Companies and social media should never mix. Also, everyone needs to just step away from the Photoshop program. Hopefully companies will have learned some valuable lessons so we don't get any repeats of these blunders in 2015:
1. Target's rhombusvagina
A disaster of a Photoshop job left this poor bikini model plus one jagged armpit and minus one vagina.
2. U.S. Airways tweets the most graphic photo ever
On the bright side, after the airline tweeted then deleted a photo of a toy plane going into a very, um, intimate place, the Internet gave us so many marvelous jokes and puns.
3. Comcast is a train wreck
First, we all got the experience the most pathetic and infuriating customer service call ever when the recording hit the Internet (just let the guy disconnect his service!). Then, Comcast allegedly got a customer fired from his own job! And that is why no one is surprised that Comcast was ranked the lowest in customer satisfaction (tied with Time Warner).
4. Urban Outfitter forgets history in the name of vintage stuff
The store sold what looked like a blood-spattered "vintage" Kent State sweatshirt, presumably forgetting (or ignoring) the fact that Kent State experience a tragic school shooting in 1970. Urban Outfitters later apologized, insisting that the red paint was not meant to look like blood.
5. Walmart wants everyone to know that they have "fat girl Halloween costumes"
On Walmart's website during Halloween, there had a section that was labeled "Fat Girl Costumes." Yeah. That happened.
6. DiGiorno doesn't understand how hashtags work
After a Twitter campaign that was supposed to be all about domestic abuse victims bravely sharing their stories using the hashtags #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft, the company jumped in clearly not realizing that this was not the time to promote its pizza.
7. Best Buy made a Serial joke, which meant making a joke about a murder case
The need to jump on the bandwagon should not outweigh the need to be respectful of a tragic situation.
8. A TV station ran inaccurate/mocking names of the Asiana Flight 214 pilots
Their research person surely got fired for this one.
9. Instagram's backwards banning policy
Too many beautiful, plus-sized women had their photos taken down because Instagram claimed they "violated their mature content rule." Yet, skinny girls were able to post much more revealing pics without anyone saying a word. Instagram eventually apologized and reposted the photos they removed, but we hope they continue to make sure their policy does not discriminate by body size and weight.
10. Zara sold a children's shirt that looked like a holocaust prisoner's uniform
We have to wonder how this got past so many people before it hit the shelves.
11. Bill Cosby's meme game backfired spectacularly
When you're being accused of rape, maybe you shouldn't start a meme generator game. The Internet takes no prisoners, and Bill Cosby obviously was no exception.
12. Self magazine accidentally mocks a cancer survivor
The editor had to apologize after running a photo of brain cancer survivor Monika Allen competing in the Los Angeles marathon while wearing a tutu with a mocking caption. Not only should a brain cancer survivor wear whatever they damn well please while running a marathon, but Monika rocked that tutu to promote her company Glam Runner, which raises funds for charities that empower young girls.
13. Spirit Airlines jokes about the celeb nude photo scandal
Anything in the name of topical promotion!
14. The great Sony hack of 2014
We don't have enough Internet space to talk about all the s--t that hit the fan after Sony Studios was hacked. Private emails were made public, The Interview was pulled and then released and of course, there were those racist jokes about President Obama, slavery movies and Kevin Hart…
15. Target and Wal-Mart thinks little girls can only grow up to be the wives of superheroes
Both stores carried clothing that basically promoted the message that little boys can be superheroes, but girls can only date them. That's the dream, right?
16. Idiots at Fox News continue to be idiots
Hosts Eric Bolling and Greg Gutfeld contributed these two gems to the discussion about Mariam Al Mansouri, the first female United Arab Emirates fighter pilot and general badass:
"The problem is after she bombed it, she couldn't park [the plane]."
"Would that be considered boobs on the ground or no?"
17. The NFL failed on so many levels
Where do we start? They mishandled everything about the Ray Rice domestic abuse case, they don't think Washington has a racist team name and everyone is wondering how Commissioner Roger Goodell still has a job.
18. Play-Doh made a plastic penis as a kid's toy
Do better next year, everyone!