That Vikings Tweet You Saw Was Fake
Here’s to hoping you didn’t fall for it.
That Vikings Tweet You Saw Was Fake
An infamous parody account got the best of many — and made a lot of money — by spreading false information last week on Twitter and Facebook.
The account is called NFC North News, and its specific purpose is to lie, frankly, and stir the pot with purposely erroneous tweets. On Friday, the account struck again by tweeting, “🚨🚨BREAKING: U.S. Bank Stadium plans to be a completely ‘Kill Free’ stadium by switching entirely to plant based meat by September of this year. 🤯🤯🤯 It will also be replacing all ice cream, cheese, and condiments with dairy free options instead. Minnesota would be the first NFL team to have a completely vegan stadium. 👏👏👏.”
The post garnered about 4,000,000 views as of Monday, April 15th, and the tweet had absolutely no basis in reality. It was totally made up, not even a parody of anything applicable.
Earlier this month, the same entity claimed the Kansas City Chiefs could be heading to Chicago:
That tweet, too, was utterly false and designed to make money with blatantly wrong intel. It’s NFC North News’ modus operandi, intentionally misleading the masses — a makeshift football version of The Onion.
The problem? Folks didn’t realize the U.S. Bank Stadium tweet about veganism was parody. @darkdonnie replied, “Go Woke go broke…………………….”
@cxryze wrote, “And there goes my desire to travel to all NFL stadiums as a bucket list item. 😂Looks like I’ll stick to MLB stadiums for now.”
Facebook replies were even more unhinged. Charles Jones opined, “If true; the Vikings administration has thought this one through. I would for see attendance drop and the most obvious affect would be the concession sales plummet Concessionaires income also suffers greatly! A large part of the game day experience is the food & drink.”
Tim Hahn posted, “This is why I stopped watching football. The rule changes to almost no-contact and the social warriors have ruined the sport. I just want to watch the game and eat a hot dog. I don’t want politics and vegan foods being shoved down my throat. Go back to playing the sport the way it was intended by using real men on and off the field.”
There is no truth whatsoever to the tweet and Facebook post — and almost everything tweeted from that account(s) is fiction. Still, folks took the time to get riled up over nothing.
NFL Memes also screenshotted the tweet — as a joke — and people still replied with anti-vegan sentiments, though the screenshot was very vividly designed as a meme.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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