April 20th Is a Date, Not News

Guys, exploiting 4/20 is low hanging fruit.  No effort.  But considering the real tragedies that have happened on April 20ths past, I guess I should be glad that only stoners are getting exploited over something frivilous.

But Huffington Post, there is no excuse for how you handled advertising an update to your March 30th article "McDonald's Will Test All Day Breakfast." Let's look at this:

I will give them credit.  They said kind of.  But there are major problems here.  First of all, that's not the name of the article.  Second, despite the kind of, does that not imply that everyone could just go to Mickey D's after 10:30 and just get a Sausage McMuffin just because it's April 20th?  Thirdly, that's not even how you spell Mickey D's, Huffington Post. Get it together, guys.

The article is an update of one published last month, announcing that McDonald's is testing all day breakfast in select San Diego chains - starting today, April 20th.  McDonald's offends me.  First of all, be true to your roots guys - IE can't get all day breakfast love?  You came from San Bernardino.  Second of all, really?  You make it easy for news media outlets to bait readers.  For shame, guys.  I know it's basically free advertising... but come on.  You couldn't have started next Monday when three weeks ago you said, "within the next month or two?"  Three weeks definitely qualifies as being within a month or two, but the delivery still seems kind of early.

Shame on Huffington Post for dangling such bait, and shame on McDonald's for making it easy for them to do so and also not giving me all day breakfast.  I will accept my apology in the form of multiple Sausage McMuffins.  You can stop when you're forgiven.

Anti-Click Episode 2: The All Hillary Episode

This week on the vlog, I handled some Hillary Clinton related click bait. This is what the copy I read from actually said:

Hello, welcome to Anti-Click, where I review click bait so you don't necessarily have to. I'm your host Amanda filming at scenic wherever I have wifi. On Sunday, Hillary Clinton announced she would once again be running for President - let's look at some of the ways the former senator, Secretary of State, and First Lady has been used to garner views - and I just have to warn you, there is little creativity.

Let's start with the NPR article "5 Things You Should Know About Hillary Clinton." Does this article mention the Presidential hopeful's stance on important issues? Of course not. It mentions things like shehas not driven a car since 1996, and that she's been involved in a lot of scandals. The article admits that last one is common knowledge, so it really does feel like they chose the number for the clicks.

Huffington Post, however, took it further with "17 Little-Known Facts About Hillary Clinton That Have Nothing To Do With Her Politics." At least it admitted that it was non-political, and it really only repeats that Hillary Clinton has not driven a car since 1996. However, this article has flaws, starting with the title. That's a title I expect from Cracked, not HuffPost Politics. The URL shortened it to "Hillary Clinton nonpolitical facts" - what was wrong with using that? Also, am I supposed to be comfortable getting political coverage from a source that captions a picture "LOLLLL?" This isn't Buzzfeed.

Speakig of Buzzfeed, they contributed to this stunning Hillary coverage with "Here's Hillary Clinton Ordering a Chicken Bowl at Chipotle." I have to give them credit - the title isn't that click-baity, and they didn't caption any pictures "LOLLLL," making me feel slightly more comfortable getting political coverage from them. But this isn't news. Who cares what Hillary Clinton orders at Chipotle?

Well, apparently, everyone because New York Time's The Upshot ran "Hillary Clinton's Chipotle Order: Above Average." To be fair, The Upshot is "less essential analysis" - but come on. How is it this much easier to know what Clinton ordered at Chipotle than it is to find out what she actually said in Iowa? I feel like a stalker for trying to read the news.

That's it for this week. Feel free to leave whatever you want in the comments - praise, criticism, recommendations for articles, and I'll be back next week for more Anti-Click.

Huffington Post Baiting Stoners With An Ice Cream Burrito

I love ChocoTacos, so I think an ice cream burrito sounds heavenly and I definitely would want to hear about it. So what could I possibly have against HuffPost Taste's article "Ben & Jerry's BRRR-ito Is Bringing Ice Cream And Burritos Together At Last"?

Well, this is how they presented it on Facebook.

The BRRR-ito, which will only be served in Ben & Jerry's scoop shops, makes its debut on April 20th. The article fails to deliver on the bait, responsibly reporting on the ice cream dream and waiting until the closing line to make any obligatory 4/20 mentions. And despite the April 20th launch of waffle coned heaven, the article would have been fine without any 4/20 mentions. It's an ice cream burrito; that is an all the time treat.

Commit to playing up 4/20 or don't, but the half-assed attempt at being hip makes this article 91% click bait.