Hackers Hijack Chipotle's Twitter Account, Tweet F-Bomb and N-Word Insults The global burrito giant fell victim to racist trolls who changed its Twitter profile image to a swastika, then ripped into a profanity-laden tweetstorm that was beyond offensive.
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Racism, it's the last thing you want your brand associated with. Unfortunately, Chipotle didn't have a choice over the weekend. Hackers hijacked the popular burrito chain's Twitter account early yesterday and ripped into an F-bomb-laden tweetstorm tear -- even calling President Obama the N-word.
The egregiously offensive attack started just shy of 1 a.m. E.T. Sunday. First the hackers swapped Chipotle's Twitter profile image, changing its widely recognized hot pepper logo for a jaw-dropping image of a swastika. They also commandeered the description of Chipotle's Twitter account (followed by nearly 600,000-plus followers), claiming it belonged to @TUGFeds and @TheCeltic666. Both accounts have since been suspended by Twitter.
Related: Chipotle Jeopardizes Customer Trust With Fake Twitter Hack Stunt
We apologize for the very offensive messages sent out from our account earlier tonight. We were unfortunately hijacked temporarily. -Joe
— Chipotle (@ChipotleTweets) February 8, 2015Next the cyber attackers announced that Chipotle would close all of its locations -- more than 1,600 in total across the globe -- on Dec. 31, 2015. "@TheCeltic666 has poisoned our meat supply," the tweet read. "LOL F*GS." Ten minutes later another extremely abusive hate speech tweet spewed forth: "We are now in full support of the Nazi Party. *uck that *igger Obama."
Vulgar anti-government rants also littered Chipotle's feed for a time. One read "F*ck the government and FBI, ur all frauds that line ur pockets." @TheCeltic666 claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was perpetrated "for the lulz."
Related: Chipotle Offers Free Burritos in Exchange for...Haikus
All the while, Chipotle appeared to be asleep like the rest of us, issuing an apology tweet well after the attack was in full swing. The Denver-based, fast casual Mexican food giant acknowledged the hateful nature of the appropriated tweets in a 20-word statement of regret.
"We apologize for the very offensive messages sent out from our account earlier tonight," the tweet read. "We were unfortunately hijacked temporarily. -Joe"
The company provided a more official statement to USA Today. "Our Twitter account was hijacked overnight for about two hours during which a series of offensive tweets was posted to the account," Chipotle's communications director Chris Arnold told the outlet. "We apologize for the nature of the posts that were made during that time, and we are now conducting an investigation to try to determine what happened and who might have been involved."
Related: Chipotle Employees Claim the Chain Isn't as Worker-Friendly as You Think
