Overview

#AskJPM was a promotional hashtag launched by the American multinational banking company J. P. Morgan to provide college students an opportunity to communicate directly with a senior executive in November 2013. However, upon its launch, the hashtag was immediately hijacked by Twitter users criticizing and mocking the company for its alleged unethical business practices.

Background

On November 6th, 2013, the official J.P. Morgan Twitter feed announced that it would be hosting a live Q&A session with Vice Chairman Jimmy Lee on November 14th:

Hashtag Hijacked

On November 11th, Twitter users began asking humorous and critical questions using the #AskJMP hashtag, many of which accused the company of being greedy and participating in unethical business practices.

Notable Developments

Q&A Canceled

On November 13th, the @jpmorgan Twitter feed announced that the Q&A had been cancelled and was a "bad idea." In the first 48 hours, the tweet received upwards of 1,400 retweets and 680 favorites.

Following the cancellation, Twitter users began using the #AskJPM hashtag with more frequency. According to the Twitter analytics site Topsy,^[1] tweets containing the #AskJPM hashtag peaked on November 13th with over 27,700 mentions (shown below).

News Media Coverage

On November 13th, several news sites published articles about the hashtag backlash, including the New York Post,^[2] the New York Times Dealbook blog,^[3] The Huffington Post,^[4] Business Insider^[5] and The Wall Street Journal.^[6] On November 14th, several notable tweets were read aloud by host Stacy Keach on the CNBC true crime television program American Greed (shown below).

Notable Examples

In the coming days, compilations of notable example tweets using the #AskJPM hashtag were posted on several business news sites, including ZDNet,^[7] The Street^[8] and Marketplace.^[9]

Search Interest

External References