We started the week with the fantastic trending topic #FoxNewsFacts. A ‘terror expert’ had been on Fox News talking about how Birmingham is a Muslim-only city and that there are parts of London where Muslim religious police beat and wound anyone who doesn’t dress in Muslim attire. I’m paraphrasing the idiocy, here it is in all its glory (he really ramps up the madness at 1m40s).

Unsurprisingly, Twitter went into overdrive as users shared their own made up stats about Birmingham tagging them with #FoxNewsFacts. The HuffPo have pulled together some crackers – some of my favourites

David Cameron called him an idiot, Emerson issued an apology (including the classic ‘donation to a childrens’ charity) an Fox News also issued an apology live on air.

Now, while we (read: non-regular Fox News watchers) have a good giggle about the rampant stupidity on Fox News (you’ll not be surprised to learn that this type of disregard for anything even close to the truth is a regular occurrence on the network), the problem is that it is a hugely popular media outlet in the US and many of its viewers will have believed the original statement. Or, to put that in wresting terminology:

Terrifying.

Cadbury Creme Egg Gate, or the definition of First World Problems

Many people across the UK lost their shit completely this week as Kraft announced it was not only changing the packaging of Cadbury Creme Eggs to include just five rather than six eggs, but that it would also change the recipe for the chocolate.

“It’s no longer Dairy Milk. It’s similar, but not exactly Dairy Milk,” a Kraft spokesperson said.

I’ve tried one of these Creme Egg abominations.

Because I am open to experiencing new cultures and tastes and all that.

Vile. Inedible. Flat out disgusting.

So forgive me if I don’t get the outrage here. To me, the outrage is that these things are produced in in the first place.

Anyway, Cadbury’s Twitter account quickly went into damage control mode, responding to people who asked why the packs would now only contain five eggs.

Strangely they decided to tweet back images comparing the new with the old egg, completely missing the point of the questions. Not only that, they went for the good old ‘copy & paste’ approach, using the same statement, over and over again. Questions about the type of chocolate used were responded to with a similar copy/paste gusto, but at least these responses were on point.

No surprise then that signing off for the weekend with a community manager’s staple TGIF message, Cadbury received nothing but angry messages from its followers.

These are just the first three of many responses to that Tweet

https://twitter.com/moretym/status/556135241912696833

Nothing sums up the whole thing as being the definition of #FirstWorldProblems than this fabulous, tongue-placed-firmly-in-cheek song about the horrific changes to Cadbury Creme Egg.

Bits and bytes

  • Interesting review of how UK newspapers are set up for the digital world. No surprises to see the Guardian and the Mail Online at the top of the list
  • Last week we had A Post About How Teenagers Use Social Media By An Actual Teenager and we all went a bit loopy over it. In response, UK blogger Mummy Barrow checked in with her two kids and asked them about the channels they use. Pretty much none of them, except for WhatsApp
  • Photography from the in-game world of GTA V. Entirely bizarre, surprisingly beautiful and very meta
  • Not only did Christiano Ronaldo win the Ballon d’Or competition this week (Manuel Neuer was robbed, robbed I tell you!), he also came in third in the somewhat less prestigious Fallon d’Floor award
  • Blackberry tweets about keeping up with the conversation on Twitter using your Blackberry… from an iPhone. The Message was deleted, but not quickly enough as the screenshot from The Verge shows
    blackberry.0

Videos of the week

This Girl Can – an excellent film by Sport England that celebrates the women who are doing their thing no matter how they do it, how they look or even how sweaty they get. They’re here to inspire us to wiggle, jiggle, move and prove that judgement is a barrier that can be overcome.

The Chokeables – an important message from St John Ambulance about how to save a baby from choking, delivered by the everyday items that are often the culprits.

Common sense policies, for common sense people – The Pub Landlord intends to stand in the general election for the hotly contested Kent constituency of South Thanet as part of the Free United Kingdom Party. And yes, this is legit.

And finally

Created by @edent

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