Overview
Nature Valley Anime Tweets are a series of anime-themed messages posted by the official Twitter account for the American grain-snack brand Nature Valley.
The tweets soon gained popularity, spawning many other parodies, featuring a variety of anime character interacting with the snack bars.
Background
On April 27th, 2014, Twitter user @SuperRoyalLand[2] posted a self-deprecative message about buying a Nature Valley granola bar while dreading about his lack of social life at school. On the next morning, @NatureValley,[1] the official Twitter handle for the brand, responded to @SuperRoyalLand’s tweet with a message of encouragement suggesting that he should befriend some of their other followers who have expressed their love for anime.
SuperRoyalLand</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/galacticpixie">
galacticpixieElkasaurus</a> We've met lots of <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23anime&src=hash">#anime</a> friends who do exist right here in the Twitter-sphere. Befriend them!</p>— Nature Valley (
NatureValley) April 28, 2014
Notable Developments
Then on April 29th, @ER_nut[3] tweeted at @NatureValley asking about their favorite character from the multimedia anime series Love Live! School Idol Project, to which the company responded:
ER_nut</a> That's a toughie. We love Honoka's spirit - but we also love Hanayo's origami skills. Who's your favorite?</p>— Nature Valley (
NatureValley) April 30, 2014
As of May 2014, the tweet has garnered over 100 retweets and favorites. After the tweets, many different news sites picked up on the story, including Crunchyroll[4], Anime News Network[5] and Anime Herald[6]. The American anime licensing company Funimation also tweeted at the company using their twitter handle @Funimation[7], joking that their Senpai Had Noticed Them.
.FUNimation</a> None of the above. But we did emerge from a long winter of <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23polarvortexes&src=hash">#polarvortexes</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23icecaves&src=hash">#icecaves</a>. Thank you for noticing us, Senpai.</p>— Nature Valley (
NatureValley) April 30, 2014
On April 30th, the handle retweeted a photoshopped image of the character Kokoro Akemi, from the anime Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, holding two nature valley bars from user @KokoroAkemi[8], adding an invitation for other users to do the same. The tweet received over 600 retweets and over 300 favorites.
Let the #NatureValley + #anime art fest begin. RT KokoroAkechi</a>: <a href="https://twitter.com/NatureValley">
NatureValleypic.twitter.com/i5ieAUxHHy
— Nature Valley (@NatureValley) April 30, 2014
Notable Examples
The new official snack food of anime – NatureValley</a> <a href="http://t.co/UHRl6L06EA">pic.twitter.com/UHRl6L06EA</a></p>— NΞØNTΛSTΞR (
neontaster) April 30, 2014
NatureValley</a>'s granola bars are so good, they must be the work of a Stand user. <a href="http://t.co/rs8qOFFrZD">pic.twitter.com/rs8qOFFrZD</a></p>— EsperP Arms (
PuellaRider) April 30, 2014
NatureValley</a> Rikka loves Nature Valley <a href="http://t.co/Nyf9bbYcZu">pic.twitter.com/Nyf9bbYcZu</a></p>— Dan Cook (
dc_resistance) May 2, 2014
NatureValley</a> <a href="http://t.co/NLxsOvbdaH">pic.twitter.com/NLxsOvbdaH</a></p>— S H I T L O R D (
mugis_husband) May 1, 2014
External References
[1]Twitter – @NatureValley
[2]Twitter – @SuperRoyalLand
[4]Crunchyroll – Nature Valley Granola Bar Maker Talks Favorite “Love Live” Girl and More on Twitter
[5]Anime News Network – Start Your Day Off Right with Some Granola Bar Social Media Fun
[6]Anime Herald – Nature Valley Goes Anime, Fans Go Gaga
[7]Twitter – @Funimation
[8]Twitter – @KokoroAkemi