Competing brands generally don't play nice with each other. As such, taking swipes at each other is normal. It's a dirty tactic but everyone's done it at some point. Unfortunately, taking advantage of someone else's misfortune can backfire, something LG is well aware of by now.
It's been a tough week for Apple as Bendgate takes a life of its own. The controversy that the iPhone 6 Plus bends from simply being placed in a pocket is everywhere. It was only a matter of time before other brands used the opportunity not only to poke fun at Apple but to promote their products as well.
LG, of course, joins in on the fun as its French arm tweeted, "Nos smartphones ne se plient pas, ils sont naturellement incurvés ;) #bendgate." For those who don't know French, that roughly translates to "Our smartphones don't bend, they are naturally curved ;) #bendgate." The tweet was posted accompanied by a photo of the G Flex, a smartphone from LG with a curved display.
Well played, right?
Yes. Except for one thing.
The tweet was posted using an iPhone, a flub French blog iGen.fr first spotted.
It's impossible to tell what iPhone was used exactly (it would've been more ironic if it was an iPhone 6 Plus) but the fact remains that this was a big blunder on LG's part. After all, if you're going to make a joke, make sure it doesn't backfire on you.
The problem with using Twitter apps like TweetDeck is that it tags the device being used to make a post. The tweet went live on Sept. 25 but has since then been deleted. But, of course, not before screenshots were taken of the mishap.
To the company's benefit, LG UK did a bit better poking fun at Bendgate. But only a little bit because LG UK's tweets also had problems. What's wrong with them? No one seems to get what they mean. Two tweets were sent out, both featuring the G Flex as well: one simply said "#bentgate ??? #GFlex" while the other featured a YouTube link with the text "#Bendgate."
Where one overshot the goal, the other underwhelmed. Maybe LG needs to sit down with its branches to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Apple responded to the issue by saying cases of iPhone 6 Plus bending are extremely rare, with just nine cases officially reported. The 5.5-inch iPhone is the company's first foray into phablet devices. Apple reports that over 10 million of the new iPhones were sold in the first three days after the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were made available.
