When the Commerce Commission tweeted their preliminary decision to decline the NZME and Fairfax merger application this morning, it ended the tweet with '#stuffme'.
In their defence, it is the hashtag that was being used on social media to discuss the issue; however, the hashtag has a very obvious and rather embarrassing second meaning.
It didn't take the twittersphere long to pick up that a Government agency had used the phrase.
The Commerce Commission said it was just trying to reach its target audience on Twitter.
"We used the hashtag that was in common usage by the audience that is interested in the merger," a spokesperson said.
It's understood NZME and Fairfax New Zealand weren't happy with others making light of their situation and complained.
The tweet was then promptly deleted.
"We have removed the hashtag, as it had become a focus for reaction, and we'd rather that the focus was on the proposed merger and our draft decision," the Commerce Commission said in a statement.
The draft decision was to decline the merger application, saying it would lessen competition, lessen the quality of journalism and increase prices.
Newshub.
