What could possibly go wrong? Everyone loves Apple, don't they? And U2 are one of the biggest-selling rock bands in the world, so when Apple decided to give away free copies of U2's new album, surely the world would rejoice! Well, not exactly...
According to the UK newspaper, The Independent, the free U2 album that was auto-downloaded by iTunes has proved to be a "PR disaster".
"...negative social media reaction to the giveaway seems to have proved that you can’t give U2 music away these days, and that Apple has misread its relationship with its customers.Personally, I'd have preferred an album by Dolly Parton. Or maybe The Andrews Sisters. Is there any way I can do a swap? Now rest the rest of The Independent article.
U2-haters went to town, with some tweets mocking the band’s philanthropic reputation: “Makembe is 12. He has to walk eight miles for clean water. His iTunes account has a free U2 album. Please donate to help make this pain stop.”
Rapper Tyler, The Creator said discovering the free album on his iPhone was “like waking up with a pimple or like a herpes … Fuck Bono. I didn’t ask for you, I’m mad.”
Apple was forced to release a tool to remove the album from its customers’ accounts, with a dedicated webpage providing step-by-step instructions."
