The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) posted job offers online, but had to quickly remove them when they turned up on the Web site of a notoriously violent gang!
According to the CBC, an RCMP banner ad ended up on the same page as a message board featuring death threats to rival gangs. The Web site was that of the U.S.-based 18th Street Gang, with more than 20,000 members in Los Angeles alone.
The RCMP ads ended up on the gang’s site because of their common hosting provider: Lycos. The RCMP had apparently not specified that its ads should not appear on gang-linked sites.
The RCMP had the ads pulled right away when it heard about the unfortunate association. Lycos donated free advertising space in compensation.