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May every obnoxious Amazon tweet inspire unionization.. https://t.co/tkMlmNDtwE
— Professor Fleming (@alwaystheself) March 27, 2021
This is extraordinary and revealing. One of the most powerful politicians in the United States just said she’s going to break up an American company so that they can’t criticize her anymore. https://t.co/Nt0wcZo17g
— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 26, 2021
2/2 We hope you can enact policies that get other employers to offer what we already do.
— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 25, 2021
Amazon spent $19M on lobbyists to write the tax laws. You then paid $0 tax on $12B profit. Had you paid even the reduced 21% corp tax you'd would've paid $2.5B in tax.
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. قاسم رشید (@QasimRashid) March 26, 2021
TL:DR $19M in lobbying to avoid $2.5B in taxes while Amazon workers urinate in bottles & live off food stamps. https://t.co/DxOPhZzRni
Jeff Bezos could single-handedly make life fundamentally better (allow unions, fairer employee pay structure) for almost a million people without sacrificing anything in his own life. What a gift he could give to himself & to the world.(I wonder what #AmazonPR will say to that)
— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) March 26, 2021
Look, sorry you lost your social media manager position at Breitbart, but you’re representing a massive corporation now.
— Sleeping Giants (@slpng_giants) March 26, 2021
Time to start tweeting like it.
at one point, i had direct access to one of the main amazon twitter accounts. i had to deal directly with PR a *lot*. this is just... not what that company does. what the fuck.
— following the dopamine (@randileeharper) March 26, 2021
you have to respect @JayCarney and @davehclark's commitment to the message that top executives at amazon have zero understanding of how laws are made. game recognize game. https://t.co/zKeNlCIWov
— mike casca (@cascamike) March 26, 2021
Just an all time corporate meltdown, why not just ignore it! You’re worth $1.5 trillion, spend more on lobbying than any group on earth, have a film studio and microphones listening in on millions of homes! You’re more powerful than god you don’t have to tweet through it! https://t.co/oESEsyzLon
— Adam H. Johnson (@adamjohnsonNYC) March 26, 2021
1/2 You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us. The truth is that we have over a million incredible employees around the world who are proud of what they do, and have great wages and health care from day one.
— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 25, 2021
"if <insert horrific working conditions here> were true, nobody would work for us" is such age-old baloney it's addressed within first few pages of Capital. It frames boss/worker relationship as voluntary arrangement btwn two equals, but only the latter depends on it for survival https://t.co/EH3Q1WPJUH
— Natalie Shure (@nataliesurely) March 26, 2021
i just want to point out - amazon very, very rarely involves themselves in politics, especially at a PR level. https://t.co/subAxeNZIA
— following the dopamine (@randileeharper) March 26, 2021
Is this Bezos? Because a paid social media manager wouldn’t be this terrible, right? https://t.co/TVTfBjcesW
— Dr. Sarah T. Roberts (@ubiquity75) March 29, 2021
@profgalloway I remember you saying Amazon had more PR employees than the @washingtonpost had journalists. Whelp! Looks like they can only cover it up for so long. https://t.co/BQMWzzGnnr
— Stephen Arriz (@ArrizStephen) March 27, 2021
1/3 You make the tax laws @SenWarren; we just follow them. If you don’t like the laws you’ve created, by all means, change them. Here are the facts: Amazon has paid billions of dollars in corporate taxes over the past few years alone.
— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 26, 2021
Lol
— Faiz (@fshakir) March 28, 2021
"An Amazon spokesperson did not reply to a request for comment." https://t.co/pUyuC3J3GX
Somebody at Amazon PR seems to have confused Twitter for Reddit’s r/politics (and is also struggling with the difference between the U.S. Senate and the Vermont General Assembly). https://t.co/BSuyi5c7uZ
— Rob Pegoraro (@robpegoraro) March 26, 2021
Yes , of course, senators definitely should be threatening to cut companies down to size so they are too weak and scared to mouth off to their eminence. Good plan.
— Clifford Asness (@CliffordAsness) March 26, 2021
Sometimes the veil slips... https://t.co/FVMRP1zqsm
Consumer sentiment is sky high and Amazon already pays a $15/hr minimum wage.
