Many people paid tribute to International Women’s Day on Thursday with well-intended posts of influential women. The Los Angeles Clippers hopped on the hashtag train as well, but the result was less-than-ideal for the team.
The NBA franchise recently announced a partnership with dating app Bumble where the company’s logo would be featured on team uniforms. In honor of International Women’s Day, the Clippers tweeted an image featuring Ayn Rand, Anne Frank and Maya Angelou … but the post appeared to be partnered with Bumble.
The tweet, which was removed about 90 minutes after it was initially sent, included quotes from all three women, but that didn’t stop people from criticizing it. The misstep harkens back to the team’s bumbling days under previous owner Donald Sterling.
Reps from Bumble and the Clippers didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Here’s what perplexed Twitter users had to say:
https://twitter.com/erikmal/status/971956675262300160
https://twitter.com/natalieweiner/status/971952549069770752
https://twitter.com/kept_simple/status/971959486603776000
This is the deleted Clippers/Bumble/Ayn Rand/Anne Frank/Maya Angelou tweet, clear evidence of a glitch in our reality simulation. pic.twitter.com/Nu8Vdmm94s
— Julia Wick (@sherlyholmes) March 9, 2018
The Clippers and Bumble could have, oh, I don’t know, celebrates women’s basketball players or something like that on International Women’s Day. But sure, I guess commercializing the powerhouse trio of Ayn Rand, Maya Angelou, and Anne Frank is another way to go.
— Lindsay Gibbs (@linzsports) March 9, 2018
https://twitter.com/valleyhack/status/972122147123589121
The LA Clippers (that's a basketball team, non-Americans) combined a 16-year-old who was murdered in Bergen-Belsen and a dating app to 'celebrate' #IWD2018. Oh, and Ayn Rand and Maya Angelou. pic.twitter.com/0uSZulRQo0
— tomtivnan (@tomtivnan) March 9, 2018