Background
The Pea Guacamole Recipe Controversy, also known as #Guacgate or Peacamole, refers to the online reaction to a Tweet made by the New York Times in reference to a recipe for guacamole that contained mashed peas in addition to the traditional avocado, which was perceived as strange or absurd. On July 1st, 2015, the New York Times published a Tweet to their main account advertising an archival recipe titled “Green Pea Guacamole,” originally published July 2nd, 2013, by food writer Melissa Clark.[1][2]
As of July 6th, 2015, the tweet had received 764 retweets and over 1,266 favorites.
Notable Developments
Response to the tweet was initially mostly negative, and many of the negative tweets were widely retweeted. Internet publication Buzzfeed tweeted “don’t do this.” and was retweeted over 100 times and favorited over 500 times by July 6th. Many users tweeted variations on Nope as an indication of their disgust.
On July 1st, user @JGreenDC asked President Obama, via Twitter, what he thought of the recipe. His reply received 16,097 and 21,147 favorites as of July 6th, 2015. [3]
respect the nyt, but not buying peas in guac. onions, garlic, hot peppers. classic. https://t.co/MEEI8QHH1V
— President Obama (@POTUS) July 1, 2015Other politicians, including Jeb Bush and the Republican Party of Texas, agreed with the President in a rare example of American bipartisanship.[7] Musicians Paul and Storm created a short song, which received over 7,000 views in 5 days.
In response to the negative reaction, which even included tweets from other departments of the newspaper like NYT Sports, the New York Times cooking section prepared a more comprehensive list of recipes featuring peas from their archive, including more traditional uses of the vegetable.[4] In an interview with the BBC, New York Times Social Media Editor Michael Gold claimed that he was was not trying to troll Twitter when he posted the inflammatory tweet, but rather that he thought the recipe looked interesting.[5]
The negative response inspired the hashtag #Guacgate, which as of July 6th, 2015, had over 500 uses on Twitter.[6] Along with several local news stations, the Atlantic and The Indianapolis Star made the recipe, with mixed reactions.
Search Interest
External References
[1]Twitter – @NYTimes’ Tweet
[2]New York Times – Green Pea Guacamole
[3]Twitter – POTUS’ Tweet
[4]New York Times – More Peas Please
[5]BBC– Michael Gold: The brains behind the pea guacamole controversy
[6]Topsy – Search: Guacgate
[7]USA Today – Obama and Jeb Bush agree: No green pea guacamole