Twitter users blasted Bloomberg News after the outlet posted an embarrassing headline comparing the possibility of a universal coronavirus vaccine to the One Ring from J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendary fantasy trilogy “The Lord of the Rings.”
Writing under the heading, “One Shot To Rule Them All,” Bloomberg editor Mark Gongloff summarized an opinion piece on the site that described the possibility of a vaccine that would not just protect against all current and future variants of COVID-19, but also the SARS, MERS, and other viruses in the same family. That summary was posted in Thursday’s edition of “Bloomberg Opinion Today,” the site’s opinion roundup newsletter.
Bloomberg tweeted out the article early Friday morning. “One Covid shot to rule them all, one Covid shot to find them, one Covid shot to bring them all and in the darkness bind them,” read the Twitter tagline for the article.
One Covid shot to rule them all, one Covid shot to find them, one Covid shot to bring them all and in the darkness bind them https://t.co/ITl9ECG0Vx via @bopinion
— Bloomberg (@business) January 21, 2022
That line is a reference to the One Ring, the legendary artifact which is central to the plot of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy of books, movies, and upcoming Amazon Prime series. Unfortunately, Bloomberg seemed to have overlooked the fact that in the story, the Ring is an object of evil, which the story’s antagonist, the Dark Lord Sauron, wants to use to take over the fictional world of Middle-Earth. In particular, the line used by Bloomberg is part of a poem used within the story to describe the Ring. It refers to the fact that the ring exists to bind the people of the world under his power through the One Ring:
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
Twitter users were quick to point out the oversight.
“Your idea of a vaccine endorsement is to analogize the COVID-19 vaccine to an evil ring forged by a demonic power so he could conquer and control the world through death and destruction? Kinda think you maybe should’ve workshopped that one a bit more,” Sean Davis, co-founder of The Federalist, tweeted.
Your idea of a vaccine endorsement is to analogize the COVID-19 vaccine to an evil ring forged by a demonic power so he could conquer and control the world through death and destruction?
Kinda think you maybe should’ve workshopped that one a bit more. https://t.co/NhA5BuZHgo
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) January 21, 2022
“Do they know what the one ring was all about?” tweeted “Black Hawk Down” and “Tenet” actor Matthew Marsden. “Hint….it’s not good.”
Do they know what the one ring was all about? Hint….it’s not good. https://t.co/f3mJLhsDMx
— Matthew Marsden (@matthewdmarsden) January 22, 2022
“Someone at Bloomberg should really watch #LOTR and learn what that quote was really about…” Young Americans for Liberty Vice President of Communications Reed Cooley tweeted. “They made a point here, just not the one they were trying to make.”
Someone at Bloomberg should really watch #LOTR and learn what that quote was really about…
They made a point here, just not the one they were trying to make. https://t.co/mJjlQG4K27
— Reed Cooley (@JReedCooley) January 21, 2022
Other responses to the tweet are below:
New public service campaign spokesman: https://t.co/rt14f7W25D pic.twitter.com/iY7xTl0ury
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) January 21, 2022
Quoting the Dark Lord of Mordor to promote COVID vaccination. That won’t backfire. https://t.co/bab6dE7zo9
— Chris Pandolfo (@ChrisCPandolfo) January 21, 2022
uhhhh the context for the quote matters. this doesnt do for the vaccine what you think it does. https://t.co/24Da5BK4nY
— tsar becket adams (@BecketAdams) January 21, 2022
There are so many pop-culture inspired movie quotes to choose from. Bloomberg did not choose wisely. https://t.co/4ZCe6HzXU5
— The AZ – abc15 – Data Guru (@Garrett_Archer) January 21, 2022
hate this so much. https://t.co/GdUpKpJGvS
— Logan Hall (@loganclarkhall) January 21, 2022
The shot is like the One Ring, brings out the very worst in men. Good analogy. https://t.co/bFmTFPFvKq
— Chris Tomlinson (@TomlinsonCJ) January 21, 2022
That’s enough Internet for today https://t.co/NwN1mYzrA2
— Kate Martin (@KateReports) January 21, 2022