With the EU referendum looming, there are plenty of questions about what effects Brexit could have on our day-to-day lives.
The internet has spent the past couple of days worrying about the availability of Milky Way Magic Stars, the little star-shaped chocolates made by Mars. But, true to form when it comes to viral images on the internet, all is not as it seems.
It all started when Ben, aka @Swarley_94, tweeted the following:
Reason number 183270 for staying in the EU pic.twitter.com/cPAoaRmaf1
— Ben (@Swarley_94) May 29, 2016
The picture went viral on a number of platforms – one post from a separate person on Facebook had more than 8,000 shares. UniLad, who often aggregate viral posts, also picked up the picture on its various platforms.
As a result, it had some people joking they were a bit worried about Milky Way stars if Brexit wins out on June 23.
honestly the magic stars not being sold outside the eu is the most important argument in this debate nd make me confirm my vote xx
— ☄lauren (@hell0lauren) May 31, 2016
You can't buy Milky Ways or Milky Way products outside the EU .... Decision made!
— Andy Hudson (@Hud50n) May 30, 2016
Magic Stars aren't sold outside of the EU if that's not a reason to stay I really don't know what else to tell you
— Millicent (@ItsOnlyMillie) May 31, 2016
Have literally seen that "why should we stay in the EU?" With the pic of the Milky Way stars about 500 times in the last 5 mins
— rhiannon (@rhiannonnnnnnn_) May 30, 2016
The thing is, that picture isn’t actually of a packet of Milky Way Stars. It’s a packet of Magic Stars-flavoured hot chocolate powder.
When the Guardian bought its own packet of Magic Stars, purely for investigation purposes of course, we found it did not have the same EU warning at the bottom.
Ben, who preferred to go by just his first name, told us he didn’t expect the tweet to go nearly as far as it did.
“It’s actually a bag of Magic Stars Hot Chocolate,” Ben told the Guardian. “A distinction I didn’t bother to make clear because it was an off-hand tweet late at night whilst studying, and who’d even see the tweet?
“My tweets generally don’t attract that much attention and I’ve never really been that fussed about it, but it was bizarre watching it unfold during the day and provided some amusement during revision.”
But have no fear: your Magic Stars are safe from the Brexit fallout. Some journalists have already been in touch with Mars and have been told it’s not the case:
I have spoken to Mars, and can report back that Magic Stars would still be available in Britain even if the UK leaves the EU. Crisis over.
— Alberto Nardelli (@AlbertoNardelli) May 31, 2016
Whether you’ll be able to get Magic Stars-flavoured hot chocolate is another matter. We’ve contacted Mars to find out.
So there you have it. No need to go stockpiling Magic Stars just yet.
