Yahoo News Ed Balls Day: How former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls became Twitter's favourite politician
Happy Ed Ball's Day!
April 28th is the day we celebrate the anniversary of that time Ed Balls, former MP for Morley and Outwood, accidentally tweeted out his own name on Twitter.
The origins of Ed Balls Day
It was a Thursday, much like any other Thursday - Thursday 28 April 2011, to be precise. Ed Balls, then Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, was browsing the aisles in the Castleford branch of Asda when an aide suggested he search for an article on Twitter which mentioned him.
He began typing in his name into the 'compose tweet' field instead of the search box. An easy mistake to make, but one that would have huge (ish) ramifications.
Mr Balls became distracted by a phone call, and accidentally hit 'send' on his Blackberry, thus tweeting his own name out into the ether.
Ed Balls
— Ed Balls (@edballs) 28 April 2011
As you can see, the original tweet has since been retweeted more than 97,000 times and received more than 67,000 likes.
Why are we still talking about this?
Because Twitter loves a stupid joke.
A high-profile individual accidentally tweeting out his own name is hardly the most rib-ticklingly hilarious event ever to occur.
The joy of Ed Balls Days comes from the intense scrutiny that's subsequently been given to this extremely minor incident, elevating it into something rather grand and unifying. It's a joke that anyone with a Twitter account can get involved with.
The first time Mr Balls tweeted out his name it went viral, with hundreds of people retweeting it, making '"Ed Balls" the top trending topic in the UK.
Then the next year, some bright spark decided to celebrate the anniversary of this very silly trending topic - and that's continued to happen every year since
When you explain a joke doesn't that immediately kill it, rendering it entirely unfunny?
Ed Balls.
Just repeating something endlessly isn't funny, it's childish and stupid
Many people would beg to differ.
It's already #EdBallsDay in Australia pic.twitter.com/KVllgnWw3p
— Otto English (@Otto_English) April 27, 2018
Happy #EdBallsDay everyone, comes sooner and sooner every year pic.twitter.com/p9psXJrWSv
— James Cleverley �������������� (@JamesCleverley1) April 27, 2018
Don’t forget to put out the sherry, a mince pie, and a carrot tonight.
������
It’s #edballsday eve, everyone! pic.twitter.com/iYYhPyM3Ux— helen ayres (@Raphaelite_Girl) April 27, 2018
Happy #edballsdaypic.twitter.com/GRyY21Crc1
— robinyellow (@robinyellow) April 27, 2018
Hope everyone is ready #EdBallsDay@edballspic.twitter.com/rRvOdD0Wwb
— Tim (@forwardnotback) April 27, 2018
I suppose brands have been getting involved
Of course they have
We've just taken delivery of our latest 7-Ed-7. #EdBallsDaypic.twitter.com/9Kx7K0qoPC
— Virgin Atlantic (@VirginAtlantic) April 28, 2017
TwistED DoughBALLS. #EdBallsDaypic.twitter.com/FwTWc82XHD
— Domino's Pizza UK (@Dominos_UK) April 28, 2016
Egg Balls pic.twitter.com/7U7zZitkZR
— Tesco (@Tesco) April 28, 2015
.@edballs Presenting the traditional dish for #edballsdaypic.twitter.com/RLoqLy68c6
— JUST EAT UK (@JustEatUK) April 28, 2016
The excitement is building ahead of #EdBallsDay tomorrow. Here's @WillB2BContent's take https://t.co/iZP6nlkiiJpic.twitter.com/scCKoRXgny
— B2B Marketing (@MarketingB2B) April 27, 2016
More notable additions to the Ed Balls Day hilarity canon
This tool will Ed Balls-ify whichever web page you happen to be on. Just drag the link into your bookmarks bar, click on any website and enjoy the Ed Balls effect.
See also:
Here is a poem which looks at the true significance of #EdBallsDay
It's called "Ed Balls". pic.twitter.com/LcMdhJ0NA7— Brian Bilston (@brian_bilston) April 28, 2015
Happy #EdBallsDaypic.twitter.com/CkwT8Ddtem
— General Boles (@GeneralBoles) April 28, 2015
#EdBallsDay has become so commercialised. Shame really. pic.twitter.com/TT6qR7uzcU
— Carousel Lights (@Carousel_Lights) April 28, 2015
Been reminded by @pripley2426 of this special #EdBallsDay artwork I made in 2014. Man, that was a morning well spent pic.twitter.com/gIsfxslSzk
— Michael Moran (@TheMichaelMoran) April 28, 2016
The original #EdBallsDay was a Roman festival, in which jealous slaves would sneak into their masters' houses and steal their sestertii.
— Rees-Mogg (@JakeReesMogg) April 28, 2015
Ed Balls.https://t.co/XX1xRPDY0h
— Ed Balls (@liamjlhill) April 27, 2016
Good grief.. Oh go on then.. RT @edballsmp: Ed Balls
— Ed Balls (@edballs) April 28, 2014
