While You Were Offline: Free Nuggs. Pls RT

March 20, 2019 Off By EveAim

As of this writing, most of the internet is discussing the US missile strike in Syria, Russia's condemnation of it, or some combination of the two. Oh, you thought Twitter suing the government to keep its users' identities secret would be the most controversial story this week? Nope! In fact, that was just a blip on the internet radar. (And, FWIW, the government dropped its request for Twitter user data, causing Twitter to drop its suit.) Think you might have missed some important happenings online last week? Well, read on, dear friend. Here's everything you might have missed during the last seven (very busy) days on the web.

Free Nuggs

What Happened: The Wendy's Twitter account promised some dude free chicken nuggets if he got enough retweets. That dude went on a mission.
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, media reports
What Really Happened: In yet another example of fast-food Twitter weirdness, Wendy's promised a user named Carter Wilkerson a year's supply of nuggets if he could get 18 million retweets. Wilkerson immediately went to work:

His plea seemed like a long shot, but eventually it started getting traction—amassing over a million retweets in 48 hours and rallying others around his cause.

Even Wendy's was cheering him on.

Soon, mainstream media picked up the story and Wilkerson had his own Twitter Moment. The attention didn't get him much closer to his goal, though. But considering that Ellen DeGeneres' Oscars selfie only surpassed 3 million retweets, his quest was surprisingly successful.
The Takeaway: So far, Wilkerson has amassed some 1.7 million retweets, but that number is climbing.

The Ballad of Devin Nunes

What Happened: When House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes stepped down from the government's investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election, the internet stepped up with some commentary.
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, media reports
What Really Happened: Let's journey back to a more innocent time last week, when the biggest thing in the world appeared to be the news that Devin Nunes was recusing himself from the government's ongoing Russia probe. It was a big deal, especially considering Nunes had said he wouldn't leave his post. So why'd he do it?

Oh, OK. As the news broke, Twitter responded as one might expect Twitter to respond:

But while some were noting just how devastating investigations into the Trump administration's potential ties with Russia had been—

—others were complaining that Nunes had surrendered too easily.

Some conservatives, however, were happy to see Nunes go, if only to welcome his replacement.

The Takeaway: Another day, another upheaval in Washington. Speaking of…

The Nuclear Option

What Happened: It might seem like the internet isn't a big fan of tradition, but the response to the changing of rules in the US Senate might suggest otherwise.
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, media reports
What Really Happened: It was a big week in the US Senate, as the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch heated up. Firstly, Democrats lined up enough votes to filibuster the nomination, leading to this suggestion to Senate Republicans:

Rewrite rules or abandon Gorsuch and come up with an alternative option? In these partisan times, it's easy to guess which option the Republicans chose.

And so, amid a sea of +++inset-left

WIRED Opinion

(https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-gorsuch-vote-shows-the-old-senate-is-dead/) and analysis, the die was cast.

How did that go down, do you think?

The Takeaway: This probably won’t backfire on the Republicans, right?

Oops in Advertising

What Happened: You guys, you like being politically aware? You like Pepsi? What if we mix those two flavors together? Oh, it’s a disaster? Oh, OK then.
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, media reports
What Really Happened: It was, quite simply, the advertisement that no one could quite believe was real. Last week, Pepsi released an ad featuring Kendall Jenner that showed the reality star/model joining a protest and bringing police and protesters together with the power of Pepsi. To call it problematic would be an understatement. In fact, let’s just let Twitter handle this, shall we?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Pepsi ended up pulling the ad within 48 hours.
The Takeaway: The real winner of this whole PR disaster? Coca-Cola, probably.

History Lessons

What Happened: Turns out, it might be too soon for the FBI to start saying nice things about someone it once investigated. Who knew?
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, media reports
What Really Happened: Last week marked the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., an occasion honored by an unexpected source:

Yes, that’s definitely an FBI tweet celebrating a man the agency had a complicated history with. Twitter?

The Takeaway: This seems to sum the whole thing up, really.

The Corrections Dept.

What Happened: The New York Times accidentally published some fake news last week. The paper then issued a quick (and embarrassing) apology.
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, media reports
What Really Happened: Everyone loves a good newspaper correction, and this one was better than most.

And even that correction was corrected.

Yes, the original version apparently forgot that Trump actually has two daughters.

The big question, though, was how the mistake had managed to not only be made by the writer, but also get past editors. There was one dominant theory.

The internet, naturally, saw the humor in the gaffe.

The Takeaway: This guy gets it.

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