Kentucky residents miffed by closed polls—but no election was scheduled
“This is what we’re dealing with. This is America.”
Greetings!
Here are the latest trending internet culture stories today:
Kentucky voters are either massively uneducated about the state’s voting timeline or really wanted to vote for Zohran Mamdani from afar.
The internet became immediately obsessed with a Paddington puppet in the West End adaptation of the bear’s story.
Coca-Cola’s second-annual AI-horror Christmas commercial has been released, and it’s not resonating with people (again).
See you in the next one!
— W.J.
⚡️ Today in Internet Culture
“You cannot vote today”: Kentucky secretary of state issues blunt reminder to residents after election confusion
Some Kentucky residents flooded election hotlines on Tuesday after seeing nationwide coverage of Election Day, apparently completely unaware that their state wasn’t actually holding any elections.
While many states did hold their elections this week, the Kentucky Secretary of State had to intervene after some residents were confused about why voting booths weren’t open.
“I would die for him”: The new “Paddington” musical goes viral for its lifelike bear puppet and heartwarming performance
Paddington is heading to London’s West End in a brand-new stage production, Paddington: The Musical—and the onstage puppet version of the marmalade-loving bear is melting hearts across social media.
According to the BBC, the musical has been in development for more than a decade. Earlier this week, the show’s official accounts shared a behind-the-scenes look at the lifelike puppet, sparking a wave of emotional reactions online. The show premiered on Nov. 1 at the Savoy Theatre, and early audience reactions have been overwhelmingly positive.
“Soulless” and “creepy”: Coca-Cola’s AI Christmas ad is not landing
Coca-Cola rolled out its 2025 holiday campaign this week, relying heavily on artificial intelligence to do the work of a team of creatives. The company revived its classic red trucks, lighting the way to the holidays, though the shimmering snow, anthropomorphic animals, and twinkling lights did not charm critics.
Many viewers said the ad felt chilly rather than cheerful, arguing that technology negated the warmth of the traditional Coke Christmas commercials.
🕸️ Crawling the Web
🌮 Taco Bell’s long-teased Baja Blast Pie has officially arrived in stores just in time for the holidays, and TikTok is already divided over whether it’s a sleeper hit or an unsettling science experiment.
🎴 Walmart finally appears poised to limit sales of popular trading cards, and many Pokémon fans believe a recent viral video is to thank.
☕ A Starbucks barista has gone viral on TikTok after breaking down how the chain handles mobile orders compared to in-store ones.
🎬 Movie studio Lionsgate is hiring fan editors, and professional editors have a lot of thoughts on the matter.
🤖 AI R&B artist Xania Monet has officially made her way onto the Billboard chart, unfortunately...
🌠 Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson’s latest StarTalk video‘s introduction started off looking like a conspiracy video, and ended in a lesson about deepfakes.
🗳️ 27 of the best memes and jokes about Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral win.
🔥 Hot on the Dot
This was the most-read story on the Daily Dot yesterday:
➤ NEO the $20K home robot sparks memes before it can even clean a room—22 of the best