A controversial Vitaminwater advert that implied the drink can replace flu shots circulated social media this week. Naturally, it caused outrage. But the bigger problem? It was from 2011.
Despite the fact the advert was near a decade old, many shared it and commented on how irresponsible the advert is, which reads ‘flu shots are so last year’ next to images of the drink with tags like ‘more immunity’ and ‘less snotty tissues’. At a time when anti-vaxxers continue to threaten the global health of children and adults alike, the advert is more troubling than ever.
But that’s the thing, it’s not from our time. It’s from eight years ago. And yet, the adverts were shared far and wide, receiving thousands of shares and likes before some users pointed it out. Even now, the posts stating the fact this advert has long been condemned have far fewer likes and shares.
It’s not dissimilar from a story the outrageous wedding story that was circulating earlier this week, one which you probably saw and discussed at length with colleagues and friends. In that case, a post appeared on Facebook – taken from Reddit – which appeared to show a bride cancelling her wedding and using the funds her family had donated for it on a holiday.
‘We than each and every one of you for your generous early donations to our money fund. Can you believe we have raised over $30,000?,’ the post read. ‘Don’t worry, the money you’ve donated will not be spent in vain but rather used towards a honeymoon in coming months. After we regain financial stability and hold calm in our hearts…we will announce a new wedding date and re open our money fund for any further gifts.’
The ensuing drama in the comments of the post – which saw the wedding party kick off and family members demand their money back – naturally caused huge debate on social media. But, when you dig a little further, the post proves difficult to validate. In fact, BuzzFeed later confirmed that the post was a marketing stunt.
Now, it’s understandable why so many would believe stories like this are real. Not just because they appear very real, but also because most of us can’t fathom putting so much time and effort into a fake story with no obvious pay-off (it turns out, the people responsible banked on users being so interested in the original Reddit post that they would eventually go to their website for the rest of the story, where more screenshots were exclusively hosted).
Yes, believing it or not believing it isn’t necessarily the issue at hand. Because, what’s more concerning is the number of people sharing and reporting this information after it has been proven false. That’s right, many sources reported the story as news only to then reveal it might be a stunt.
It’s one thing to share something you believe to be true, but to share it knowing the story is false just for the sake of outrage only undermines the entire integrity of reporting. It might get attention, it might increase readers or viewers, but it also increases the mounting distrust in the media. The result of that distrust? A system that can’t do its fundamental job: to hold power to account.
The result of media distrust? A system that can’t do its fundamental job: to hold power to account.
When people like Donald Trump are capitalising on fears of fake news by damning legitimate news sources, it’s never been more important for trustworthy platforms to maintain their integrity.
What this issue does is teach us two things: to think twice before sharing something that can’t be validated and to dig deeper when a social media post appears too outrageous to be true. A quick google search would confirm the validity (or lack thereof) of Vitaminwater's advert – and it would save us all from unnecessary outrage.
After all, there’s too many real issues to be outraged about to be wasting it on fake news.
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