Monday brings us the first total solar eclipse in the U.S. since 1979, the first eclipse in the era of social media. Predictably, #brands were ready to capitalize on the event with some timely #marketing.
This is a boring part of the background noise of capitalism, and nobody really cares. Until the brands start fighting among themselves on Twitter. You may not be in the “totality zone” for the eclipse, but you’ve got a front-row seat for Hostess snack cakes getting owned by Moon Pie.
This morning, Hostess declared its Golden CupCakes food product “the official snack cake of the eclipse.” The company probably thought this was noncontroversial, because it’s a dominant #brand in the snack “space,” and because the title “official snack cake of the eclipse” is meaningless.
Hostess has declared Golden CupCakes the official snack cake of the eclipse. #SolarEclipse2017 pic.twitter.com/dnCJx0yqPr
— Hostess Snacks (@Hostess_Snacks) August 21, 2017
But it’s not a damn cupcake that’s blotting out the sun today, and Moon Pie wasn’t about to let Hostess forget it. Whoever runs Moon Pie’s social media accounts is having a very good day.
Lol ok https://t.co/lobyuNOkee
— MoonPie (@MoonPie) August 21, 2017
Hostess clearly did not see that coming. They never considered Moon Pie a legitimate threat. And, faced with a very good own from a smaller brand, they had to think quickly to defend their arbitrary position as “the official snack cake of the eclipse.”
And they came up with “Uhhh, well, uh … a pie is not a cake?”
“Cake” not pie. There’s enough moon to go around.
— Hostess Snacks (@Hostess_Snacks) August 21, 2017
No one’s buying it. Moon Pie is not literally pie, and Moon Pie’s tweet has been liked 100,000 times. That’s more “likes” than Hostess has followers.
https://twitter.com/UnholyMoses/status/899635385604689924
Even the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is associating Moon Pie with Monday’s astronomical event.
Ancient astronomers long ago predicted the hundredth anniversary of this trademarked snack. #Eclipse #Eclipse2017 pic.twitter.com/d0vTrRRQfX
— USPTO (@uspto) August 21, 2017
Sometimes, you just have to admit you’ve been eclipsed.
