Sometimes capable and sound business lessons arrive from awful experiences. pick this case in point: Paul Chambers missed his flight at a London airport. Perhaps in madden, perhaps in jest (depends on who you talk to), Chambers tweeted that 'he was going to blow up northern England's Robin Hood Airport if it didn't reopen in time for his flight.' With flight security at airports being what it is today, Chambers was arrested and fined for this posting.
His Twitter joke went to court on appeal by Chambers and stirred an internet outrage when the judges refused Chambers the opportunity to be heard. Thousand of online fans started posting comedic threats to the regional airport in some sort of non-clearly defined passenger camaraderie. You may have seen some of these tweets. Many added "IAmSpartacus," in reference to Stanley Kubrick's 1960 tale film of the same name. In the movie, Spartacus' rebel rouser pals seize his identity in a gesture of solidarity.
That Spartacus lives online is, if anything, a confirmation of the power of twitter power as a marketing tool. Reference to Spartacus was Twitter's 'top trending' subject globally. Civil rights groups in Britain, eye the failed attempt at judicial appeal as an aberration of the true to free speech online. Should be resounding a familiar echo to American ears as well.
Some felt the case should never have gotten so far. It was noticed 5 days after posting by an airport officer and then reported. Clearly, at that point, the posting could not have been viewed as any kind of safety threat.
Does that mean that airport security should now be monitoring tweets continually, 24/7? Seems an impossible task. How could anyone find around secretly coded tweets anyhow?
When do civil rights and free speech privileges trump national safety concerns? Hard to say. Al Franken and other well-known legislators are attempting to wrestle this dragon in the U.S. Congress.
In the meantime, the Spartacus Lives! campaign can be attach to splendid exercise as a marketing tool, archaic reputably of course, for internet marketers. Entertainment gets attention. You have to tow the line and not rank the line, but a clever campaign could potentially design solidarity among your followers as it did in the Spartacus legend.
Your business could become tale this plan.
All this from a Twitter joke that went to court. If internet marketers ever needed more solid confirmation of the power of Twitter and the prominent situation it should acquire in a proficient internet marketing business, this is it! Spartacus lives!