ABC 7's "P.F. Chang 2018" Mix-up

Added • Updated about a year ago

Added by Matt • Updated about a year ago by Matt

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Category: Event Status: Submission Year: 2018 Origin: United States Region:

Type: Controversy,

Tags: pf chang, food, pyeongchang,

Part of a series on 2018 Winter Olympics. [View Related Entries]

Top Gallery Images

No way this was on TV this morning! How does this happen? abc PF. Chang 2018 SHOW OF UNITY 6:06 abc 16° INGS NFIRMATION PROGRAM IN PLAINFIELD LOAD THE ABC 7 CHICAGO APP WILL-NO RELIGIOUS CLASSES ST. ANDREW T

Hey, this mistake could happen to... PRACTICALLY NO ONE. WLS-Ch.7 blames graphics 'mix-up' for confusion between P.F. Chang's and Pyeongchang abc PF.Chang 2018 SHOW OF UNITY

P.F. Chang's.. Bringing the world together in 2018 abc PF Chang 2018 SHOW OF UNITY 6:06 abc 16 NFIRMATION PROGRAM IN PLAINFIELD WILL-NO RELIGIOUS CLASSES ST. ANDREW T

RE Chang's @PFChangs PF CLIANG3 Contrary to this broadcast, we're not hosting the games. J Wawl Finebaum @WawlFinebaum I see you @PFChangs.... Show this thread SHO UNIT

I see you @PFChangs abc PF Chang 2018 SHOW OF UNITY 6:06 16 abc GS NFIRMATION PROGRAM IN PLAINFIELD-WILL-NO RELIGIOUS CLASSES ST. ANDREW T

abo PF Chang 2018 SHOW OF UNITY 6:06 obc INGS NFIRMATION PROGRAM IN PLAINFIELD LOAD THE ABC 7 CHICAGO APP WILL-NO RELIGIOUS CLASSES ST. ANDREW T

Overview • Background • Development • Search Interest •

Overview

ABC 7's "P.F. Chang" 2018 Mix-up refers to a mistakenly used graphic used on an ABC news affiliate. The graphic was supposed to read Pyeongchang, the site of the 2018 Winter Olympics but instead read "P.F. Chang's," referring to the chain-Chinese food restaurant.

Background

Of February 10th, 2018, WLS-Ch.7 news, an ABC affiliate in Chicago, accidentally broadcasted a graphic that read the name of Chinese food chain restaurant "P.F. Chang's" instead of the site of the 2018 Winter Olympics Pyeongchang (shown below).^[1]

Development

Online Reaction

Shortly after the broadcast aired, people began making jokes about the gaffe. That day, Twitter^[10] user @thekapman tweeted a screenshot of the broadcast with the caption "No way this was on TV this morning! How does this happen?" The post (shown below, left) received more than 2,100 retweets and 5,000 likes in three days.

Twitter^[5] user @PatMcAfeeShow tweeted the shot of the broadcast with the caption "P.F. Chang’s.. Bringing the world together in 2018." The tweet (shown below, center) received more than 2,300 retweets and 13,000 likes.

Twitter^[6] user @DVNJr tweeted a screenshot of the article in the Chicago Tribune with the caption "Hey, this mistake could happen to… PRACTICALLY NO ONE." The tweet (shown below, right) received more than 350 retweets and 690 likes in one day.

Apology

Two days later, on February 12th, a station representative Jayme Nicholas apologized for the mix up and explained that the P.F. Chang's graphic was to be used for a "satirical piece" in which the sports anchor asked viewers to invent their own olympic sports. However, it was accidentally used for anchor Mark Rivera's broadcast the following day.^[2]

P.F. Chang's Response

On February 11th, Twitter ^[3] user @WawlFinebaum tweeted a picture of the broadcast with the caption "I see you @PFChangs." The tweet (shown below, left) received more than 40 retweets and 115 likes in three days.

Later that day, the official Twitter^[4] of P.F. Chang's tweeted, "Contrary to this broadcast, we’re not hosting the games. 🙂." The post (shown below, right) received more than 1,300 retweets and 4,800 likes in two days.