Today’s UK Twitter Trends (March 7): ASDA Dating, Ian Beale

By | Posted on March 7th, 2011

What’s trending on Twitter in the UK today? A British supermarket wants its customers to come home with more than the groceries, and one of the BBC’s most popular fictional characters has everyone talking.

ASDA Dating

Britain’s second-largest supermarket chain, Asda, has just launched a dating website. It seemed a perfect fit, one of the store’s representatives told Finance News: “With over 18 million shoppers visiting Asda each week, we realized this is an unmissable opportunity to set up a few dates.”

A recent Asda survey of its customers found that 71% of men and 64% of women preferred meeting potential dates in supermarkets to bars. The survey also found that 47% of shoppers looked at what others were buying for clues to determine their eligibility.

So it seemed only natural for the store to harness the power of online dating to supplement singletons’ social preferences. The website uses shoppers’ buying patterns to match up potential dates.

@Errkal:‎ Is there nothing the supermarket wont try selling you?

@whisperin_eye: Asda dating – if you find a cheaper girl anywhere else they’ll refund the difference.

@therealmarkhall: Just used the new ASDA dating site. Unfortunately I ended up with a bag for life.

Ian Beale (played by Adam Woodyatt)

Ian Beale

He’s a fictional character played by actor Adam Woodyatt. In fact, he’s the longest-running character on the British soap EastEnders, the only character who has remained on the show since it began in 1985. So why is Ian Beale trending today? That’s what tweeters wanted to know, but it probably has something to do with storyline of the episode airing today in Britain, and all the talk about how Ian is supposed to ask his long-suffering wife Jane to renew their wedding vows.

@ChloeLaRandomer: LOL, Ian Beale is trending in the UK. We’re so cool.

@SamOfAllFears: War, sleaze, oil price, sarah palin and now Ian Beale is a major trending topic…. I despair.

@TomALloyd: For all those in twitterland asking why Ian Beale is trending… It’s because you’re all asking why Ian Beale is trending! Stop it.

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