Nutella learns the hard way that you don’t mess with perfection, the Stranger Things fandom buys $400K worth of hoodies (in a day), Apple’s bug infected the internet, KFC wins social media (again), and other stories gone viral this week…
The Week of #Nutellagate
Nutella is learning the hard way that you just don’t mess with perfection. This week, Ferrero—the Italian company that makes Nutella—had to admit they tweaked the hazelnut spread’s recipe to include more milk and sugar, after being called out by the Hamburg Consumer Protection Center in Germany through Facebook. Despite Ferrero stating that “the quality . . . and all other aspects of Nutella remain the same,” including nutritional value, fans have expressed outrage and are sharing their frustrations with the hashtag #Nutellagate. Trending responses include “why not draw a mustache on the Mona Lisa too?”
Apple Forever Changes A [?]
Last week, Apple forever changed the way the internet sees the letter “I” after releasing iOS 11.1: a software update that came with dozens of new emojis, security updates, and a keyboard glitch that replaced the “I” with “A [?]” (or in some cases an exclamation point or a hashtag). The bug has since been squashed, with a new software update released yesterday, but for over a week many Apple users, including high profile celebrities, came together to share their frustration, celebrate the new “I,” and offer hilarious solutions. Although the iPhone glitch of 2017 is now over, its memes will live forever.
KFC Wins Social Media Again
A man from Sioux Falls has gone viral for a second time, after KFC painted him riding piggyback on Colonel Sanders. Earlier this month, Mike Edgette blew the internet’s mind after tweeting his discovery about the fast food chain’s Twitter account: “@KFC follows 11 people. Those 11 people? 5 Spice Girls and 6 guys named Herb. 11 Herbs & Spices…” The tweet racked up over 700,000 likes and 300,000 retweets. To express their gratitude, KFC sent Edgette an epic painting, which has prompted a large response, bought up questions like “How did KFC find out what Edgette looks like?” and even created a Reddit conspiracy theory that Edgette has since denied.
Stranger Things Fans Buy $400,000 in Museum Hoodies
Stranger Things has drummed up a lot of excitement since its season two release, and this week the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul got to see the fandom’s passion pay off first-hand. Through a flood of social media posts, phone calls, and emails, the local museum learned that one of the characters on the show wore a vintage museum sweatshirt with a print of a Brontosaurus skeleton they sold in the ‘80s. Deterring fans from knockoffs, the museum posted a promise on Facebook to bring it back—and on Tuesday they did. Thousands of fans flooded the museum’s website that day purchasing $400,000 worth of merchandise by the afternoon, and crashing the site in the process. Also in the news for fandoms: today is a big day for 13 Reasons Why fans.
Links We’re Passing
One woman has started a new Instagram trend that’s all about showing off your chins, an all-in-one magic cream is going viral on Amazon, and the live gameshow app Millennials can’t get enough of.
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