDisplayText":"233 Dems. up for election","displayValue":"233","value":233},"total":222,"difference":{"displayText":"Lost 10 seats","displayValue":"-10","value":-10},"popular":{}},"republicans":{"available":{"displayText":"201 Republicans up for election","shortDisplayText":"201 Reps. up for election","displayValue":"201","value":201},"total":210,"difference":{"displayText":"Gained 10 seats","displayValue":"10","value":10},"popular":{}},"other":{"available":{"displayText":"1 Others up for election","shortDisplayText":"1 Others up for election","displayValue":"1","value":1},"total":0,"popular":{}},"total":435},"needed":{"displayText":"218 for control","displayValue":"218","value":218},"lastUpdated":{"value":"2020-12-17T18:22:02.900Z","displayValue":"December 17, 1:22:02PM ET"}},"lastUpdated":{"value":"2020-12-18T21:15:13.850Z","displayValue":"December 18, 4:15:13PM ET"},"autoUpdate":{"enabled":false,"topics":["general-elections-2020-balance-of-power"]},"electionsConfig":{}},"types":["electoral","senate","house"]}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewabcnews,wdgasec,wdgnewabcnweb,wdgnewabcnewsrollup","ns":"abcnews","pageName":"abcn:travel:story","pageType":"story","pageUrl":"abcnews.go.com/Travel/airline-apologizes-world-cup-social-media-misstep/story?id=24173049&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"abcn:site","tagID":"apage_news01","userABCookie":"0","alertTag":"none","authors":"ABC News","authorsBureau":"none","authorsUnit":"none","dateline":"June 17, 2014—","id":"24173049","modDate":"2014-06-17","mediaOnPage":"image","modTime":"12:58","provider":"ABC News","pubDate":"2014-06-17","pubTime":"11:00","section":"Travel","subBrand":"none","title":"Airline Apologizes for World Cup Social Media Misstep","videoId":"none","videoName":"none","wordCount":218},"taboola":{"config":{"network":"abcnews-abcnews","mode":"thumbnails-a","type":"other","targetType":"mix","placement":null,"pageTypeOverrides":{"story":{"mode":"thumbnails-a","type":"article","targetType":"mix","placement":"Below Article Thumbnails"},"home":{"mode":"thumbnails-b","container":"taboola-homepage-thumbnails","type":"home","targetType":"mix","placement":"Homepage Thumbnails"},"section":{"mode":"thumbnails-b","type":"category","targetType":"mix","placement":"Section Front Thumbnails"},"liveBlog":{"mode":"thumbnails-d","type":"other","targetType":"mix","placement":"Blog"}}}}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/Travel/airline-apologizes-world-cup-social-media-misstep/story?id=24173049&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter","vary":{"host":"abcnews.go.com","cached":true,"path":"/Travel/airline-apologizes-world-cup-social-media-misstep/story","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","country":"us","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};