But it&#x27;s nothing like a pinboard with a group of friends. Instagram (I wrongly assumed it was Twitter) allows you to only share with friends; this post would be more like posting on a public bulletin board with a giant flashing sign that says &#x27;CROCS(tm) PLZ LOOK.&#x27;<p>Hashtags are generic, certainly, but this usage was contextually relevant (with photographic proof) and clearly meant to represent that entity. Additionally, crocs is their registered trademark -- it&#x27;s not unreasonable for them to search a massively popular image publishing platform for images their customers choose to share attached to their brand, nor for them to take those images and say &#x27;Look at these happy customers!&#x27; in a non-commercial context (ie: on their website, in a photo gallery of customer photos).<p>I believe it&#x27;s straightforwardly analogous to mailing the photo directly, though perhaps posting to every bulletin board in the country with a giant label might be a more exact match.<p>If anything a (public) hashtag implies you want it to be easily seen by the entity tagged -- or anyone interested in it -- as a tag doesn&#x27;t specify an individual.