Most major brands are on Twitter, but obviously it wasn’t always that way…. A few weeks ago, Twitter turned eight and also shared a tool so that anyone could discover his first tweet. We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about whichbrands are doing it right on Twitter and which ones are the funniest, but we thought we take a look to see who actually “got” Twitter from the very beginning.

Most brands used their first tweet as a way to simply announce their arrival to the platform. Even brands we’ve come to love for their original and fun tweets seemed to tread lightly. Some just didn’t seem to really get it at all.

SmartCarUsa

Follow us on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/smartusa
— Official smart USA (@smartcarusa) July 29, 2009

Arbys

Is this thing on? So, what shall we talk about?
— Arby's (@Arbys) June 29, 2010

Delta

Approving some friend requests on my myspace page: http://tinyurl.com/2aw9w7
— Delta (@Delta) May 10, 2007

Wendys

Welcome all of our Wendy's fans to our new page!
— Wendy's (@Wendys) July 27, 2009

Starbucks

Welcome to Starbucks Twitter land!
— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) August 12, 2008

And just so you don't think we’re picking on those brands, we promise that’s just a small sample. Almost every brand we now love to follow started out in a way that was pretty forgettable.

However, we did find a few brands that took small risks and were funny, clever, or engaging from their very first tweet.

1. Skittles

February 4, 2010

We’re obsessed with Skittle’s tweets nowadays and this first one certainly doesn’t live up to their current standards, but we like the play on “Taste the Rainbow”/ “Tweet the Rainbow.” It’s cute and on brand.

I have awoken! Time to tweet the rainbow.
— Skittles (@Skittles) February 4, 2010

2. Taco Bell

October 22, 2008

Taco Bell is another brand we love to follow, mostly because they consistently make us laugh. Their first tweet wasn’t humorous, but it made a huge impact and also showed they understood Twitter from the beginning by tweeting about an event a lot of people were tuned into AND offering free tacos.

Taco Bell is going big once again. If any player steals a base in the 2008 MLB World Series, America get’s a FREE taste of Taco Bell!
— Taco Bell (@TacoBell) October 22, 2008

3. Nike

December 29, 2011

Nike was a bit late to the game, not tweeting until the end of 2011, but at least their first tweet was on-brand. It also fell right before New Year’s, which is obviously the biggest time of year for people to get excited about fitness.

If You Have A Body, You Are An Athlete. -Bill Bowerman http://t.co/PPE1BSs8
— Nike (@Nike) December 29, 2011

4. @JetBlue Airways

July 2, 2007

JetBlue was one of the first brands to actively engage with Twitter and they came out swinging strong with their announcement that they were the official airline of of Springfield—the home of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson—as part of a partnership with 20th Century Fox to promote The Simpsons Movie. Considering the demographic of the animated feature, it seems like it was a perfect fit.

Woo-hoo! I am the official airline of Springfield! Aye carumba!
— JetBlue Airways (@JetBlue) July 2, 2007

5. Waffle House

April 14, 2009

Waffle House took a real news story and turned it into a tweet promoting their business. In short: perfect.

BREAKING NEWS: Bacon may cure hangovers. http://tinyurl.com/BaconCuresHangover Saturday mornings just got better @ Waffle House.
— Waffle House (@WaffleHouse) April 14, 2009

6. Hamburger Helper

March 6, 2013

Definitely late to the Twitter game (they didn’t join until a little over a year ago) and nothing crazy, but short, sweet, and a nice nod to the product and what it does.

Hi, guys. We're here to help. #helper #hamburgerhelper
— Helper (@helper) March 4, 2013

6. Budweiser

January 27, 2013

Another brand that was surprisingly slow to join Twitter, we would be disappointed if, having the information about social media they did, Budweiser hadn’t come out of the gates strong. They did a great job with their first tweet, sticking to iconic Budweiser imagery and engaging users by asking them for their ideas.

This year's #SuperBowl star? Our new #Clydesdales foal — and we need help to name it. Tweet us ideas via #Clydesdales. pic.twitter.com/knVsSyQp
— Budweiser (@Budweiser) January 27, 2013

7. The Onion

March 3, 2008

Pretty much exactly what we’d expect from The Onion…

The Onion reluctantly expands its Inter-net presence via Face-book. Damn the lot of you! http://urltea.com/2u7n
— The Onion (@TheOnion) March 4, 2008

8. Newcastle Brown Ale

Newcastle joined Twitter and then did nothing. We love that they acknowledged and made fun of that with their very first tweet.

Imagine a world where Newcastle didn’t make one single tweet for 1,393 days straight. Whether you like it or not, that world is now gone.
— Newcastle Brown Ale (@Newcastle) January 9, 2013

9. Sesame Street

November 3, 2009

We love Sesame Street and we love that their first tweet was from Elmo.

EL: Hi everybody! It’s Elmo! Coming to you from Twitter!! YEAH, baby!
— Sesame Street (@sesamestreet) November 3, 2009

10. Google

February 25, 2009

Translation: “I’m Feeling Lucky” in binary.” And yes, we had to Google that. Well played, Google. Well played.

I'm 01100110 01100101 01100101 01101100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101100 01110101 01100011 01101011 01111001 00001010
— A Googler (@google) February 26, 2009

11. HBO

September 12, 2009

Meta.

An NHL game in 1972 was the first program ever broadcast on @HBO. This is our first tweet.
— HBO (@HBO) September 14, 2009

12. Disney Pixar

June 9, 2009

Cute, sweet, and perfectly in line with what Pixar represents.

As Buzz would say, "To infinity and beyond!" Though, in this case it's "To the Twitterverse and beyond!" Either way, we're happy to be here!
— Disney•Pixar (@DisneyPixar) June 9, 2009