Netflix Defends That Controversial ‘A Christmas Prince’ Tweet
Before Netflix issued a press release about our viewing habits in 2017, they tweeted one rather specific statistic — and a joke — about the original movie A Christmas Prince. In particular, they called out the 53 people who watched the holiday film every day for the 18 days leading up to December 10.
When it premiered on November 17, the festive movie immediately earned itself a cult following by “out-Hallmark[ing] Hallmark” with a romantic, feel-good story about an American journalist (Rose McIver) who is assigned a story on a playboy prince (Ben Lamb) from the fictional country of Aldovia. You can guess what happens next.
Netflix decided to have a little fun at the expense of the flick’s biggest fans, tweeting, “To the 53 people who’ve watched A Christmas Prince every day for the past 18 days: Who hurt you?”
To the 53 people who've watched A Christmas Prince every day for the past 18 days: Who hurt you?
— Netflix US (@netflix) December 11, 2017
While some followers laughed at the sentiment, others were freaked out by the level of scrutiny Netflix applies to what we’ve been watching. Some even deemed it “creepy.”
1. sick burn. 2. this is creepy AF. https://t.co/xuUM8WBhjj
— tierney bricker (@tbrick2) December 11, 2017
On Tuesday, the company issued a statement in response to the backlash. “The privacy of our members’ viewing is important to us,” the streaming service told E! News. “This information represents overall viewing trends, not the personal viewing information of specific, identified individuals.”
That’s good news for customers who were hoping to binge-watch in peace this holiday season. Especially since another Christmas-themed flick is about to drop on Netflix.
Premiering on December 15, Christmas Inheritance tells the (wonderfully sappy?) story of a socialite who is forced to visit her father’s hometown in order to receive her inheritance. Naturally, she soon discovers that hard work and helping others is more valuable than she ever realized.
We wonder if the people who have been watching A Christmas Prince will switch over to Christmas Inheritance.
What did you think of Netflix’s A Christmas Prince tweet? Let us know @BritandCo.
(photo via Netflix)
