Condiment juggernaut Hellmann’s is famous for their mayonnaise- a product which is already polarising enough in its own right. As if that wasn’t enough, on October 7th, the brand had a new recommendation to share with the world- the implementation of mayonnaise as a coffee additive.
The Hellmann’s Twitter account boasts over 37k followers and provided the backdrop for much of the ensuing discourse. The verified account tweeted out:
A Tweet which was, understandably, met with some trepidation:
Burger King even decided to jump on the bandwagon, appearing to offer some sort of unholy alliance between the two brands:
The story doesn’t end there, though, as Hellmann’s doubled (and tripled) down on their statements after the outrage it caused:
Luckily (or unluckily, depending on your point of view), these bizarre and horrific mayo-coffee tweets weren’t entirely unprovoked. As one Twitter user explained in the replies to Hellmann’s original statement, the posts were a response to a statement made by an American college football player:
And, to top it all off, Duke’s Mayo Bowl roasted Hellmann’s for their slow uptake on the joke, claiming they’d already been there and done that:
Did we really just witness two mayonnaise brands preparing to throw hands over Twitter?
If Hellmann’s and Duke’s Mayo Bowl starting beef online over which brand made their thinly-veiled attempt at outrage marketing first doesn’t scream late-stage capitalism to you, I don’t know what will. I just feel sorry for the social media managers who had to sit behind a screen and churn out these gut-wrenching Tweets. Why does it feel like mayonnaise is always the most unholy of the condiments?
Don’t put mayo in your coffee.
