Previous social media fails like #McDStories may have left users with a bad taste in their mouth, but it is hard to imagine a bigger fail than Koch Industries' efforts. To be fair, it's challenging to whitewash a brand that many people associate with election shenanigans, but it is hard to imagine a worse social media fail.

In conjunction with the company's national TV blitz, viewers were directed to the #WeAreKoch hashtag. However, a prankster registered the @WeAreKochs username for use as a parody, and unleashed a torrent of insulting and hysterical posts pointing out the company's ethical lapses and fringe politics, concurrent with the TV media blitz. The posts struck a chord with users, who retweeted at a strong pace despite the account's initial lack of following. That left the hashtag populated with posts like: