BVG answers a Twitter shitstorm with humor — #weilwirdichlieben wins Germany's PR awards

Berlin's municipal transit operator BVG was seen as a stiff bureaucrat ('behäbiger Beamter'). In January 2015 it opened a Twitter account asking riders to share why they love the BVG under #weilwirdichlieben ('because we love you'); instead the hashtag filled with complaints, and on 13 January 2015 BVG became Germany's No. 1 trending topic in a national shitstorm.

When a charm-offensive hashtag became a complaint storm, BVG answered with humor and self-irony instead of PR-speak — the hashtag became its brand voice.

BVG's team replied to criticism with witty, self-deprecating tweets, kept the tone across Facebook, Instagram, print and TV, and in December 2015 released 'Is mir egal' — a two-minute viral music video with Berlin rapper Kazim Akboga as a BVG inspector, produced by Jung von Matt — followed by the 'Weil wir dich lieben' YouTube channel.

Within weeks the shitstorm flipped into affection: image tracking showed BVG suddenly perceived as 'cool', 'weltoffen' and 'sympathischer', staff wore heart pins, 'Is mir egal' passed 5.5 million views on the BVG channel, and the campaign won the dpok 2016 best-campaign award, DPWK Golden Funken, ADC and spotlight prizes, plus Red Dot, Effie Silver, Econ and the Neptun Award — with 113,000+ Facebook fans and 78,000+ Twitter followers by late 2016.

In early 2015 Berlin's state-owned transit operator BVG, long seen as a plodding bureaucrat, launched a charm offensive: a Twitter account asking riders to share why they loved the company under #weilwirdichlieben — 'because we love you'. It backfired spectacularly. Instead of compliments, the hashtag filled with complaints and mockery, and on 13 January 2015 the BVG was Germany's No. 1 trending topic in a nationwide shitstorm.

The BVG did not delete, apologize or send legal letters. Its team answered the angry tweets with self-ironic humor — replying to a complaint about ticket machines with a 'Top 5 worst things in the world' list — and within weeks the tone won over journalists and riders. Spokesperson Petra Reetz said a little provocation was intentional; the strategy became a permanent brand voice across Facebook, Instagram, print and TV.

The campaign's most visible artifact arrived in December 2015: 'Is mir egal', a two-minute music video by agency Jung von Matt with Berlin rapper Kazim Akboga as a BVG inspector parodying his own hit song. By May 2016 it had 5.5 million views on the BVG channel. The campaign won the dpok 2016 prize for best campaign of the year by a large company, the DPWK Golden Funken, ADC and spotlight awards, and later Red Dot, Effie Silver, Econ and the Neptun Award — by late 2016 BVG counted 113,000+ Facebook fans and 78,000+ Twitter followers.

It made customers the content: instead of one-way advertising, the campaign lived in public replies to real complaints under the riders' own hashtag — engagement as the product.

The tone was honest about reality: self-irony worked because BVG admitted its flaws rather than pretending everything ran perfectly.

It had the courage to provoke: a public company deliberately risked rubbing people the wrong way, which is what made the voice credible and shareable.

It converted a failure into an asset: the January shitstorm gave the campaign its origin story, and the December viral hit showed the brand could keep the joke going across formats.

A hated monopoly can win by being honest about its flaws: answering critics with humor under their own hashtag turned a shitstorm into community — and built a voice it could use for years.

The #weilwirdichlieben platform ran for years and became the benchmark for public companies in Germany: the campaign's YouTube channel won the 2018 Goldene Kamera Digital award for Best Brand Channel, and later BVG films such as 'My Way' and the UNESCO World Heritage stunt kept the same self-ironic voice. BVG's marketing head said the campaign set benchmarks not just for transit but for public companies generally — and it proved a state-owned monopoly could be the most liked voice in German social media.