Company manages to offend its biggest fans as Reddit AMA goes wrong
Plus: Would you sleep in a plane's "relax row"?
Greetings!
Here are the latest trending internet culture stories today:
Bilt Rewards is the latest company to learn the golden internet lesson that is, “come for Redditors, and your business will suffer.”
The Rock is being laughed at by the internet thanks to a cheap-looking wig in the first live-action Moana trailer.
United Airlines is launching a “relax row” that will allow passengers to lie down during flights.
Til next time,
— W.J.
⚡️ Today in Internet Culture
“Basement-dwelling Redditors”: How a Reddit AMA became a PR crisis for rent rewards company Bilt
Bilt Rewards, a company that offers points for rent payments, may have destroyed all customer goodwill with a single Reddit AMA. A significant program restructuring after losing Wells Fargo as a partner led to mass confusion among users, and the “ask me anything” session only made things worse. Customers are now announcing boycotts of the company en masse.
The Rock’s appearance as live-action Maui in the new “Moana” mercilessly mocked
People are mocking Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in the Moana remake after the trailer dropped this week. Viewers took one look at the WWE fighter-turned-actor in a wig and started roasting him on social media.
Of the original animated films’ actors, Dwayne Johnson is the only one to return to the live-action film as his character, despite not having Maui’s broad physique (or seeming agelessness). Importantly, Auli’i Cravalho, who voiced Moana in the animated films, declined taking on the live-action role to give another Pacific Islander actress the chance to play the role that got her foot in the door of Hollywood.
“Such a no-brainer”: United’s new “Relax Row” could let you sleep flat in economy
In exciting air travel news, it seems that United Airlines has gotten the memo that people want more comfortable travel options when flying long distances. According to an announcement on Tuesday, March 24, Economy class travelers will be able to book entire rows of seats that fold out to a “bed” starting in 2027.
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🕸️ Crawling the Web
❤️🩹 “There’s a lot of hate”: Barry Keoghan says harassment over his looks makes him want to stay inside and off-screen
📱 Tim Cook says to use your iPhone less. The internet thinks he’s about to sell you something new
🥖 Woman watches Tinder date turn Olive Garden breadsticks into sandwiches. Green flag or red?
📺 “I need it now”: Bridgerton’s next season will focus on a lesbian couple, and fans are thrilled
✈️ Delta passenger opens Cheez-It bag mid-flight…there are only 3 crackers inside
♂️ Internet favorite Nicola Coughlan will explore the “manosphere” in new doc
⚰️ “A bad sign”: OpenAI is ending the Sora app ahead of $1 billion Disney deal
💻 Lo-Fi Girl collabs with The Sims, but the timing couldn’t be worse
🔨 “I’m not owned!”: Clavicular crashes out over SNL parody
🔥 Hot on the Dot
This was the most-read story on the Daily Dot yesterday: