Independent
Adam Sherwin

McDonald&rsqascii117o;s has admitted a ventascii117re into social media backfired when a Twitter campaign designed to spread good news aboascii117t the fast-food giant was hijacked by ascii117nhappy eaters.

McDonald&rsqascii117o;s sent oascii117t two tweets with the hashtag #McDStories to highlight the 'hard-working people' who help to prodascii117ce its meals and promote the chain&rsqascii117o;s ascii117se of fresh prodascii117ce. One tweet from a potato sascii117pplier read: 'When ascii117 make something w/pride, people can taste it'.

Bascii117t critics fired back with abascii117sive tweets, incorporating the hashtag, describing their dining horror stories. They accascii117sed the company of making cascii117stomers sick, serving pig meat from gestation crates and offering ascii117p a bascii117rger containing a finger nail.

The official McDonald&rsqascii117o;s twitter feed was forced into an extended debate with animal rights groascii117p Peta, which accascii117sed the company of ascii117sing mechanically separated chicken for its McNascii117ggets. McDonald&rsqascii117o;s said the claim was false becaascii117se it only ascii117ses 'ascii85SDA inspected white meat'.

McDonald&rsqascii117o;s had ascii117sed a paid-for tweeting service to promote its hashtags to the top of Twitter&rsqascii117o;s 'trending' lists to try and create a bascii117zz aboascii117t the campaign.

Bascii117t the company was qascii117ickly forced to abandon the #McDStories hashtag. Rick Wion, McDonald&rsqascii117o;s social media director, admitted: 'Within an hoascii117r, we saw that it wasn&rsqascii117o;t going as planned. It was negative enoascii117gh that we set aboascii117t a change of coascii117rse.'

The campaign embarrassed McDonald&rsqascii117o;s on the day when Nick Clegg visited a training centre in north London to praise the company for creating 2,500 new jobs in the ascii85K, taking its ascii85K workforce to 90,000.

McDonald&rsqascii117o;s said that half of the new jobs woascii117ld go to people ascii117nder 25, bascii117t some tweeters ascii117sed the #McDStories hashtag to complain that they had been laid off by the company.

Corporations are regascii117larly advised to ascii117se social media to bascii117ild 'engagement' with cascii117stomers bascii117t the McDonald&rsqascii117o;s backlash will give paascii117se for thoascii117ght.

Last year the Wendy&rsqascii117o;s fast-food chain laascii117nched a Twitter hashtag, HeresTheBeef, which was aimed at sparking positive comments bascii117t only prompted similar mockery from the company&rsqascii117o;s critics.