Brands All Use This Same Tired Joke on Twitter and It Needs to Stop

We've reached peak brand inanity on Twitter, and it seems to have affected—or infected—almost every marketer trying to capitalize on the top trending hashtag "five-word deal breakers."

The social media elites at some of the nation's biggest brands are either out of ideas or just phoning it in today, because most of them are using the same joke to join the conversation. The common theme: if someone either hates or hogs all of a certain product, that's a dealbreaker. The hashtag started trending because of last night's @Midnight show, hosted by hero comic nerd Chris Hardwick.

The brand contribution is almost sad, because sometimes Twitter is an inspiring place, including marketing messages. Not today.

Not only are brands like Skittles and Chick-fil-A using the same joke, but it's also been done before with similar trending topics.

Even Señor Grandes Fresh Mexican Grill used the gag nearly two months ago when "five ways to ruin a date" trended. Its contribution was just what you'd expect: "I don't like Mexican food #5waystoruinadate." It wasn't funny then, and it's still not funny now. Not when Papa John's says it. Not when Pizza Hut says it. Not when Reese's says it. Not when Bass Pro Shops says it.

The joke was recycled when "good advice in four words" started trending today, too.

Some brands have found ways to jump into these trends without coming off hamfisted. State Farm, for instance, and its spokescharacter Jake, known for wearing khakis and a red polo, tweeted this:

#5WordDealBreakers We do not sell khakis. (Uhhhhh....Buh-bye then.)

— Jake from State Farm (@JakeStateFarm) March 11, 2015

Look for yourself and laugh—or don't—at the repetition among so many other tweets today:

I ate both of them #5WordDealBreakers

— REESE'S® (@ReesesPBCups) March 11, 2015

I took the last slice. #5WordDealBreakerspic.twitter.com/KEy6as2CxI

— Papa John's Pizza (@PapaJohns) March 11, 2015

"I think fishing is boring" #5WordDealBreakers

— Bass Pro Shops (@Bass_Pro_Shops) March 11, 2015

Let's just eat in tonight. #5WordDealBreakers

— Popeyes Chicken (@PopeyesChicken) March 11, 2015

I ate the last Nugget. #5WordDealBreakers

— Chick-fil-A, Inc. (@ChickfilA) March 11, 2015

"Skittles are okay, I guess." #5WordDealBreakers

— Skittles (@Skittles) March 11, 2015

I ate your fries, soz. #5WordDealBreakers

— McDonald's S. Africa (@McDonalds_SA) March 11, 2015

I actually prefer eating @marmite. #5WordDealBreakers@midnight

— Vegemite (@Vegemite) March 11, 2015

Go here right now. #GoodAdviceIn4Wordspic.twitter.com/xwpNXd46fE

— Arizona Iced Tea (@DrinkAriZona) March 11, 2015