( CNN ) -- On Twitter , even the best intentions can lead to disastrous results . That 's what happened to the NFL 's New England Patriots this week , when the football team 's attempt to reward their followers on Twitter turned into a social media manager 's worst nightmare . It all began Thursday morning , when the Patriots tweeted they were celebrating reaching 1 million followers by thanking fans with `` custom digital Pats jerseys . '' The `` custom digital jersey '' was actually a photo of the back of a Patriots jersey displaying a fan 's Twitter handle where the player 's name appears . So if your Twitter handle is , say , @ ILoveCookies , you got a tweet from the Patriots account that included a photo of the jersey with @ ILoveCookies on the back , along with a thank-you note . But what if the Twitter handle contains a racial slur ? The Patriots did n't think that through . When a Twitter user with the name @ IHateN*****ss asked for a jersey of their own , the Patriots cheerfully responded . `` @ IHATEN*****SS Thanks for helping with 1 million followers ! '' the tweet said , along with the promised photo of a Patriots jersey bearing @ IHATEN*****SS on the back . The tweet stayed up for about an hour , to the incredulity of those online who spotted it . Soon after , the tweet was removed and the Patriots issued an apology . The Patriots ' fiasco is the second major social media fail we 've seen this week . Comedian Bill Cosby , who is facing allegations of rape , learned that encouraging Twitter to use his photo for a meme did not go the way he expected . Although Cosby has denied the allegations , people still mocked him by creating their own meme images that included rape jokes . Check out the gallery above to see more major social media blunders .
The New England Patriots had a social fail on Thursday . The football team inadvertently posted a video that included a racial reference . It 's the second social media gaffe this week . Earlier , Bill Clinton 's # 1 went awry .