Wesley Hilliard
Apple's use of #TakeNote on Twitter to promote its new iPad lineup has taken NBA fans by surprise — as it is the official hashtag of the Utah Jazz.
While hashtags aren't exactly the property of a company or entity, they can be used for advertising campaigns and tied to a for-pay hash flag. Apple tends to tie a hashtag and official hash flag to an event or announcement.
Hash flags are little animated icons that appear after a sponsored hashtag. Every NBA team uses sponsored hashtags to promote social media content, and the Utah Jazz promotes #TakeNote.
However, without any warning to the NBA team or its social media counterpart, Apple's CEO Tim Cook tweeted out a promotion for upcoming iPad announcements using #TakeNote. The hashtag trended under sports and basketball on Twitter for a while before the official Apple hash flag went live.
Happy to have everyone taking note #TakeNote https://t.co/Kc9qYT1fCx
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 18, 2022
An original tweet by Utah Jazz said, "Well, this is awkward." It has since been deleted.
To make matters more interesting, Tuesday, October 18, begins the NBA 2022 to 2023 basketball season. The official team hashtags do not have sponsored hash flags during offseason, but Apple has stolen an official hashtag the morning it would have been taken by the Utah Jazz.
The phrase "Take Note" isn't new to the team. It was briefly retired before being revived in 2019. It is still shown as the official hashtag at the top of the team's Twitter profile despite having an Apple hashflag.
It isn't clear what the Utah Jazz will do in response. The team seemingly discovered the hashtag takeover the moment it happened. Perhaps they can return to their less popular #TeamIsEverything in the meantime.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
15 Comments
Utah has a basketball team?
on a related note? I’d totally pay to hear the Tabernacle Choir do the blues.
"Stole" is a super stretch. Even your story says so. Apple should have vetted the hashtag before using it for the refresh. But if they're smart, Utah will use the publicity to its advantage.
Always felt that hashtags were one of the worst ways to organize information imaginable. Completely random. No surprise something like this happened.
replaced tweet: "Happy to have everyone taking note "
Contradictory. If nobody owns them, then how can one be stolen?
Yes, Apple should have done some research in advance to avoid this, but it's not going to hurt anybody. If anything, it raises even more awareness.
When, I see "Jazz", I think music, not basketball. Now I'm enlightened. Thanks Apple!