Best Buy Serial Tweet - US multinational electronics retailer Best Buy has unleashed the wrath of the Internet after posting a tasteless joke on social media about the 1999 murder of a teenager made famous by the Serial podcast.
On Thursday, at around 3:48 p.m., Best Buy Maryland tweeted "We have everything you need. Unless you need a payphone. #Serial."
The insensitive attempt to cash in on the publicity of the release of the next-to-last episode of Serial, which is re-examining Min Lee's murder at the store, has attracted a heavy social media backlash.
From murder case to branding opportunity. Very sensitive, guys RT @BestBuy We have everything you need. Unless you need a payphone. #Serial
— Dan Stewart (@thatdanstewart) December 11, 2014
This is the ACTUAL tweet @BestBuy sent before that epic #Serial fail tweet. SERIOUSLY. pic.twitter.com/HCnsYJ2h7a
— Stephanie Haberman (@StephLauren) December 11, 2014
Reports indicate that within hours of the tweet, the company posted an apology saying the Best Buy Serial tweet did not represent the company and lacked sound judgment.
"We deeply apologize for our earlier tweet about Serial. It lacked good judgment and doesn't reflect the values of our company. We are sorry," Best Buy tweeted.
We deeply apologize for our earlier tweet about Serial. It lacked good judgment and doesn't reflect the values of our company. We are sorry.
— Best Buy (@BestBuy) December 11, 2014
According to local sources, the Maryland Best Buy outlet has been receiving a lot of visitors lately. Enthusiastic fans of the popular show Serial are reportedly trooping to the shop in search of a particular payphone - a demand the company cannot satisfy.
Reports indicate that Best Buy plays an important role in the State's murder case against Adnan Syed, the murder victim's ex-boyfriend, who is currently serving life in prison. Although Syed claims he is innocent, he was found guilty of first degree murder in Lee's death.
During the trial, a star witness called "Jay" claimed Syed called him from a payphone at a Best Buy outlet on Security Boulevard in Windsor Mill, MD, to ask for a ride after he murdered Lee in the parking lot.
However, according to the investigation of Serial, there is no record of a payphone at this particular Best Buy store. Reports indicate that the host of the podcast, Sarah Koenig, has spent a lot of time analyzing the stories presented in the trial.
Questions have been raised about the narrative that Syed was strangled Lee in Best Buy's parking lot and made a call from a payphone in the same vicinity.
Although many were appalled by the Best Buy Serial tweet, some fans seem to get the joke, even calling it brilliant. Others even described the tweet as funny and witty. However, all agree that the author of the Best Buy Serial tweet must be an avid fan of Serial and just couldn't help it.
It's unclear what the company did to the employee who came up with the Best Buy Serial tweet.
