It’s been a week where the new trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens proved it was possible for the Internet to be optimistic about something without a wave of cynicism immediately following it, and a genuinely amazing music video from David Hasselhoff proved that irony has itself discovered irony and now no one knows what they really like and just pretend to like anymore. (No, really, go watch that video; it’s nuts.) With all that in mind, here are the other highlights from this thing we call Internet over the last seven days.
The New Hero of Star Wars
What Happened: Never mind the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser; the thing that really blew up on the first day of Star Wars Celebration is the next movie’s new droid, BB-8.
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs, media think pieces
What Really Happened: It’s not as if the world hadn’t seen BB-8, the droid that debuts in this December’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens; he showed up in the first teaser for the movie last year. But when he rolled onto the Anaheim stage during the first panel of this year’s Celebration on Thursday, the Internet went mad for one simple reason: He wasn’t a CGI special effect. He was real.
Within hours, he was being called “the adorable new Star Wars character you’ll love more than your parents,” with posts trying to summarize everything we know about him and explain how he worked (Not to mention stories about the company responsible for creating the technology behind him.) The new trailer was great, but BB-8 has quickly become a phenomenon.
The Takeaway: If BB-8 toys don’t rule America this holiday season, someone’s going to get fired.
In Chipotle, Nobody Can Hear You Canvas
What Happened: How much does America love prospective presidential nominee Hillary Clinton? Apparently not enough to recognize her when she visits a local Chipotle.
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs, media think pieces
What Really Happened: A day after Hillary Clinton launched her presidential campaign celebrating “everyday Americans,” she did the most everyday American thing she could think of: She went to a Chipotle restaurant for lunch, and impressively, nobody recognized her. “She has these dark sunglasses on,” the manager of the restaurant told the New York Times. “She just was another lady.”
That wasn’t enough for the media, however, which immediately went into over-analysis mode. Was the choice of restaurant a “masterly move”? Maybe not; after all, it meant she bypassed the more “centrist” Taco Bell. Maybe it was “Hispanic outreach.” But, really shouldn’t we be thinking of the people who made the food that she ate? After all, she didn’t even tip.
Twitter, too, felt compelled to weigh in on the subject:
The obsession with the subject reached such a point that a backlash started, with Jon Stewart’s Daily Show leading the way.
The Takeaway: On the plus side, Clinton’s campaign was the first to launch without any obvious online disasters, but as this kerfuffle quickly demonstrated, that didn’t mean that we’d get a lot of coverage of the issues. As Stewart ruefully commented on TDS, it’s going to be a long campaign. Oh, and that’s not even all Hillary got up to this week…
At Least It Wasn’t Comic Sans
What Happened: The Clinton campaign’s new logo is very eye-catching. So much so, in fact, that it’s already gone viral. Well, kind of.
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs, media think pieces
What Really Happened: As this very site pointed out Wednesday, the Internet has gone insane for the Clinton campaign’s logo. While designers and cynics may call Michael Bierut’s design “uninspired,” others found themselves excited by it—although perhaps not for the right reasons:
Soon enough, WikiLeaks had weighed in:
Meanwhile, someone gave the logo a Twitter account, which commented on the response:
As might be expected, the logo and its response prompted many think pieces, including one asking other designers to take their own swing at it, but it’s worked out for one man: Rick Wolff, who created a new typeface based on the logo, known by most as “Hillvetica.” (It’s official name is Hillary Bold, but the nickname stuck.) A GoFundMe campaign to manufacture the font was an immediate success, more than doubling its modest goal and allowing the Internet to do things like this:
Well, at least the Clinton campaign seemed to roll with it:
The Takeaway: As above: This is really going to be a long campaign…
Sizzler Knows What America Needs (Or, At Least It Did in 1991)
What Happened: A promotional video intended to sell potential franchise owners on Sizzler back in 1991 leaked online. It is, to be blunt, spectacular.
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs, media think pieces
What Really Happened: It’s genuinely difficult to explain the appeal of the Sizzler promotional video that showed up on Reddit earlier this week. In fact, you should probably just watch it for yourself to get the full flavor.
As is only right, the clip quickly spread across the Internet, sharing its patriotic message with everyone (even if some haters didn’t appreciate it). And, man, was the Internet ready to receive that message:
While Sizzler’s corporate response to the ad’s revival was charming enough (“We’re very humbled by the thousands of wonderful posts from our customers,” a statement from the company said), Esquire tracked down Stan Beard, the man behind the music in the video, who had the most appropriate reaction to the whole thing: “You don’t think things have changed so drastically in 24 years, but holy crap.”
The Takeaway: Sure, we can look back and laugh now, but just think what people in 2040 are going to think of all the commercials we’re currently watching. Holy crap indeed. Maybe we should drown our sorrows at Sizzler.
If Internetenfruede Isn’t a Word, Dennis Quaid Sure Wishes It Was
What Happened: When footage of Dennis Quaid freaking out on set appeared online, many thought that the Inner Space actor had finally snapped. Turns out, he was trying to catfish the Internet’s gawkeratti.
Where It Blew Up: Twitter, blogs, media think pieces
What Really Happened: At the beginning of the week, video of Dennis Quaid having a meltdown on set leaked online, reportedly because someone wandered onto set during a particularly intense scene and ruined his moment. (Watch it below, but the language makes it NSFW.)
The clip went viral, but the majority of the coverage was interestingly suspicious, convinced that it was fake. Indeed, Jimmy Kimmel even went so far as to deny responsibility, because so many people were assuming it was his handiwork. Turns out, while Kimmel wasn’t to blame, it was still a prank, as Funny or Die revealed midweek.
So, what was the point? It’s unclear, beyond “Haha, fooled yoooou!” Although some believe it was intended to raise Quaid’s profile ahead of his upcoming Crackle series, The Art of More.
The Takeaway: As always, don’t believe anything you see on the Internet.
Why Don’t You Tell Us All What Happened to You?
What Happened: Finally, someone has realized just how nosy the Internet really is. And they want to make sure you realize, too.
Where It Blew Up: Blogs, media think pieces
What Really Happened: We’ve seen the plea many times: brands wanting to know how you use their products, inviting you to “tell us your story.” It’s not always phrased that way, of course; sometimes, it’s an invitation to “share your story,” but the idea that you have a story is always primary. As Slate puts it, “having strong personal preferences—and maybe even a story!—about a certain soft drink doesn’t seem totally out of the realm of possibility. But a Depends story? A Chick-fil-A story? A GLOCK STORY?” Thankfully, then, there’s Tell Us Your Story, a Tumblr dedicated to tracking the many, many companies that want to help you tell your stories. Did you know, for example, that Preparation H wants you to tell your hemorrhoid stories? Or that Clorox would like you to share “your bleachable moments”?
The Takeaway: On the one hand, it’s almost affirming to believe that we’re all made up of stories that everyone wants to hear. On the other hand, marketing. Although, come to think of it, we really wouldn’t mind seeing how other people define “bleachable moments”…
