When a corporate PR director creates a Twitter crisis!

After her offensive tweet about AIDS and race went viral while she was on a flight, people have been waiting for IAC PR director Justine Sacco to land, making “#HasJustineLandedYet” the most popular trending topic on Twitter.

Justine Sacco was, until Friday, the top PR person for InterActiveCorp, the New York media conglomerate run by Barry Diller. IAC owns the Daily Beast, Vimeo, About.com, Match.com and Ask.com, among many others. On her now-deactivated Twitter account, Sacco called herself a “troublemaker on the side” known for her “loud laugh.” Perhaps it was inevitable that this self-image would clash with her high-rolling position.

Sacco became the topic of Internet discussion after she tweeted, “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” Sacco has not responded though her account has been deleted. Gogo, which provides wireless Internet on flights, used the occasion to highlight its service.

https://twitter.com/Gogo/statuses/414238239411945472

#HasJustineLandedYet

Social Media Rule #7: “If you’re willing to put it on a billboard, you can post it”. Public relations professional Justine Sacco probably didn’t think much of the tweet as she sent it from London’s Heathrow Airport shortly before boarding a 9-hour flight to South Africa. But as the director of communications for a billion-dollar media company, didn’t imagine a new hash-tag #HasJustineLandedYet will be created following tasteless joke.

https://twitter.com/umairh/status/414255543445123072

LOL. RT @morningmoneyben: Oh my RT“@BirdPlaneKray: #HasJustineLandedYet http://t.co/ovBVpERO6h”

— 🤌🏾 Imani Gandy 👆🏾 (@AngryBlackLady) December 21, 2013

Waaaakaka! #HasJustineLandedYet pic.twitter.com/WcGAfSiWs0

— Mr G (@warrenlegrange) December 21, 2013

Finally a good news: Someone has registered the domain name justinesacco.com and has redirected it to the Aid for Africa donations page.