Jeep, Burger King, MTV, and BET. What do these big names have in common? Before this week, when the car manufacturer, fast food mogul, and TV networks all became apparent victims of Twitter hacks, not a whole lot. But now we’re looking at them differently, and–regardless of what outlandish material they tweeted out and whether or not their accounts were actually hacked–marketers are left with a few takeaways from the social blunders.

Take the Good with the Bad

MTV and Viacom seemed to agree with the sentiment: “all press is good press”. The networks, both owned by Viacom, decided to pursue some good-natured mutual hacking  after seeing all the buzz generated by Burger King and Jeep’s hijacked accounts. And while I’m sure the actual victims weren’t thrilled about their temporary loss of control, the proof is in the pudding. Burger King netted a reported 30,000 new followers following the stunt.

Acknowledge & Assure

Rather than sweeping the incident under the rug, Burger King subtly acknowledged the situation and took the opportunity to welcome their new followers.

Jeep also gave a quick nod to the mishap and assured their followers–new and old–that they were in fact back.

Recover Like a Champ

Rogue tweets ranged from good to bad to ugly, but what really matters is how the brands reacted once they regained control. After cleaning up their respective hack jobs, an unlikely friendship seemed to sprout between Burger King and Jeep in the form of a couple good-natured tweets.

Onwards and upwards for two huge brands, for whom things could have been a lot worse. I’m sure that–after recovering their accounts, updating their passwords, and getting back to business–they were able to have a laugh at all the buzz generated (by no efforts of their own) and enjoy a huge and unexpected boost in followers. There’s nothing better than having the last laugh.