Mining industry Twitter campaign plunges new depths

The Minerals Council of Australia’s latest marketing push has received plenty of attention, but not quite in the way the organisation might have hoped.

In an effort to boost coal’s image, the group created a glossy video with a voice over extolling the virtues of the fossil fuel and promoted it on Twitter with #coalisamazing.

However, environmentally conscious Twitter users took exception to this and used the hashtag to mercilessly mock the campaign. Many of them using climate change to show how misguided the sentiment of the hashtag is.

This little black rock is the number 1 cause of climate change. #coalisamazing pic.twitter.com/PcNBN5G3D8

— Max Phillips (@maxphillips) September 6, 2015

Other’s chose to ridicule the mining industry in more general terms, such as this Tweet pointing out the considerable danger coal miners face every day:

My uncle was killed in one of these cages when it hurtled into the floor of a mine shaft – #coalisamazing pic.twitter.com/aM7KyginbI

— Jason Thompson (@Simulated_Jase) September 6, 2015

Campaign is ‘negligent’ or ‘culpable’

The campaign provoked even greater ire from the Australian Conservation Foundation. In a statement, chief executive Kelly O’Shanassy said: “The toxic substances that are released when coal is burned make people sick and of course it’s making our climate hotter and more dangerous.

“While the world’s climate scientists and most Australians realise we need to quickly get off our addiction to coal, the Minerals Council and the federal government want to keep us hooked.

“To promote coal as ‘amazing’ could be considered negligent, or it might even be considered culpable.”

After a full day of Twitter mockery, one user had the last laugh, summing up the ill-fated campaign in hilarious style:

That Mineral Council’s ad for coal has been crushed so heavily I’m pretty sure we’ll be seeing diamonds soon. #coalisamazing #noitsnot

— Mark Mason (@Dynamaso) September 7, 2015

History repeated

This rather epic PR fail is reminiscent of a hashtag campaign created by a Vladimir Putin supporter in 2011 to celebrate the President’s birthday.

Vladimir Burmatov expected a surge of gratitude when he invited people to #THANKPUTINFORTHAT, but instead created a tidal wave of sarcasm from disgruntled bloggers.

With a host of damning responses, including “No money and no flat #THANKPUTINFORTHAT”, Burmatov was soon left regretting his plans.