The tourism officials in Sandusky, Ohio wanted to promote their town on Twitter for a Father's Day getaway. When they used the hash tag #Sandusky, however, they found their town being placed in the middle of headlines about the Jerry Sandusky trial.
Some readers clicked on the hash tag to find out more information about family-friendly trips, and instead their screens were flooded with information about the trial of the former Penn State University assistant coach who is accused of sexually abusing 10 boys.
Clearly, the tourism office had not thought this through.
Spa Kalahari is part of the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio, and they were hoping to clarify that a special offer was not valid at a sister property with the same name in Wisconsin. Although officials there say they rarely, if ever, use the #Sandusky hash tag, they took to twitter to make the clarification.
“Our social media gal is having a guilt complex,” said the director of the visitors bureau in Erie County, Ohio, Joan Van Offeren, “It’s an awakening. I certainly will say that. I’m sure everyone on our staff is attuned to it as we speak.”
Tourism officials in the area want to differentiate between the name of the town and the name of an alleged pedophile, but Van Offeren admits that there might be an upside to the mistake by putting the town on the map, however inadvertent it might have been. "We’re fortunate to be in travel and tourism, which is a very fun business," she said. "Our mindset is on the most positive attractions and how we can bring people to our destinations."
Van Offeren also said that officials would not use the #Sandusky handle again. It's worth noting, however, that they responded to a Twitter user's joke on the guffaw with tact and pride. "Oh my, very bad day to be putting the #sandusky hashtag on your advertising…" tweeted a user named Holly Parish. The visitors bureau quickly responded, tweeting, "Thanks for the concern however Sandusky, Ohio is the anchor city of the #ShoresAndIslands region and we are very proud of it."
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