‘Sharknado 2’ Brings out the Memes, Shark-Pun Tweets

07.31.2014

The first "Sharknado" last summer became a social media phenomenon almost overnight. This time around, Syfy was prepared for the intense reaction online. But even still, Wednesday's debut of "Sharknado 2: The Second One" surpassed its predecessor by far, setting a ratings record for Syfy with 3.9 million viewers and at one point even taking eight of the top 10 hashtags on Twitter, according to TheWrap.

According to Nielsen, the sequel generated 67.2 million Twitter TV impressions, with 188,000 tweets by unique authors. And that's just for the special's first airing.

Many viewers' tweets fell along the lines of "I can't look away" or "Why am I still watching this?" But they kept watching. And brands fell in line too, whether they were official sponsors or not.

Control the shark-uation. #Sharknado2TheSecondOne #LetsBeCops pic.twitter.com/W2YKBwvsTF

- Let's Be Cops (@LetsBeCops) July 31, 2014

Sharks and tornados go together like RITZ and tomato soup. #sharknado2 #ritzmatosoup pic.twitter.com/7xwyzKnN8w

- Ritz crackers (@Ritzcrackers) July 31, 2014

Proof that I'm still eating fresh #JaredLives #PrintIsntDeadEither #Sharknado2" pic.twitter.com/eLH21kJS0n

- Jared Fogle (@thejaredfogle) July 31, 2014

What's all this about SharkNATO? #Sharknado2TheSecondOne pic.twitter.com/36eybHnPGb

- Miller Lite (@MillerLite) July 30, 2014

A tornado of pizza sounds good to us. #pizzanado #Sharknado2TheSecondOne pic.twitter.com/QwDMPoOz2x

- Domino's Pizza (@dominos) July 30, 2014

Fin. #Sharknado2 #WeMadeIt #ForNow pic.twitter.com/vorbt1SlHq

- SUBWAY Restaurants (@SUBWAY) July 31, 2014

TV brands were also ready for the event - the Syfy premiere was a global event, so channels like France's Canalsat celebrated online with #clicktosea, a Twitter campaign that expanded images to see what lurked in the background of popular photos.

Non, puisqu'on vous dit de ne pas cliquer sur l'image… RT svp ;) #clicktosea #sharknado2 http://t.co/GuYPXEnfSB pic.twitter.com/4bg2QvvrJu

- Canalsat (@Canalsat) July 25, 2014

TV Land had an ongoing tweet series with its star Betty White, who can seamlessly blend into any movie campaign:

There's no stopping her. Watch @BettyMWhite get animated TONIGHT 10/9C on @TVLand! pic.twitter.com/KRp1Jg1LHG

- Hot in Cleveland (@hotnclevelandtv) July 30, 2014

The sequel was also full of cameos, and a solid majority of the actors also live-tweeted the movie event. Its stars started the night off on a meta note:

1 last selfie… #Sharknado2TheSecondOne @TaraReid @andydick @mark_mcgrath @ThunderLevin @acferrante pic.twitter.com/fyFPa1X7D5

- Ian Ziering (@IanZiering) July 31, 2014

I had my glasses surgically removed to play the role in #Sharknado2TheSecondOne @SharknadoSyfy #actingrange #emmy #oscar

- Judah Friedlander (@JudahWorldChamp) July 31, 2014

The other way to get rid of a sharknado is to make it say its name backwards. #Sharknado2

- Wil Wheaton (@wilw) July 31, 2014

Cameos galore in #Sharknado2 How many can u count? ;)

- Vivica A. Fox (@MsVivicaFox) July 31, 2014

My fav screen capture from the movie #Sharknado2TheSecondOne #SyFy pic.twitter.com/Bz8Vqa6GIL

- Tara Reid (@TaraReid) July 31, 2014

That's right, Tara Reid got a saw-hand. Spoiler alert!