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What a year it’s been for Twitter. The President of the United States has used his timeline to insult constituents and bait unstable enemies. Chief executive officer Jack Dorsey has regularly been the target of abuse due to his social media platform’s ongoing problems with abuse. Verification was suspended because too many white supremacists had their voices amplified by those little blue checkmarks.
While all that was going on, there were some fun tweets. Food brands, in particular, had a good time online this year. A model-turned-cookbook author became the voice of a nation. And, a teenager ensured he will never go hungry thanks to an endless supply of fast-food chicken nuggets. Here now, a fond look back at some of the rare positive moments on Twitter:
In April, 16-year-old Carter Wilkerson posed a simple question to square burger chain Wendy’s: How many retweets would it take for one to receive free chicken nuggets for a full year? The social media person on call for Wendy’s at that moment determined 18 million retweets would suffice.
HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS pic.twitter.com/4SrfHmEMo3
— Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) April 6, 2017
At the time, 18 million retweets would have obliterated the previous retweet record: 3.2 million for Ellen DeGeneres’ famous Oscars selfie. It quickly became clear the global tweeting population intended for Wilkerson to achieve his dreams. Ellen tried to broker a deal with the kid to keep her record intact, but it was to no avail. Wilkerson didn’t get to 18 million (yet), but he is now the all-time retweet champ and awash in a sea of nuggs.
.@carterjwm is now the most retweeted tweet of all-time. That’s good for the nuggets, and $100k to @DTFA. Consider it done. #nuggsforcarter pic.twitter.com/k6uhsJiP4E
— Wendy's (@Wendys) May 9, 2017
Receiving tons of free publicity during Wilkerson’s quest for complementary fried chicken pieces wasn’t the only thing Wendy’s was up to in 2017. The chain’s social media team garnered accolades for regularly tweet-roasting other fast-food brands such as McDonald’s.
.@McDonalds So you’ll still use frozen beef in MOST of your burgers in ALL of your restaurants? Asking for a friend.
— Wendy's (@Wendys) March 30, 2017
Burger King, however, did get a leg up in the Twitter wars by paying to promote a bunch of tweets in which folks complained about the removal of spicy chicken nuggets from the Wendy’s menu. It was a wild year for the two rivals.
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2017 was also the year when Moon Pie, the Chattanooga, Tennessee-based dessert/snack company, made the leap to Weird #Brand Twitter. This account developed a distinct Nihilist Arby’s tone.
If you are feeling sad just pretend your name is Moonpie for a second and then read this https://t.co/WfsbmbO5xn
— MoonPie (@MoonPie) October 10, 2017
A MoonPie will taste delicious whether you are happy or even if you cried a little earlier
— MoonPie (@MoonPie) October 27, 2017
It’s as good a day as any to stick a MoonPie in the microwave light a couple candles and scream into a soft pillow
— MoonPie (@MoonPie) November 30, 2017
If no one RSVP's to your house party try switching the name of the party to “MoonPie House Party” and see if that helps otherwise it's time to come to grips with the reality that your house just isn’t that fun
— MoonPie (@MoonPie) December 8, 2017
In November, frozen pizza company DiGiorno took aim at delivery giant Papa John’s. After PJ’s founder and chief executive officer John Schnatter complained that his company’s sales were down because of some National Football League players protesting by kneeling during the pre-game national anthem (Papa John’s is the official pizza of the NFL), DiGiorno unloaded.
Us:
— DiGiorno Pizza (@DiGiornoPizza) November 1, 2017
Them:
Better Pizza.
— DiGiorno Pizza (@DiGiornoPizza) November 1, 2017
Better Sales.
Update:
— DiGiorno Pizza (@DiGiornoPizza) November 2, 2017
— DiGiorno Pizza (@DiGiornoPizza) November 2, 2017
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Schnatter’s comments eventually took his company’s image from bad to worse as white supremacists let it be known that they were wholeheartedly endorsing Papa John’s. Chrissy Teigen, who won Eater’s Media Personality of the Year award in part because of her excellent tweets, provided the perfect response to this bizarre controversy.
I guess trying to find a non-racist pizza is our new world, everyone
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) November 2, 2017
No one could better express the exasperation and resignation social media-conscious Americans are feeling at the end of a draining 12 months than Teigen.