Have you guys been paying attention to the State Department’s Spring Break tips? Because you really, really should be. They are just awful.
The account—which, by the away, is verified—has been dispensing bizarre advice to would-be travelers since the beginning of March. The tweets feature spelling mistakes, strange tips, and vaguely offensive assumptions about other countries.
John Kerry, come get your people.
The “campaign” launched on March 3rd and included the hashtag #springbreakingbadly, which is, objectively speaking, amazing:
Travelers- its Spring Break! have an overseas spring break travel goof story? Tweet us it using #springbreakingbadly pic.twitter.com/A2mHF1QJnL
— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) March 3, 2016
“Travel goof story”! How goofy!
The following tweet—which has since been deleted—caused some outrage:
After it was sent, it prompted this beautiful response:
@AustinChristie @wfburchell19 exactly our point! because you have money, you may be targeted. #springbreakingbadly https://t.co/Z2n0ByP3KB
— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) March 30, 2016
Man, that’s not weird and vaguely racist or anything!
@MaryAnnHogle to be clear we arent advising against travel to Istanbul. Suggest read Turkey Travel Warning & enroll in STEP before travel.
— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) March 30, 2016
They’re telling you not to go to Turkey, Mary Ann.
Somebody offered you a free trip abroad, but the free luggage they offered is lined with cocaine. Beware of these scams #springbreakingbadly
— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) March 29, 2016
Honestly, if I found a suitcase lined with cocaine, I’d be pretty happy, but that’s just me.
https://twitter.com/embed/status/715269922331340801
Definitely sounds like a scam!
Hopping on a bus across the border? Be sure you have enough money for trip or could end up broke & 1000 miles from home #springbreakingbadly
— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) March 30, 2016
Thanks for the tip, guys.
Check your stuff to make sure you aren’t carrying any banned items such as guns/ammo into your destination country. #springbreakingbadly
— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) March 24, 2016
Always a good idea to check for long-forgotten firearms before you go anywhere.
Check through bags before traveling – dont transport anything for someone you dont know. Dont carry illegal drugs ever. #springbreakingbadly
— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) March 21, 2016
“Dont carry illegal drugs ever.” Nice!
spring break travelers – consider skipping unlicensed events like pub crawls. High risk of spiked drinks/robberies/etc. #springbreakingbadly
— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) March 8, 2016
No pub crawls, ever. Ever!
We’ve reached out to the State Department’s social media team for comment and will update this post when we hear back.
Update: The account has now tweeted an “explanation”:
Some have been offended by our earlier tweet and we apologize that it came off negatively (1/2)
— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) March 30, 2016
Update 6:21 pm: For some reason, the account appears to have deleted its second apology tweet, but we’ve got a screenshot:
