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It was just one message among many sent out in a social media campaign by an arm of the State Department, meant to warn people on spring break about the pitfalls of overseas travel. If grabbing people’s attention was its sole goal, it succeeded tremendously.
“Not a ‘10’ in the US? Then not a 10 overseas. Beware of being lured into buying expensive drinks or worse—being robbed. #springbreakingbadly,” the Bureau of Consular Affairs posted on Twitter from its handle, @TravelGov, to its roughly 510,000 followers on Wednesday afternoon.
The tweet, which was posted around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, was spread around the world, drawing offense and mockery.
Yes, the federal government had just awkwardly referred to ranking attractiveness on a scale of 1 to 10, while puncturing a fantasy of vacation travel: the possibility of romance. If you’re unattractive here, the tweet seemed to imply, you’re unattractive there. And you could be robbed.
That’s apparently too cold even by the standards of the Internet.
There was indignation and accusations that the tweet was sexist, a misfire in the pursuit of youthful appeal. There was a raft of humor and sarcasm. There were even a few who cheered it.
And then, of course, came the parody accounts.
if you are a "3" in the united states you must carry a "hand-written" letter of apology with you in order to travel
— Travel Gov (@Travel_Gov) March 30, 2016
The Bureau of Consular Affairs tried to engage a few people who commented at its account, only to draw more criticism. It deleted the tweet around 6 p.m, following up with a two-part apology posted to Twitter.
But the damage had been done. There were screen-grabs of the tweet going around, and soon there were numerous stories with mocking headlines: “The U.S. State Department Warns Americans That No One Could Possibly Find You Attractive,” read one. One website published a discussion by its staff members trying to parse the tweet’s true meaning.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs’ spring break campaign, which is conducted through news releases, blog posts and social media like Twitter and Facebook, takes place every year to promote safe travel practices, the State Department said in an emailed statement.
The Twitter component, which employed the hashtag #springbreakingbadly, seemed to start innocuously in early March, when @TravelGov began posting tips for travelers with the sort of bland advice that one might expect from the federal government: what to do about a lost passport overseas and reminders to check the info pages on travel destinations. It also solicited stories about travel mishaps.
But some admonitions drew double takes as people started searching through the campaign’s messages on Wednesday.
Somebody offered you a free trip abroad, but the free luggage they offered is lined with cocaine. Beware of these scams #springbreakingbadly
— Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) March 29, 2016
The State Department said that it understood that the “10” tweet was “construed negatively.”
“We see many U.S. citizens fall victim to scams each year, and we want to provide as much information as possible to keep them safe while traveling,” it said in an emailed statement.