Ronn Torossian Ronn Torossian 

Social media is a wonderful way for brands to connect with fans and build relationships. But it can also be a double-edged sword. Put something great out there, and it could go viral, earning you a ton of fans. Screw up, and you’ll feel the wrath for days — or weeks — on end. Just ask Cinnabon.

After the death of actress Carrie Fisher, countless tributes poured in across all social media channels. Princess Leia clearly meant a lot to a lot of people, and there were many graphic tributes and photo tributes. But Cinnabon tried to get too cute. Playing on Leia’s infamous twin bun hairdo from “Star Wars: A New Hope,” they posted a photo of Fisher with a Cinnabon bun where her hair “bun” would have been and made a quip regarding the best buns in the universe. Legions of "Star Wars" geeks the world over were not amused. Rage barraged Cinnabon’s social media accounts like a constant stream of Rebel Alliance blaster fire.

While most people thought the tweet was in terrible taste, there were a few who thought, with good reason, that Fisher herself would have found the tweet funny. These folks were definitely in the minority, though.

The gaffe reminded some tweeters of the now infamous Cheerios tweet after Prince’s death of the SpaghettiO’s mascot grinning while reminding people of Pearl Harbor. Those comparisons led to a second stream of online Cinnabon mocking, with people comparing this gaffe to other “famous” social media crisis PR scandals.

Cinnabon issued an apology, saying they meant the offending tweet as a tribute and simply missed the mark. Some fans were more forgiving than others. The real lesson here is that this didn’t have to happen. If the folks at Cinnabon had thought past the urge to jump on the #Leia trend, they could have taken a moment to realize how their message would be taken.

Many of the PR issues that erupt on social media are based on this. People in charge of tweeting or posting don’t always have a solid PR plan, or they just get antsy with the “send” button and create a crisis. This is an entirely avoidable situation.

While it’s true that comedy is subjective — and it’s also true that some people are just perpetually offended — the line between funny and “shouldn’t have sent that one” is broader than people pretend. In some cases, the “much ado” is really about nothing … but timing and content must be considered before a message is sent. There’s no such thing as deleting something from the Internet.

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Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR, one of America’s 20 largest independently owned Public Relations firms.