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Crock-Pot serves up Twitter defense after 'This Is Us' episode

They say all publicity is good publicity, but the social media team for the iconic slow cooker might disagree.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Gael Cooper
2 min read

Warning: Possible spoilers for the TV show "This Is Us" ahead.

Running social media for an iconic American product has to be difficult enough without a TV show painting your main moneymaker as a murderer.

So when NBC show "This Is Us" hinted Tuesday that an old Crock-Pot with a faulty switch leads to the death of a beloved character (that's all the spoilers you're gonna get), the company naturally had to react, using a new Twitter account that CNET confirmed is official. It involved some pretty serious usage of the broken-heart emoji.

The company also issued an official statement, which says in part: "For nearly 50 years, with over 100 million Crock-Pots sold, we have never received any consumer complaints similar to the fictional events portrayed in (Tuesday's) episode. In fact, the safety and design of our product renders this type of event nearly impossible ... Our hope is that the team at NBC's 'This Is Us' will help us spread factual information regarding our product's safety."

Fans still gave their trusted appliances the side-eye after the episode.

One tweet even referred to Hodor's famous catchphrase from "Game of Thrones."

But others valiantly defended their slow cookers.

Even show creator Dan Fogelman jumped in to defend the appliance.

And Crock-Pot thanked him with an offer of a freebie.

In fairness, the show's plotline also involved a nonworking smoke detector.

Prepare to shed more tears, "This Is Us" fans, because the tragic storyline continues Feb. 4 after the Super Bowl. Maybe prep some Lit'l Smokies to snack on while you watch. You can make 'em in your Crock-Pot.