Apple's hash flag shown on the Utah Jazz Twitter profile
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Apple's use of #TakeNote on Twitter to promote its new iPad lineup has taken NBA fans by surprise — as it is the official hashtag of the Utah Jazz.
While hashtags aren't exactly property of a company or entity, they can be used for advertising campaigns and tied to a for-pay hash flag. Apple tends to tie a hashtag and official hash flag to an event or announcement.
Hash flags are little animated icons that appear after a sponsored hashtag. Every NBA team uses sponsored hashtags to promote social media content and the Utah Jazz promotes #TakeNote.
However, without any warning to the NBA team or its social media counterpart, Apple's CEO Tim Cook tweeted out a promotion for upcoming iPad announcements using #TakeNote. The hashtag trended under sports and basketball on Twitter for a while before the official Apple hash flag went live.
Happy to have everyone taking note #TakeNote https://t.co/Kc9qYT1fCx
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 18, 2022
An original tweet by Utah Jazz said, "Well, this is awkward." It has since been deleted.
To make matters more interesting, Tuesday October 18 is the beginning of the NBA 2022 to 2023 basketball season. The official team hashtags do not have sponsored hash flags during offseason, but Apple has stolen an official hashtag the morning it would have been taken by the Utah Jazz.
The phrase "Take Note" isn't a new one for the team. It was briefly retired before being revived in 2019. It is still shown as the official hashtag at the top of the team's Twitter profile despite having an Apple hash flag.
It isn't clear what the Utah Jazz will do in response. The team seemingly discovered the hashtag takeover the moment it happened. Perhaps they can go back to their less popular #TeamIsEverything in the meantime.
