Iceland has sent one of its most beloved products a whopping 110,000 feet into space as a way to celebrate the supermarket’s 50th birthday.
The humble chicken nugget has been on quite the journey.
As bizarre as it sounds, the chicken nugget took around one hour and 45 minutes to reach 110,000 feet above the earth – which is “around 880,000 Iceland Chicken Nuggets high” – and was launched into the stratosphere from a location close to Iceland’s head office in Deeside, North Wales, as a way of uniquely marking series of huge milestones for the supermarket.
According to Iceland, the lucky nugget “left behind grey skies, COVID 19, Brexit and Piers Morgan to shoot through the troposphere to the stratosphere”.
There it was able to “enjoy momentary peace, clearer skies, spacecraft and possible sightings of the world’s highest flying birds such as the Rüppell’s Vulture and the Common Crane”, and apparently it was quite an appropriate journey for the frozen food retailer’s popular product as the nugget “would have felt right at home in the stratosphere in freezing temperatures of around – 60°C”.
ADVERTISEMENT
Having reached its peak height, the chicken nugget – which is believed to be the first ever chicken nugget to make it to space – then rocketed back down to earth at 200 miles per hour, until its parachute launched 19km above ground level for a safe landing.
We promise we’re not kidding you here, this really did happen.
ADVERTISEMENT
We don’t know who needs to hear this, but we sent the first ever chicken nugget into space today 🧑🚀
Well, it was crowned king of the family favourite as sales of its own-brand breaded chicken products soared at the supermarket, and this also follows “a hugely successful year”, where it was named the fastest growing high street supermarket in the UK.
Chicken nuggets have remained a staple in the frozen aisle throughout Iceland’s 50-year history, selling more than 10 million Chicken Nuggets, Chunks and Strips last week alone.
ADVERTISEMENT
Andrew Staniland – Trading Director at Iceland – said: “2020 is a huge year for us as we celebrate our 50th birthday, and we wanted to find ways to mark the occasion, just like anyone celebrating a birthday in lockdown. What better way to show that our products are out of this world than by sending one of our customer favourites into space.
“We’ve all changed the way we shop in recent months and frozen food has never been so popular.
“We’re looking forward to continuing to celebrate our 50th year with customers and thanking them for their support.”
Iceland managed to pull this off by partnering with Sent into Space – a team of experts in the field of stratospheric exploration – to create the perfect vessel for the nugget to travel in.
Yet another unbelievable story 2020 has brought us.
Trending
The Sopranos stars finally visit much-loved Manchester sandwich inspired by the show
Danny Jones
In what feels like an inevitable story in the making for a long time now, members of The Sopranos cast have finally visited the popular Manchester sandwich spot inspired by the show, Bada Bing.
We know were biased, but we believe there’s an argument to be made that the beloved Manc butty shop has perhaps an even more fervent cult following than die-hard viewers of the hit American TV drama.
In case you somehow still don’t know the connection, Bada Bing is named after the strip club where several of the main characters work and spend a lot of their time.
Having returned to Manchester city centre back in 2024 after a successful first stint, they’ve been busier than ever, and that famous local name seems to have spread further than ever, including all the way over to the States, where actors from the original show caught wind and have now made the pilgrimage.
You might wonder why they didn’t name it after the butchers and deli, Satriale’s, or maybe even Artie Bucco’s oft-featured restaurant, Vesuvio. Both seem pretty ideal, right?
But let’s be honest, Bada Bing just has a better ring to it; there’s no denying that.
Either way, when series stars Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa came over to Manchester last week for a live edition of their podcast (which has just wrapped a limited UK tour) at the O2 Apollo.
But whilst they were here, they also made sure to visit a lunchtime joint that we’re sure Tony, Paulie, Christoper, Silvio and all of The Sopranos regulars would approve of.
While they didn’t quite perch out on the stoop with an espresso and a cigar, they did pose with co-owner Sam Gormally for a quick photo op outside the door.
Oh, and we don’t even need to confirm whether or not they liked the heroes – we just know they did.
‘Chris’ Moltisanti himself, Imperioli, also hopped on social media to share another key moment from his visit to the region:
Writing on their TikTok post, the Babd Bing boys dubbed it a “full circle moment” and reiterated that they still “can’t believe this just happened.
To be honest, we’ve barely got over it ourselves, and we’re just very big fans of the place.
We simply cannot imagine how surreal that day must have been for the whole team and everyone involved, and we hope we get a fun new special toasting the pair’s appearance sometime soon.
Featured Images — Bada Bing/Michael Imperioli (via Instagram)
Trending
Grammy-winning hardcore band Turnstile perform ‘exceptional’ cover of a Stone Roses classic
Danny Jones
In a cover version we never knew we needed, multiple Grammy award-winning hardcore band Turnstile have taken social media timelines by storm with a cover of a true British rock classic by The Stone Roses.
Described as everything from “pretty damn brilliant” and “exceptional” by CLASH Magazine to “one of the best triplej covers ever”, it’s fair to say they smashed it with this one.
This one was always likely to go down well with us Mancs, but you never know how possessive people are going to be with iconic tunes treasured not just by regions but entire eras like this.
Without further ado, please enjoy Turnstile’s cover of ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ by The Stone Roses:
Lost track of how many times we’ve watched this now.
Truly excellent.
Not only did they manage to capture the ambient atmosphere of that legendary intro, but they managed to tow the thin paint-splattered line between simply trying to imitate the original and making it their own.
There’s something about frontman Brendan Yates’ vocals that suits this particular cover so very well right from the off.
We’re, of course, not saying that he sounds like Ian Brown in any way, but his range and top notes, in particular, seemed to fit almost perfectly.
Pair that with a contemporary rock band helping rejuvenate their particular guitar-driven genre, and those raw, driving D-beat-centric drums, and you’ve got a winning combo.
As you can see, the majority of the internet seems to agree with us…
.@TURNSTILEHC step into the @triplej studio to recover their take on The Stone Roses' debut album opener 'I Wanna Be Adored'.
The bulk of social media didn’t just hail the reimagining as one that did Brown, John Squire, Reni and the late, great Mani justice, but perhaps one of the greatest that the popular Australian radio station, YouTube channel and Spotify playlisters have seen in a long time.
In fact, in Audio North‘s humble opinion, we’d go so far as to say this is the best we’ve heard in the platform since their native Royel Otis’ delightful duo of The Cranberries and Sophie Ellis-Bextor covers.
Safe to say it’s been an incredible year for Turnstile, who mopped up all manner of accolades in 2025 and were even nominated for International Group at the BRITs here in Manchester this past weekend. They might not have won that one, but they get all the plaudits from us for their song selection alone.
What did you make of it? Better still, do you have a favourite triplej ‘Like a Version’? Actually, no – scrap that: is there a better cover of a Manc artist‘s track that you can think of?
Emily Sergeant -
13th October 2020 
