Netflix brings out the smutty side of brands

Running the social media accounts for a big-name brand can be a thankless task. Not only are you often constrained by the need to be on-message at all time, which can really put the brakes on your creative urges, you're also the first point of contact for customers with something to complain about.

Nothing can spoil your day like having to deal with a bunch of people who are furious about a typo on your brand's landing page. So it always gladdens our hearts to see a brand that's willing to kick back and have fun; it's the calling card of many of our favourite brands that rule at social media.

And recently, Netflix absolutely nailed it, with a well-timed take on the popular 'What’s something you can say during sex but also when...' meme that was doing the rounds all last week:

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Nice tweet, but given the nature of Twitter it could have easily sunk without trace, especially given how many variants on the theme were about at the time. But it hit just the right note with just the right people – all the other social media people out there working for big brands – and the end result was a totally joyous (and utterly puerile) spectacle of smutty showing-off from brands that you wouldn't expect.

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Well to be fair, we'd expect it from MoonPie; we love its account's permanent state of hapless bafflement. And the same goes for Pop Tarts.

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Beyond that, though, it all gets quite surprisingly fruity. IMDB's quite a sensible site full of important film information, but it was quick to chip in with this:

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Then along comes Grammarly and honestly we don't know where to look.

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And here's the New York Times' Wordplay account, which we assume is to do with crosswords and stuff.

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It's like that first time you see your mum getting drunk and a little bit lewd.

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God bless the NHS. Moving swiftly on, here are three more of our favourites from Arby's, Petco and ever-popular video game, DOOM.

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Hey, as long as it's consensual then that's absolutely fine with us. Hats off to all the beleaguered social media people who joined in the fun; you may not necessarily have achieved much in the way of targeted brand messaging, but you definitely helped provide a little human edge for your assorted accounts. 

Especially you, The Discovery Channel:

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As someone was quick to point out, they've probably been waiting for years for the opportunity to use that line. What, you don't get it? For younger viewers, this is what they're referencing:

We're sorry. The 1990s were a very different time. Take your mind off the horror by finding the full Netflix Twitter thread here.

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Jim McCauley

Jim McCauley is a writer, performer and cat-wrangler who started writing professionally way back in 1995 on PC Format magazine, and has been covering technology-related subjects ever since, whether it's hardware, software or videogames. A chance call in 2005 led to Jim taking charge of Computer Arts' website and developing an interest in the world of graphic design, and eventually led to a move over to the freshly-launched Creative Bloq in 2012. Jim now works as a freelance writer for sites including Creative Bloq, T3 and PetsRadar, specialising in design, technology, wellness and cats, while doing the occasional pantomime and street performance in Bath and designing posters for a local drama group on the side.