[imagesource: Twitter / @MissGU_]

On Tuesday, IOL published an article about a mother who couldn’t understand the “Twitter backlash after sending her child to school with non-alcoholic cider”.

While a few other South African news sites followed suit by covering the same story, using IOL as the source (exhibit A and B, for example), a “Savanna rep and some investigative work by eagle-eyed readers” turned the whole thing on its head.

Here’s the tweet by @MissGU_  which set the wheels in motion:

My child was expelled from school on Friday, ?
But what did I do wrong mina ? because I didn't have juice so I gave her a non alcoholic savannah?#ThumaMinaMediaGroup Mr Smeg Koko President Zuma Mbaks Christianity pic.twitter.com/dWUa3byYxe

— G.U (@MissGU_) May 16, 2021

When IOL first reported on the above tweet, they included a number of replies, such as:

Training them early I see… pic.twitter.com/c31M6HG4Tt

— K.K (@KhumaloKhulani) May 16, 2021

They also included that Savanna made it clear that their non-alcoholic cider was not for sale for anyone under the age of 18, with a tweet sent last August:

While we all understand the irresistible crisp delicious taste of Savanna Non-Alcoholic Lemon, and that it’s legally a Non-Alcoholic drink, and available at grocery stores, we still don’t sell it to kids. ? NOT ? FOR ? PERSONS ? UNDER ? 18. Klaar. #TasteOfSavanna247365 pic.twitter.com/fciFZfcIIL

— SavannaCider (@SavannaCider) August 6, 2020

Unfortunately for IOL, they forgot to check in with the Twitter user that they referenced, until it was too late:

Hi there, we did a story on your post yesterday and the response was out of this world. But someone pointed out that the post is fake. Can you confirm this?

— IOL Lifestyle (@IOL_Lifestyle) May 19, 2021

Then came the IOL follow-up, “Fake post alert: The real story behind that cider in the lunch box pic”.

You may have recognised the above as a meme from last year:

The original post surfaced in 2020 in response to Savanna releasing its non-alcoholic cider for the sober-curious drinker, and since then has spawned a number of memes on Facebook and Twitter.

Some examples:

My UNCLE Was out of Oros so HE improvised, ? pic.twitter.com/gi0JyoBi1p

— KE SHARP (@danielmarven) November 6, 2020

#skarasawaesenya

I decided to switch from Oros to Savanna lemon non alcoholic…I hope my child will like it#leadership #ChangeYourSummer #NdikhokheleRemix pic.twitter.com/rtzDPHLSrK

— Mamajane Jr_SA (@MamajaneJr) November 6, 2020

Now, @MissGU_ is cracking jokes about it all, referencing the ongoing Bonang Matheba lawsuit:

I want to sue @IOL_Lifestyle
for publishing a story without interviewing me to validate if it is true or not. All this has led to Daniel Marven blocking me..
I want R500K in 72hrs#AskAMan #djzinhle #RunForTheOceans #ThomasAndSkhumba #venda Mr Smeg Baleka Mbete

— G.U (@MissGU_) May 19, 2021

IOL’s follow-up story ends with this:

IOL Lifestyle has attempted to contact the person behind the @MissGU_ account. At the time of publication, there was no response.

Strange, because it appears they did get a response:

Hi, thanks for your response. Can I add your comment to our story?

— IOL Lifestyle (@IOL_Lifestyle) May 19, 2021

Iqbal Survé – if you know, you know.

[source:iol]