In a hard-hitting interview (sarcasm), I dug up some exclusive responses from
Groundhog Day‘s world famous critter, Punxsutawney Phil.
Twitter account @GroundhogPhil, which has 4,400 followers, reveals how he really feels about the Feb. 2 holiday and even trash talks fellow Twitter animals, including Bronx Zoo Cobra and NYT Sexy Chicken.
Don’t believe me? Shame on you. Just read the transcript of our interview below. It’s gold.
Q&A With @GroundhogPhil
Mashable: How do you actually feel when you see your shadow?
“Do you know what it’s like to be woken up from hibernation with fireworks, dancing junior high girls, and middle-aged men dressed in top hats lip syncing to The B-52?s “Love Shack” on a live web stream broadcast?”
Groundhog Phil: “Do you know what it’s like to be woken up from hibernation with fireworks, dancing junior high girls, and middle-aged men dressed in top hats lip syncing to The B-52′s “Love Shack” on a live web stream broadcast? That actually happened this morning. WTF. It’s all downhill from there. Because: SHADOWS. ARE. TERRIFYING.”
Mashable: How are your relationships with other animals on Twitter?
Groundhog Phil: “Escaped zoo cobras cannot predict weather. Sexy NYC chickens cannot predict weather. Squirrels, cats and raccoons cannot predict weather. Why waste my time slumming with those losers? Groundhogs are clearly an evolved species.”
SEE ALSO: Interview With A Sexy Chicken | 10 Best Spoof Accounts
Mashable: What secrets lie beneath the ground?
Groundhog Phil: “There are these secrets about hibernation we try not to talk about. Like where all the turds go. Let’s just say you shouldn’t do any deep digging around your yard until early spring..”
Mashable: What do you hope to accomplish with your new Twitter account?
Groundhog Phil: “I’ve learned humans are extremely emotional about this prognostication thing. A quick Twitter search for “groundhog + kill OR murder” turns up an alarming number of unbalanced individuals who place an extraordinary amount of weight on the predictions of a giant rodent.”
Mashable: Anything you would like to add, stinker?
Groundhog Phil: “I’d just like to thank all the Punxsutawney Phil fans who have shunned science, put their faith and energy into a weather-forecasting groundhog, and most importantly, destroyed any credibility actual meteorologists maintain by making them report my predictions as actual news each year. Who’s the evolved species now, chumps?”
NOTE: Greg Swan, a PR social marketing strategist at Weber Shandwick, manages the 4-year-old @GroundhogPhil account. “I was so surprised how easy it was to brandjack Punxsutawney Phil,” Swan told Mashable. “As a digital strategist for big brands in my day-job, I know how important it is for companies, brands and individuals to proactively stake out their online reputation. The account has been retweeted by Good Morning America, Huffington Post and pretty much every social-savvy meteorologist in the country. Every year I offer up the account to the Groundhog Club folks, but they aren’t interested in taking it over. So until then, long live @groundhogphil!”
Bonus: More Animal Madness
The web really, really likes animals, sometimes even more so than media outlets.
1. Sockington vs. ESPN
The Internet may be chock-full of cats, but only one can be its king. @Sockington is a normal cat that belongs to Internet archivist Jason Scott, but he has somehow recruited more than 1.48 million people into his "Socks Army." Compare that to @ESPN, which attracted 20,000 fewer sports fans to follow its account. Litterbox maintenance beats out the leading sports network. Go figure.
Click here to view this gallery.
More About: animals, Groundhog Day, Holidays, parodies, Social Media, spoof, trending, Twitter
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