— Dare Obasanjo (@Carnage4Life) March 27, 2021
The company probably feels like a punching bag (e.g. AOC doesn’t tweet about gun control after a week of mass shooting but is quick with the Amazon dunks) but pissing off governments never works out. https://t.co/0XYSqfjEC3
I didn’t write the loopholes you exploit, @amazon – your armies of lawyers and lobbyists did. But you bet I’ll fight to make you pay your fair share. And fight your union-busting. And fight to break up Big Tech so you’re not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets. https://t.co/3vCAI93MST
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 26, 2021
Maybe Amazon PR dept needs a union? https://t.co/VPhJ8ZfNJw
— Daniel Medina (@dmedin11) March 26, 2021
lol people need to chill a little, Warren sending a barbed tweet to a gigantic company that is trolling critics on Twitter is not the pathway to authoritarianism, I promise you https://t.co/th4D87mCNc
— Cody Fenwick (@codytfenwick) March 26, 2021
Pretty clear that @SenWarren is not a fan of the First Amendment. https://t.co/Kx5AhFMnqA
— Barbara Comstock (@BarbaraComstock) March 26, 2021
Amazon’s PR Flacks Are Starting to Sweat https://t.co/Men2JTEbtX @alexnpress
— Jacobin (@jacobinmag) March 26, 2021
very relatable for Jeff Bezos to retire as Amazon CEO just to spend more time tweeting
— Ryan Mac? (@RMac18) March 26, 2021
No she didn’t, @SenWarren said that will be the result not the reason. But don’t let the facts get in the way, Amazon. ps your two other antitrust musketeers just increased your exposure yesterday. pic.twitter.com/2UT2YW6djW https://t.co/xMqKbxtr4e
— Jason Kint (@jason_kint) March 27, 2021
Here is my documentary featuring an Amazon worker who has to pee in a bottle: https://t.co/sIv2f2vOKq https://t.co/RtvLYhiZnj
— Owen Jones ? (@OwenJones84) March 26, 2021
At this point, I'm certain this boneheaded tweeting through it is a ruse. Buried during this news cycle was Amazon cutting off their entry level workers from the internal company directory. An unprecedented action intended to stymie the organization efforts of 500,000 employees. https://t.co/bOc8cAceSp pic.twitter.com/vyEEwmCxKr
— koush (@koush) March 26, 2021
Amazon and Uber are actually in a position to advocate for bathroom access for people who leave their home. I mean, it’s hilarious and stupid that’s gotten difficult, but our culture is hilarious and stupid sometimes. Here, it’s embarrassed to complain.
— Dan Kaminsky (@dakami) March 26, 2021
Workers need bathrooms. https://t.co/ieUPzSbZrw
Good thread here. It's such an outlier for a company to pick a public fight with politicians like this. https://t.co/pfWMLHK6QL
— Aaron Huertas (@aaronhuertas) March 27, 2021
3/3 So what have we done about that? $350B in investments since 2010 & 400K new US jobs last year alone. And while you’re working on changing the tax code, can we please raise the federal minimum wage to $15?
— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 26, 2021
Not a good look, Amazon.https://t.co/jtHYe6DYX2
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) March 27, 2021
This is extraordinary and revealing. One of the most powerful companies in the United States (and the world) can’t take criticism from a politician without acting like on of the most powerful babies in the world. https://t.co/H1GNasfLp9
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) March 26, 2021
At a time of massive wealth inequality, the GOP estate tax repeal bill would give a $1.7 trillion tax cut to the top 0.1% & NOTHING for the 99.9%. It provides:
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 26, 2021
$88B to the Walton family
$71B to the Bezos family
$64B to the Musk family
Just what we need. Totally insane.
Paying workers $15/hr doesn't make you a "progressive workplace" when you union-bust & make workers urinate in water bottles. https://t.co/CnFTtTKA9q
— Rep. Mark Pocan (@repmarkpocan) March 25, 2021
There may well be reasons to break up Amazon, but a sitting US Senator saying they should be broken up for heckling a Senator is authoritarian, censorial nonsense. This is a very bad look. https://t.co/K7euqBo8ZD
— Mike Masnick (@mmasnick) March 26, 2021
Has corporate spin ever been so laughably transparent? https://t.co/uotSyf8Ivt
— Shahid Buttar for Congress (@ShahidForChange) March 29, 2021
Lol I’m pretty sure literally every American is powerful enough to heckle you with snotty tweets.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) March 26, 2021
Nice grandstanding though. Really stuck it to em. https://t.co/JLJW16uaRj
Not sure “no bad tweets” is a viable goal for antitrust policy. https://t.co/zPwOKqzYS5
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) March 26, 2021
"Break up Big Tech so you’re not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets" is perhaps more telling than Warren intended. https://t.co/3jZhgbTOzA
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) March 26, 2021
@SenSanders, we’re proud that we were one of the first retailers to raise our starting wage to at least $15/hr in 2018 & strongly support your efforts to get others to follow. We’re also proud to offer full benefits & a safe, inclusive workplace. Pls visit & see for yourself.
— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 24, 2021
I’ve only been in PR for a couple of decades or so. This is extraordinarily poor thinking for a corporate behemoth that rakes in billions a month. Nobody on Earth thinks Amazon is a victim of anything. If they think they’re going to win the public opinion on this it’s a mistake. https://t.co/vtCzUaE3kw
— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) March 27, 2021
tough read here for @JayCarney. bezos is not happy, but his top executive for communications continues to sit on the sidelines. https://t.co/coi08QS0d5
— mike casca (@cascamike) March 28, 2021
I’ve never seen a giant company and a politician fight on Twitter before.
— ♥️ (@LabelFreeBrands) March 28, 2021
Usually brands just stick to the “how do you do, fellow kids” stuff https://t.co/r6R66ZRXja
This is wrong. Plainly wrong. Let me punish you so you don’t have the freedom to express your thoughts about government officials? Give me a break @SenWarren https://t.co/N94KZXZ2WB
— Marcelo Claure (@marceloclaure) March 27, 2021
.@SenWarren disagreement is not the same as heckling. You need to check yourself if you seek to silence critics of your decisions or actions as a senator. Regardless of your disdain for their "snotty tweets", Amazon can tweet snot at you all day. Bring tissue, not cancel culture. https://t.co/pBFveFf53u
— Michael Steele (@MichaelSteele) March 27, 2021
Wow this is super disingenuous — big companies like @amazon [and others!] hire armies of lobbyists & accountants to influence tax policy in their favor; they make major political contributions on top of that too!
— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani ? (@AnnaForFlorida) March 27, 2021
Hard to just change a system influenced from the inside & outside! https://t.co/h3WZwOnmqn
Facebook’s spokesdude @andystone has been rogue on Twitter for some time. Now @amazonnews has launched what is basically a troll account. Fascinating development in the ongoing Trumpification of big tech https://t.co/M8h5dpAxzk
— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) March 26, 2021
When did Amazon hire Neera Tanden to run their Twitter account? https://t.co/j5ZS7WWaui
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) March 26, 2021
Ok this is obviously Dave Clark tweeting on this account lmao no one working in PR would ever do this https://t.co/7H9Cp5zXlF
— Olivia Katbi Smith ? (@oliviakatbi) March 27, 2021
The Muskification Of Jeff https://t.co/bWcgjtxCNL
— libby watson (@libbycwatson) March 28, 2021
there is nothing more American than heckling Senators https://t.co/akR7Ek3vpD
— allen farrington (@allenf32) March 28, 2021
One great thing about America: every citizen is powerful enough to heckle U.S. Senators with snotty tweets anytime we want, and when a Senator suggests she will change that, she is abusing her power. https://t.co/jV9puGxd7n
— Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64) March 26, 2021
Amazon’s new Twitter game is a risky one https://t.co/99vcJKO2DO
— ? Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) March 27, 2021
Like the tweet thing was dumb, but that’s in fact not why Warren wants to break up Amazon.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) March 26, 2021
She’s laid out her idea about it being bad for a company to sell first-party goods while also operating a sales platform, and it’s just not very compelling.
Would love to be a fly on the wall in the meeting where Amazon execs decided petty shitposting at members of Congress was a solid PR strategy
— Kris Vire (@krisvire) March 26, 2021
This you? https://t.co/HtyJsuj0jW pic.twitter.com/QZpsriA3ph
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 26, 2021
2/3 In 2020, we had another $1.7B in federal tax expense and that’s on top of the $18 billion we generated in sales taxes for states and localities in the U.S. Congress designed tax laws to encourage investment in the economy.
— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 26, 2021
Lots of aggressive or perhaps excessive calling attention to itself PR that may seem out of character for a company comes from this exact impulse https://t.co/ihnfsnHNRB
— Matthew Zeitlin (@MattZeitlin) March 28, 2021
There’s an incredibly strong possibility that this single PR Twitter account is going to become so hated it will be responsible for the first actual tax increase in this country in 30 years https://t.co/idy1HPsJ2k
— August J. Pollak (@AugustJPollak) March 26, 2021
Amazon has 91% favorability among Americans. That's what it's thinking about when it lashes out. https://t.co/BQsPvpyriY
— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) March 27, 2021
Amazon is so obsessed with Warren and Sanders that you'd swear they were customers. https://t.co/w6imVkeg4m
— Corey Quinn (@QuinnyPig) March 26, 2021
Apparently, Amazon News might be the company’s Worldwide Consumer CEO overriding the PR ppl and taking matters into his own hands. It feels like this is all building to... something. If that something benefits Amazon, expect other huge orgs to experiment with combative comms too https://t.co/l3S0rqGJlO
— James Roberts (@jroberts332) March 26, 2021
I was on the fence about this unionization thing until I saw Amazon’s official Twitter account. Not a good look, y’all. https://t.co/IJaawy61Js
— Kyle Whitmire (@WarOnDumb) March 26, 2021
There’s a big difference between talk and action. @SenSanders has been a powerful politician in Vermont for 30 years and their min wage is still $11.75. Amazon’s is $15, plus great health care from day one. Sanders would rather talk in Alabama than act in Vermont.
— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 26, 2021
Amazon plumbs new depths of pathetic. https://t.co/t6lYmdh7US
— Azeem Azhar (@azeem) March 27, 2021
It is fascinating that they are doubling down here with this bonkers strategy, which means IMHO it pretty much has to come from Bezos. Maybe now that his archenemy Trump is gone, he feels emboldened. But I wonder who the Dan Scavino of Amazon is here.
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) March 26, 2021
one thing i will give the amazon account is that i didn't previously know it was possible to feel embarrassed on behalf of a trillion dollar company https://t.co/PUjTc8LuBW
— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) March 26, 2021
this will (continue to) backfire. https://t.co/pCN9IKW1tW
— drew olanoff (@yoda) March 26, 2021
literally the only good thing about this site is being able to heckle politicians with snotty tweets https://t.co/DKwMh12lrx
— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) March 27, 2021
Seriously, what is Amazon doing? Like they need more reasons for people to hate them??
— Patrick Beja (@NotPatrick) March 27, 2021
I’d guess it was a lone Community Manager’s misguided work, but these days you really can’t be sure. Might be Bezos trolling to shots and giggles for all we know... ? https://t.co/c2qVqVJgKm
honestly the whole Amazon PR twitter piss bottle flame war smacks of "high level comms going aggro because the CEO appreciates aggression rather than passivity"
— rat king (@MikeIsaac) March 26, 2021
(i have no inside knowledge)
im normally a pretty big warren stan but her twitter intern needs to simmer down a little https://t.co/0WxT4aZzTF
— Gapeway Pundit (@canderaid) March 28, 2021
Politicians call Bezos greedy for having $x billion. But he didn't do this by taking more Amazon shares. He did it by growing revenues and thus the share price. So if he'd opted not to build AWS, that would have been the more moral choice, because then he'd have been less greedy?
— Paul Graham (@paulg) March 27, 2021
Did the former president help shape this? https://t.co/0mVLaxROMw
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 27, 2021
This PR strategy is extremely confusing to me, especially considering it’s directed at a member of Congress who, you know, has at least some power? Maybe it just reflects the tech companies’ disdain for Congress...which I get but which also seems dangerous for them? https://t.co/kEdr5U8p31 pic.twitter.com/htBRpHBunw
— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) March 26, 2021
Lots going on here but I’m focused on a Senator thinking it’s appropriate to use the power of the federal government to punish a company for heckling her on Twitter, which is kind of terrifying https://t.co/KfZgiV7wvt
— Leon Wolf (@LeonHWolf) March 26, 2021
I don't know who at @amazon decided picking fights on Twitter and employing professional sock puppets was the way to go but holy shit is it a terrible strategy, just cartoon villain levels of bad. https://t.co/CkGKj2Ebn3
— Laurie Voss (@seldo) March 28, 2021
AOC trolls Amazon with its own email scolding drivers for pooping in bags https://t.co/N0wRl0Y9n5
— Robert holgate (@415holgate) March 28, 2021