Which airline made a World Cup giraffe gaff?

This week, Delta tweeted a photo following America’s win over Ghana in the World Cup, adding it to the list of airlines posting tweets that have gone awry. The photo depicted the final score of the match, with a photo of the Statue of Liberty beside the US score and a giraffe beside the Ghana score. The problem? There are no giraffes in Ghana, except at zoos. As one blogger put it" "No, the entire continent of Africa does not look like ‘The Lion King.’" To add salt to the wound, Delta offers direct flights to Ghana. Doesn’t anyone at Delta know what it’s like there? Of course, folks on Twitter jumped all over the airline for the giraffe gaffe (how often do you get to use the words ‘giraffe gaffe’!?) and the airline subsequently took down the tweet and posted an apology.

After last week’s Instagram announcement of in-feed advertising coming to the UK later in the year, The Guardian’s Media Network has looked at how likely brands are to use this new option. The photo and video sharing platform has already introduced ads in the US and UK, Canada and Australia will soon be seeing posts from brands they do not follow in their feeds – much like on Facebook and Twitter. Based on the US trial, the advertising option appears to be geared toward bigger brands with fairly huge budgets, so Media Network has crafted a few simple steps for avoiding the large cost and using the platform to generate an engaged audience and brand advocates. These include posting exclusive and interesting content to give followers in other communities a reason to follow on Instagram; be creative and create a recognisable visual identity; use relevant popular hashtags; and make the most of user generated content.

Mashable recently announced the top 10 greatest landmarks in the world. Featuring Machu Picchu, the Taj Mahal, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and Dubrovnik’s ancient city walls, the list does incorporate some spectacular sights. With thousands of years of history between them, it’s no surprise these mosaic tiled floors and ornately painted ceilings form part of the greatest landmarks. The list has caused quite a stir of conversation in the Siren Communications office as to which other global sites should be included…what do you think?

Users of the internet seem to enjoy dealing out a good dose of shame. Be it misogynists who can’t deal with women eating on public transport, or people who have had enough of their pet dogs’ mischievous behaviour, social media loves to shame! Travel blogger and travel editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, Spud Hilton, piqued our interest with his new "#CarryOnShame" campaign. The campaign aims to out people who break the rules while flying, by taking onboard excess carry-on luggage. While both airlines and travellers are at fault for not enforcing or complying these rules, it will be interesting to see whether Hilton’s call to ‘name and shame’ will have an impact.

World Cup fever has gripped the nation but according to a Meltwater social media study, which predicted that England was one of the favourites to win (not any more!), we won’t be making it to the final. The research discovered ‘World Cup’ is generating an average of over 100,000 social media hits per day, with Brazil and Germany predicted to make it to the final match while England, Brazil and Argentina are the top three favourites to win. But if you’re after some advice on where to place your bets, be warned, it remains to be seen whether our collective online rambles are any more reliable than the ‘Psychic Brazilian turtle‘ or ‘Paul the Octopus‘.

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