In this episode of Illumine8 After Hours, Christina and Erik reflect on the past year, naming the best and worst social media moments, television commercials, and products of the year -- with a bonus “that didn’t just happen” moment of 2017.
Because Erik didn't wear an ugly sweater for filming, he was in the running for one of the worst social media moments of 2017.
Have you ever wondered where the concept of ugly Christmas sweaters originated? The jumpers you wear today may have come from your great aunt’s closet, Goodwill, or Walmart, but the people who originally made the ugly sweater popular were Bill Cosby and Chevy Chase in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
Depictions of snowmen, reindeer, and Christmas trees with pom-pom and/or felt applique will continually go in and out of style, but for now, ugly Christmas sweaters are “in” this time of year -- mostly thanks to millennials.
Catch the full episode below, and let us know if you agree with our team’s best and worst choices:
As a bonus, here are the best (and worst) moments of 2017, along with some context:
Best Social Moment
Christina - Wendy’s Most Retweeted Tweet Of All Time
A man needs his nuggets, and almost 3.5 million retweets deserves free chicken nuggets for at least a year. Carter Wilkerson’s tweet even beat Ellen Degeneres’ Oscars selfie for the most retweeted tweet in Twitter history.
Erik - KFC Follows 11 Herbs And Spices On Twitter
This article details the story of a man who randomly noticed that the only 11 people that KFC’s official Twitter account follows are herbs and spices, along with a commissioned portrait of him.
Worst Social Moment
Christina - Tamarrow Tweet
This one hits close to home... actually, right in Frederick County. The Frederick County Public Schools’ web experience coordinator corrected a student’s spelling in a tweet and was later fired for doing so. This caused national controversy.
Erik - US Department Of Education Misspelling
Oh, the irony. Not only did the U.S. Department of Education misspell the name of famous civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois, they also made a typo in the apology tweet.
Best TV Commercial
Christina - Get Your Bud Right Here
Though it sounds great to have a personal beer vendor around you at all times, this commercial quickly turned into a perfect example of “be careful what you wish for.”
Erik - DirecTV “Some People Enjoy...”
This commercial is a team favorite.
Worst TV Commercial
Christina - Chevy “Real People Not Actors”
Someone broke their non-disclosure agreement to give the marketing world some insight on the whole "real people with not-paid-for opinions" thing.
Erik - Anything with the new Verizon spokesperson
These commercials tend to be more awkward than funny.
Best Product
Christina - iPhoneX or Google Home Mini
It was a toss-up between these two innovative products from 2017, fueling the long-lasting technological feud between Apple and Google.
Erik - Super Nintendo Classic
It’s making a comeback! (Erik is really excited.)
Worst Product
Christina - Fidget Spinner
Some of us just don’t see what the big deal is.
Erik - U.S. Men's Soccer
They didn’t qualify for the World Cup, but maybe they will four years from now. (If you were wondering, the U.S. Women's Soccer team is still doing really well.)
“That didn’t just happen” moment of 2017
Christina - Announcing the wrong picture at this year’s Oscars
“And the Oscar goes to…” the wrong person.
Erik - People wondering if their pets need eclipse glasses
The solar eclipse was a big deal… to humans. For pets, it was basically another ordinary day to not look directly at the sun.
What were your bests and worsts from 2017? Let us know if you agreed with our choices!
We’re looking forward to seeing what 2018 has in store for us. From all of us at Illumine8, have a happy New Year:
Illumine8 Marketing & PR is a Frederick, Maryland, firm that combines the power of business development strategy, marketing creativity, and customer-focused sales to deliver sustainable and measurable results.