Is RadioShack's Inappropriate Twitter Account Genius Marketing or an Another Annoying Troll? The company's posts have been going viral on social media.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
RadioShack may seem like a relic of the past, but this week the company was the topic of conversation for brow-raising reasons.
In what first appeared to be an apparent hack, the RadioShack Twitter account went viral for posting some very questionable (and very off-brand) Tweets including references to sexual acts, drugs, and an array of celebrities and businesspeople including Elon Musk.
Supervillains create a balance in any ecosystem. Remember that next time your sitting in the shower crying sucking on your thumb because RadioShack was mean to you on the internet.
— RadioShack (@RadioShack) June 24, 2022
Gm gm leeettssss get readyyy to RRRUUUMMMMBBBLLLEEEEEEE
— RadioShack (@RadioShack) June 28, 2022
But it was not a hack. A company executive told The Washington Post that it is part of their new voice.
"It's our voice, a new voice, one for the people," Abel Czupor, the chief marketing officer, told the paper. "RadioShack's audience used to be only an older demographic, but as times have changed and e-commerce has taken over, the old voice of RadioShack is no longer relevant."
The company FKA RadioShack filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in both 2015 and 2017 before eventually being acquired by entrepreneur investors Alex Mehr and Tai Lopez, the duo behind Retail E-commerce Ventures (REV) in 2020. According to the AP, there are about 400 RadioShack locations that remain open but operate independently from the REV-owned parent company.
On Twitter, RadioShack has been promoting RadioShack Swap, a crypto exchange platform run through a separate app. Its token —$RADIO — was worth less than one cent as of Friday afternoon.
"Our mission is to be the first protocol to bridge the gap to mainstream usage of blockchain and cryptocurrencies," the company says on its website.
RadioShack first announced plans to launch Swap last December, reportedly garnering a waitlist of interested crypto traders who wanted access to the platform upon its launch.
RadioShack Execs: we need a succinct marketing plan with tangible KPI's to facilitate healthy growth in our ecosystem
— RadioShack (@RadioShack) June 27, 2022
Radioshack Intern: Hold my beer for a sec, ok so hear me out
As of Friday afternoon, RadioShack had over 336,000 followers.