MLB Opening Day 2015: Hostess Kicked Off Baseball Season With An Epic Twitter Fail... Or Did It?

Laura Rosenfeld, Tech Times 06 April 2015, 04:04 pm

Hostess sent out a tweet in honor of MLB Opening Day 2015 on Monday, which is something many companies do to celebrate the start of the baseball season. However, the baked goods company appeared to not hit this one out of the park.

Though Hostess seemed very excited and eager to kick off another season of America's pasttime, it appeared that the company, or at least whoever is in charge of its Twitter account, knew nothing about the sport at all. This is the tweet in question that everyone talked about on Twitter Monday:

It's here and we couldn't be filled with more sweet joy. #OpeningDay pic.twitter.com/YndEyEgQQa

— Hostess Snacks (@Hostess_Snacks) April 6, 2015

As you probably know, a touchdown is part of the game of football, not baseball. You would think that a company that makes cupcakes that look like little baseballs would know a thing or two about the actual sport. But alas, just because you know what a baseball looks like doesn't mean you know how the game works, I suppose. Of course, Twitter was not having this mistake. At. All.

. @Hostess_Snacks @DavidShieldcbc shouldn't that say home run? #WrongSport — Sask Gatz (@SaskGatz) April 6, 2015

Someone losing a job today “@Hostess_Snacks: It's here and we couldn't be filled with more sweet joy. #OpeningDay pic.twitter.com/4VgqTLnvXO”

— James Dean Jr. (@ConnorAndrews) April 6, 2015

Go home, you're drunk RT @Hostess_Snacks: It's here and we couldn't be filled with more sweet joy. #OpeningDay pic.twitter.com/GstXKby5Hj — D (@deziisdope) April 6, 2015

.@Hostess_Snacks I... I'm not sure you know how baseball works.

— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin9) April 6, 2015

@Hostess_Snacks That tweet was a slam dunk! — Dansting (@Dansting) April 6, 2015

#YouhadONEjob RT@Hostess_Snacks: It's here and we couldn't be filled with more sweet joy. #OpeningDay pic.twitter.com/ilqKng2Imn

— Stephanie Baich (@StyxSteph58) April 6, 2015

Some tweeps were also unsure if the tweet was real or just a late April Fools' Day joke.

Huh? Is this for real? "@Hostess_Snacks: It's here and we couldn't be filled with more sweet joy. #OpeningDay pic.twitter.com/YRhsBtMU0z” — Mr. O. (@MrOELA) April 6, 2015

@Hostess_Snacks @KiaroMusic Please be a joke please be a joke please be a joke

— Derek (@DerekMK) April 6, 2015

“@Hostess_Snacks: It's here and we couldn't be filled with more sweet joy. #OpeningDay pic.twitter.com/zBeC7BeMuY” is this a joke — lauren lanz (@lauren_lanz) April 6, 2015

This was a pretty huge gaffe and one that seems extremely difficult to miss, so it's hard to believe that whoever sent this tweet did so without realizing the sports mix-up. And of course, the joke was, in fact, on us.

"Since embarking on the 'Sweetest Comeback in the History of Ever' nearly two years ago, Hostess has employed a strategy aimed at contemporizing the brand," Hostess spokeswoman Ellen Copaken said in an emailed statement sent to Business Insider. "The Touchdown' line was intentional; it's fun and aimed at young audiences who are in on the running joke — which, of course, is the goalllll."

So there you have it. What at first looked like an epic Twitter fail on the part of Hostess actually happened to be part of the company's social media strategy all along. Seeing how much publicity Hostess got out of this flub, I'd say it all went according to plan.