As the world gets vaccinated against Covid-19, there have been a lot of opinions bandied about. But the most recent weigh-in has come from an unexpected source, and it's caused somewhat of a stir. Yup, kids TV sensations of yesteryear, The Teletubbies have tweeted, and followers have taken issue with a great deal of the content – but not for the reasons you think.
The tweet, which includes images of Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po's vaccination cards, includes at least one major factual mistake, which fans were not willing to let go. And while we're used to the topic of vaccination causing some fierce discussion, we were both surprised and tickled by some of the responses. See the tweet below, and these Illustrator tutorials if you want to try making something less controversial.
We’re all vaxxed! Just in time for a Tubby hot summer ☀️ Who's ready to come out & play pic.twitter.com/AtXTExaCMsJuly 7, 2021
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Can you spot the non-vaxx related error? Check out the enlarged image below if you haven't yet noticed.
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Clue: Look at the date of birth (Image credit: The Teletubbies on Twitter)
As die-hard fans will know, the Teletubbies first began life in 1997. And with the vaccination cards stating the colourful, um, aliens (is that what they are?) were born in 2003, there is somewhat of a timeline issue going on here. While some followers ask if the Teletubbies are time lords and others are confused by them being 18 years old, there are those who have a more complex reading of the situation:
- There is some kind of organization presumably called "Tubby/Teletubby Disease Control", modeled after the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.- All the four main Teletubbies were all born on February 20, 2003, despite the show first airing in 1997.July 8, 2021
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There are also perplexed Tweeters wondering how all the Tubbies were born on the same day, while (of course) a whole host of other voices had more serious vaccination-related questions – neatly summed up in the following tweet:
And I forgot to say that the second dosis date is in the future, so they are not fully vaccined yet (ok AstraTubbica case)July 8, 2021
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This light-hearted tweet has clearly caused a bunch of problems for the Tubsters, but with over 90,000 retweets (dwarfing their 39,000 follower count) it's neatly done the job at raising the awareness it was seeking, both for its stance on vaccinations and the brand itself.
The colourful quartet are not the only ones under fire for making mistakes right now, with Sony pulling a PlayStation ad for including its own embarrassing blunder. Unfortunately for distracted brand teams, fans are too eagle-eyed to get away with errors (however light-hearted the situation may be), resulting in some genius social media responses, which provide some brilliant entertainment.
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Georgia has worked on Creative Bloq since 2018, and has been the site's Editor since 2022. With a specialism in branding and design, Georgia is also Programme Director of CB's award scheme – the Brand Impact Awards. As well as immersing herself with the industry through attending events like Adobe Max and the D&AD Awards and steering the site's content streams, Georgia has an eye on new commercial opportunities and ensuring they reflect the needs and interests of creatives.
