The State Department has apologized a tweet in which it suggested unattractive American spring break vacationers need to be extra vigilant regarding scams abroad.
The State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs uses the Twitter account to post “travel tips and advisories for Americans going abroad.”
The person in charge of the account used the “number system” common among some people to rate another’s attractiveness. From Yahoo! Travel:
The tweet seems to be warning the non-10s out there against allowing themselves to be duped by out-of-their-league spring break suitors who, it’s implied, are either trying to scam them for drinks or rob them — either way, conning their lesser-looking ass into handing over their money.
The tweet triggered backlash and ridicule across the social media platform.
It even spawned a parody account.
The department issued an apology shortly after the backlash began.
They told people they did not specify gender since attacks can happen to anyone, though the number system is usually used towards women.