Regularly, marketers debate whether advertising on social media can be a hazard. Ads on Twitter and Facebook can be mocked by members. Despite the chance for exposure to what may be millions of people, the possibility of a reputation undermined by critics and fools has become more dangerous as time passes and more advertisers turn to new media to drive sales. Twitter ads could be the best case in point.

Recently several widely known brands like Toyota Motor Corp.’s (NYSE: TM) Lexus, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) have turned to Twitter as a means to reach people who may not use older media as much as in the past. Time spent by people clearly has moved away from print and television to social media, if most research about the trend is correct.

But, a sampling of Twiiter use and its challenges is easy to come by. Advertising for the new Lexus 2014 IS, retweeted by luminaries such as John Battele, includes these reactions:

How can the 2014 IS win you a luxury experience???? GrownUp and become an @Acura_Insider |

And:

@Lexus I keep trying to get prices at Bay Area dealerships and they don’t reply. What’s with that?

And:

An American Express message #PassionProject, retweet by Xerox (NYSE: XRX) for some reason, got the following reactions:

Please follow me at @ThePRCloset for tips on how to break into beauty PR #passionproject

That one is a shameless self promotion.

And:

Have you checked out TVFury.Wordpress.com today? Fresh stuff on the Times paywall and a weekly notebook. #passionproject (another attempt to point people to a project which appears to have nothing to do with American Express’s.

American Express also has made the mistake of letting parties related to the project comment about it, positively and often:

Ogilvy & Mather ‏@Ogilvy 17h 10 Things You Must Give Up To Move Forward by @marcandangelhttp://tmblr.co/ZDQa7spdczv8  Weekend Wisdom via @AmericanExpress‘ #PassionProject (cl)

Ogilvy is likely the American Express ad agency.

Lufthansa USA ‏@Lufthansa_USA 11 Jul
A3. We’re really feeling Italy recently! http://bit.ly/16vg6BU #TNI Q3. What dream destination have you already visited? #PassionProject

The German airline likely has a promotion relationship with the credit card company.

And finally:

Greentech Media Inc. ‏@greentechmedia 17 Jun : “Intelligent Efficiency: Innovations Reshaping the Energy Efficiency Market”
@greentechmedia What R U doing? Trolling 4 ppls info 2 sell? U encourage 2 download rpt but in xchange we must provide info? U R DESPICABLE!

And:

@greentechmedia Ive learned to be weary of anyone claiming to be “green”.Sometimes, the bad guys will coop the name.

Why take the risk with Twitter at all?

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