Sometimes a news report simply misses the mark. That appears to be the case with a CNN report from Brianna Keilar, who teamed up with correspondent Evan McMorris-Santoro to deliver perplexing information. Keilar saw fit to tweet out a clip of this story as well, which really got the conversation rolling on social media. “A gallon of milk was $1.99. Now it’s $2.79. When you buy 12 gallons a week times four weeks, that’s a lot of money,” she tweeted. “@EvanMcS goes grocery shopping with the Stotlers and shows us how badly inflation is hitting the middle class.”
"A gallon of milk was $1.99. Now it's $2.79. When you buy 12 gallons a week times four weeks, that's a lot of money."@EvanMcS goes grocery shopping with the Stotlers and shows us how badly inflation is hitting the middle class. pic.twitter.com/39hPPRHLja
— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) November 4, 2021
Hmm, that’s a confusing one. Presumably, this report meant to show how working class families are coping with inflation, but the particular example used was, well, off point. People had… questions. More specifically, people (regardless of party affiliation) wanted to know what this family could possibly be doing with 48 gallons of milk per month. Also, does anyone ever reasonably expect milk to only cost $1.99 per gallon (which hasn’t been the case in… over a decade? At least)?
12 gallons of milk a week? Do they drink it like this or something? pic.twitter.com/1POACNzyqm
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) November 4, 2021
Wait — when was a gallon of milk last going for $1.99? pic.twitter.com/YhsEgS1rIU
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) November 4, 2021
I hear u but why would anyone buy 12 gallons of milk a week https://t.co/JYnZPlOFWV
— ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@ijustbluemyself) November 5, 2021
How is no one talking about how constipated that 12 gallon a week milk family must be?!? Please try some water.
— Jess 🌻 (@crzydoglady4) November 5, 2021
spent all their money on milk https://t.co/fFPSqvVP7z
— amelia 🌝 (@moonshinemaude) November 5, 2021
https://twitter.com/cheeseraven11/status/1456414186557169665
And of course, the discourse would not be complete without a discussion of how much Joe Manchin’s Maserati must cost.
A summary of political twitter today: How many gallons of milk can you buy for the price of Joe Manchin's Maserati?
— Gabriel Mann (@OhioGabe) November 4, 2021
https://twitter.com/profmusgrave/status/1456418466165108745
How many gallons of milk does a Maserati cost?
— ryan (@_coffeeheadache) November 5, 2021
In response to the the fuss that this story caused, Keilar attempted to tweet about coupons with screenshots of milk from Walmart, and she continued but eventually gave up with a “never mind.”
I take it you don’t buy your milk at WalMart … or with coupons … or on deal days? https://t.co/N0vWsM0M2M
— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) November 4, 2021
https://t.co/jyZhFgxxgN pic.twitter.com/fu1PIWnKfJ
— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) November 4, 2021
Manufacturers have cut back on coupons and sales. Because of costs. https://t.co/zcJImCk6w9
— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) November 4, 2021
Look, the silver lining here is that a lot of people who have never had to shop around for the store with the cheap milk are now … never mind.
— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) November 4, 2021
Again, yes, a story simply misses the mark, but people will eventually forget about the milk controversy and pile onto something new.