New analysis by Meltwater Buzz reveals the depth of animosity towards Qantas' recent social media campaign, which backfired spectacularly.

The Australian airline launched a Twitter contest last week, asking users to tweet about their dream luxury in-flight experiences, for the chance to win toiletries and pyjamas.

The campaign followed industrial action at Qantas in October, which forced to airline to ground its entire fleet for two days, leaving more than 70,000 passengers stranded worldwide.

The Twitter contest soon began to attract of hail of negative comments from users who had suffered from the airline's decision to ground its fleet, and those who thought the contest was ill-timed.

Of the 17,000 mentions that Meltwater Buzz tracked on 22 November, the vast majority carried a negative message. Qantas clearly misjudged the public mood, a critical failure for any public relations operation.