One Day at a Time fans are campaigning to keep the show going, parents are bribing their kids’ way into college, a start-up tried to cash in on the anxiety economy, and more recent headlines taking over social media…
1. Netflix’s Latest Show Cancellation Is Not Going Over Well
One Day at a Time has been cancelled, and fans are not taking the news lying down. According to Entertainment Weekly, Netflix decided earlier this week to not continue the show that’s earned critical acclaim for its representation of a Cuban American family led by a single mother suffering from PTSD into its fourth season. The brand’s Twitter post explaining that “simply not enough people watched to justify another season” is getting a savage treatment in the comment section and by other posters, like @soniasaraiya, who called the move “a colossal failure.” But fans aren’t giving up on the show just yet. The hashtag #saveodaat is racking up posts of people campaigning for the show to either continue on Netflix or be picked up by a competing network. One fan in particular stands a chance of swaying someone to continue the series, considering he was instrumental in keeping Brooklyn Nine-Nine on the air: Lin Manuel-Miranda (per Uproxx). The celebrity dropped a hint to NBC already, tweeting, “Hey @nbc…I hear you like comedies with built-in fan bases that do even better on YOUR network than at their previous homes…#saveODAAT.”
2. Operation Varsity Blues Is Upending Higher Education
The #CollegeCheatingScandal has taken over the internet, as people laugh at, make memes about, and voice their anger at the wealthy parents who paid upwards of $500,000 each to get their kids into USC, UCLA, Yale, Stanford, and other schools. In what the FBI is calling “Operation Varsity Blues,” BuzzFeed News reports that coaches and administrators were allegedly paid $25 million between 2011 and 2018 to fake students’ test scores and status as athletic recruits. What’s making the massive scam even more viral is that two of those parents are celebrities, Felicity Huffman and Lori Laughlin (yes, Full House memes abound), and the latter’s daughter is a YouTuber. The College Board and the schools themselves are cracking down on admissions processes and firing those that accepted bribes, while many accused parents have been arrested. Many on Twitter are also using this opportunity to call out broader systemic issues of an institution that Gen Z is increasingly skeptical about, like @bessbell, who tweeted, “Now that the Hollywood Bribery Ring has been busted, the only thing helping rich kids get into college are legacy admissions, private tutors, board member connections, unpaid summer internships, interview coaches, and a lifetime of Ivy-bound grooming!!!”
3. A Startup’s Attempt To Cash In On The Anxiety Economy Is Called Out
Millennial brand Hers/Hims took the anxiety economy too far in their latest ad campaign. The company recently advertised for Proponolol, a prescription medicine used to treat social anxiety. Their caption leads with “Nervous about your big date?” and includes an image of a peppy model popping a pill; which come in minimal, pastel-colored packaging. @GelCream and @EsteeLaundry called out the brand’s promotion of a drug that they deemed at best overpriced and at worst dangerous, showing how tricky the world of prescription advertising can be. Many commenters also complained that the ad asks people to suppress their emotions and encourages those without anxiety to seek out Propanolol prescriptions. Before the backlash, Forbes made the point that this ad campaign could help the 80% of those that don’t treat their social anxiety, and Women’s Health clarifies that beta blockers are used for short-term situational anxiety like a job interview, or yes, a first date. But that doesn’t change the fact that many are drawing a line for how companies can cash in on mental health with Millennial marketing—weighted blankets are fine, prescription meds, not so much.
4. #TrashTag Is the Next Ice Bucket Challenge
Teens are trading their Tide pods for trash bags in the cause-driven #trashtag challenge. According to CNN, the hashtag was actually started in 2015 by outdoor apparel brand UCO, but recently resurged with the help of Byron Román, whose post of a dramatic before and after of an area covered in litter (and then all cleaned up) went viral across platforms with the caption, “Here is a new #challenge for all you bored teens. Take a photo of an area that needs some cleaning or maintenance, then take a photo after you have done something about it and post it.” Now, Time reports that Instagram is littered (sorry) with posts of people doing the good deed and encouraging their followers to do the same. Positive accounts like @themostwholesomememes and @boyscoutsofamerica are racking up likes for posting under the tag, and #trashtag itself has over 31,000 posts of people showing off how much trash they bagged up.
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