Two years ago today, Ed Balls tweeted his own name:
Ed Balls
— Ed Balls (@edballsmp) April 28, 2011
It was a name search gone awry. But, crucially, the Shadow Chancellor never deleted it, so 15,000 of us have now enjoyed retweeting it, and a meme was born. Today, it is celebrated:
Happy birthday, Ed Balls – twitter.com/ed_son/status/…
— Huw G (@ed_son) April 28, 2013
The man himself gave an interview to the Mirror yesterday, in which he expressed his bafflement at people’s fondness for tweeting his name (with a dig at Osborne thrown in for good measure):
I think the best thing I can do is not look at Twitter and bury my head in the sand – like George Osborne on the economy.
His tweet made “news”:
Tweeps, don’t forget it’s Ed Balls day tomorrow: #EdBalls twitter.com/Josiensor/stat…
— Josie Ensor (@Josiensor) April 27, 2013
Google got in on the act (not really):
Wonderful to see folks at Google joining in on #edballsday twitter.com/ThePoke/status…
— The Poke(@ThePoke) April 28, 2013
It even spread off Twitter into the real world:
And people have inserted it into the world of cartoons:
As well as people just tweeting “Ed Balls” (and trust me, there will be lots of those today), it spawned copycat tweets:
Tom Jamieson
— tom jamieson (@jamiesont) April 27, 2013
There are even now “Ed Balls” hipsters:
I dunno, I used to love Ed Balls but he’s just so commercialised these days. I prefer to just concentrate on the Icelandic elections.
— rowan davies (@rowandavies) April 27, 2013
And those who express their enjoyment through song:
I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour, but heaven knows I’ve missed Ed Balls now.
— Juliet Jacques (@julietjacques) April 28, 2013
Twitter will most likely feel like this today:
Have we reached “Peak Ed Balls”? The Guardian advises going for a walk in the sunshine instead, which might not be a bad idea…
Crazy as it is, I hope you all have a fabulousday – I’m off out now for a long Sunday walk…
— Ed Balls (@edballsmp) April 28, 2013
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