Hello fellow web crawlers! Kira here. Welcome to today’s edition of web_crawlr.
Today’s top stories are about: Rep. Mike Collins’ dark joke about the Kennedy family, the backlash over Apple’s dystopian ad for the new iPad, a former airline worker’s time-tested hack for getting cheap flights, and the response to – and censorship of – Macklemore’s new pro-Palestine song.
After that, dig into a new “Meme History” column from Kyle.
P.S. — If you didn’t take our weekly news quiz yesterday, there’s still time! Just open yesterday’s newsletter and answer the question. If you guess correctly, you might win a “Take Me Out To The Blog Game” shirt!
Until next time,
— K.D.
⚡ Today in internet culture
😬 POLITICAL BLUNDERS
‘This is beneath a member of Congress’: Representative Mike Collins makes light of JFK assassination on X
Collins’ tweet about “a Kennedy with a hole in the brain” did not go over well.
📱 HUMANS VS MACHINES
‘Crushing human creativity’: Apple’s new iPad Pro commercial featuring hydraulic press falls flat
The ad isn’t having the effect that Apple might have wanted.
✈️ TRAVEL HACK
‘She is correct’: Ex-airline worker says this is the only consistent, true way to get cheap flights anytime
“I scream this from the rooftop I just bought a one way for $24,” one commenter wrote.
🎤 WHEN POLITICS MEET POP CULTURE
Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song ‘Hind’s Hall’ is stirring reactions online
Rapper Macklemore was applauded on social media for his song in support of Columbia University protestors. Shortly thereafter, YouTube and Meta age-restricted the track.
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🤓 Meme History
By Kyle Calise
Video Producer
Meme History: Woman Yelling At Cat
Meme History is a weekly column that dives deep into internet lore to uncover the history of famous memes. It runs on Saturdays in the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. If you want to get this column a day before we publish it, subscribe to web_crawlr, where you’ll get the daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
🕸️ Crawling the web
Here is what else is happening across the ‘net.
💸 A single mom who was only a Verizon customer for a week says the company mistakenly charged her $10,000.
🍴 In a viral video, a restaurant worker dished the dirt on his company and accused them of possibly stealing tips.
💄 Sephora employees have long shared the particulars of their job with relish online, happily ending years of gatekeeping of the beauty retailer’s internal practices for keeping track of customers and products.
📦 Amazon seller has gone viral on TikTok after revealing a unique and lucrative side hustle that’s left many consumers outraged.
🌽 A nail technician announced she would be throwing away cans of Great Value corn potentially exposed to harmful chemicals in a viral video posted to TikTok.
🖌️ Lead paint was banned by the U.S. government in 1978, but that isn’t stopping someone from advocating for lead paint in 2024. The video drew a spectrum of responses.
👮 From the Daily Dot archive: A background check company is secretly paying cops on TikTok to push its services.
👋 Before you go
Imagine you’re in line at Walmart, your cart filled with the usual groceries, when something unusual catches your eye. The shopper ahead of you isn’t just buying a few groceries; they’re buying every single frozen pizza in Walmart.
That’s exactly what happened to Francisco Corcia (@franciscocorcia). And Corcia captured it in a nine-second clip that has since gone viral. The video amassed over 598,400 views and counting.
The video, filmed at the Walmart checkout line, reveals a shopper ahead of Corcia purchasing an exorbitant quantity of Great Value brand Rising Crust frozen pizzas.
In the comments section, speculation ran rampant as viewers attempted to decipher the motive behind the massive pizza haul.
