Twitter goes bonkers over Innocent’s fake conkers drink
Smoothie maker Innocent, famous for its playful advertising, has been forced to warn people not to eat conkers after putting out an advert for a fake autumnal drink.
The company’s promotion of a new range of Innocent nut milks backfired when it included a seasonal addition of conker-based milk, telling customers: “Your taste buds are about to be conkered.”
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While it’s won plenty of affection for insisting its (definitely green) Bolt from the Blue smoothie is blue, its #conkermilk hashtag last week was not a hit.
Users quickly pointed out that a milk made from conkers firstly is not possible and secondly is actually poisonous.
“Firstly, you can’t milk a conker,” Dee replied on Twitter.
“Most importantly, a horse chestnut (often called a conker) is NOT edible. It’s poisonous & can cause paralysis or death if eaten.
“Sweet chestnuts used below BUT calling it Conker Milk in a bid to be clever about “conkering milk” is reckless.”
Innocent was quick to own its social media snafu, tweeting: “We made a mistake. Now we’re trying to put things right.”
“We didn’t think anyone would believe Conker Milk was real,” it admitted.
“No one even believes our blue drink is blue. Just to be safe, we thought we’d mention we were using edible sweet chestnuts, not inedible horse chestnuts. That did not clear things up.
“We reckon the best thing we can do is hold our hands up, admit we messed up, and say DO NOT EAT CONKERS. Over and over again. In big capital letters.”
And that’s exactly what Innocent did – at least nine times.
And it released a video that it called: “A public service announcement about not eating conkers.”
Like Innocent, Twitter fans didn’t take the apology too seriously.
Some even suggested they were still a little confused.
Others still hadn’t got the message about yellow snow – we hope they do before December.
Others found that being told not to eat conkers made them oh so thirsty for a tall glass of conker milk.
But this tweet, if no others, laid bare the consequences for all of us if people do start eating conkers.
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So please, everyone, pay attention to Innocent and do not eat conkers.
Main image credit: Innocent Drinks