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McDonald’s confirms the Lotus Biscoff McFlurry is finally launching in the UK next week

Okay, it's happening... everybody stay calm.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 12th June 2023

It’s finally happening – McDonald’s has confirmed that the viral Lotus Biscoff McFlurry is launching in the UK next week.

This is not a drill.

After making its way onto the menu in various countries across the globe, and after countless months of rumours circulating online and foodies begging the fast food giant to make it a reality, McDonald’s has finally confirmed what fans have been waiting for.

The Lotus Biscoff McFlurry is on its way to the UK, and it’ll be here in just a few days time.

The unique flavour of Lotus Biscoff has amassed millions of caramelised biscuit lovers worldwide, who have all been pleading with Maccies to team up with the makers of the sweet treat for a McFlurry collaboration.

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Calls for a Biscoff-flavoured McFlurry have been coming in thick and fast over the past few months after rumours first emerged about it online, but McDonald’s had been keeping pretty tight-lipped about it all until it took to social media this morning to reveal that fans will finally be able to tuck into the ice cream delicacy before June is out.

Available in both mini and full sizes, the new limited-edition Lotus Biscoff McFlurry will see the beloved caramelised biscuit swirled onto soft serve McFlurry ice cream to give the dessert a signature crunchy twist.

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“We’re so pleased to be launching the Lotus Biscoff McFlurry in the UK and Ireland,” Thomas O’Neill – Head of Marketing at McDonald’s – said ahead of the long-awaited launch.

McDonald’s confirms the Lotus Biscoff McFlurry is finally launching in the UK / Credit: Lotus Biscoff

“It’s been a long-time hope to some of our McDonald’s patrons and we’re glad we can make this into a reality, as we take great pride in what we offer our customers and we really do listen to what they want by spending time researching and developing all the possibilities.

“It’s what we enjoy and it’s why I am personally proud of this new menu.”

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You’ll be able to grab the Lotus Biscoff McFlurry for a limited-time only from next Wednesday (21 June) at McDonald’s branches all across the UK and Ireland.

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A full-sized one will set you back £1.99, while a mini version will cost just £1.49.

Featured Image – McDonald’s

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The best Manchester-based anime-style memes we’ve seen online as Ghibli craze takes over

Danny Jones Danny Jones Manchester anime Studio Ghibli memes

Now, the internet can be used for a lot of silly and pointless things – you might argue us sharing our favourite memes every morning is a prime example of that – but we have to admit, the second we saw a Manchester-inspired Studio Ghibli image on social media, we were hooked.

If you have absolutely no idea what we’re talking about, there is a current craze that has taken over the internet, which has seen recognisable memes and images recreated in the style of the iconic Ghibli anime films, created by legendary animator and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki.

Once you’ve found one, you tend to start spotting them more and more frequently, and in the case of the chronically online like us, we’ve been inundated with them for weeks now.

People are using AI to create them in various different contexts, but it won’t surprise you to learn that our favourite Ghibli/anime memes are those based around Manchester. For example:

As it happens, this was the first and perhaps still the best we’ve seen to date, but it didn’t stop us from falling down an animated rabbit hole looking for others.

To be honest, we didn’t actually have to do much searching ourselves as they’re absolutely all over the algorithm at the minute, and have been for a good month or so.

‘Ghibli memes’ may be an overgeneralisation of what is a rather specific and famed art style, but this ongoing flood of anime-style cartooons is being created by users giving prompts to ChatGPT, the increasingly popular large language model (LLM) and AI tool.

Designed with OpenAI software, the artificial intelligence chatbot can do everything from write extensive study notes and flash cards to fixing blurry images, writing computer code, entire essays and quite literally countless other things.

In this instance, people are just reimagining moments from the zeitgeist and famous memes in this style by feeding the image to ChatGPT, along with an ‘in the style of Studio Ghibli’ prompt.

man city anime style art
One for the Blues…
man united studio ghibli meme
And the Reds.
All of these images have been designed using ChatGPT. (Credit: Eleventh Minute/centredevils via X)

Pretty cool, right?

You’ll find that footballer Twitter (sorry, X*), in particular, is absolutely full of fan accounts recreating iconic club scenes in the Miyazaki art style, giving their favourite players big ‘Chibi’ eyes (another unique aspect of anime) and so on.

It’s all just a bit of a laugh, after all; even we here at The Manc put ChatGPT to the test back in June 2023 and asked it to design ‘the perfect day out in Manchester’ – to varying degrees of success, we might add.

How about a couple of Oasis ones?

As ever with machine-learning, the more information you feed it, the better the result and although we know these are original pictures being reimagined, it still goes to show just how impressive and varied AI is becoming.

We’ve also enjoyed some that aren’t necessarily Manc but are quintessential British humour or simply more universal memes.

Exhibits E and F…

studio ghibli anime memes
Even after all these years, we feel like we still see this in some context at least once a week – and it still makes us laugh.
come dine with me anime
‘What a sad little life, Jane…’
Credit: brandsynario (via Instagram)/No Context Brits (via X)

Despite these memes riding a real wave right now, the Ghibli portrait fad is just that; there are plenty of other aesthetics being toyed with, too.

It was only last week that we saw a Muppets-style meme/Sesame Street spin on The Smiths (which we did get a chuckle from as well), and we’re sure something else will take over soon.

Actually, it already has, as we’ve now started coming across people making action figure versions of themselves and/or famous people, full decked out with accessories inside blister packs and everything.

On the other hand, many people are understandably concerned about what this means for artists and although there is no substitute for genuine human expression, whatever form that may come in, lots of people are railing against it as the possibility of AI-based pop music has been posited.

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With that in mind, maybe the best twist we’ve seen is our very own Stanley Chow subverting the trend and doing Ghibli stuff in his equally iconic style. We’ll take these geometric gems over computer-generated imitations any day.

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For now, it’s just a bit of fun and we confess we’ve got some light entertainment out of it, but the increasing possibilities being thrown up by AI in terms of art do pose a lot more complex questions.

We’ll finish with one final example because let’s be honest, there’s only really one thing on our minds at the minute – at least until the summer finally rolls around…

Let us know if you’ve seen any other fun examples and what you make of the whole Ghibli meme trend down in the comments.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Oasis Archives/No Context Brits (via X)

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Manchester United to debut first ‘tifo’ banner before Lyon game

Danny Jones Danny Jones Man United first tifo banner before Lyon game

Manchester United is set to debut its first-ever ‘tifo’ banner ahead of their big game against Olympique Lyonnais on Thursday night.

The Red Devils are staring down their biggest moment of the season – arguably one of their biggest in some time – as they must beat Lyon in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final to advance in the competition, which is their only chance of silverware this year.

It’s been a tough start for new manager Ruben Amorim since he arrived at Old Trafford, with Jim Ratcliffe and the INEOS ownership group having been amidst turbulent times pretty much ever since they took up a minority stake in the club.

All that being said, and with Man United’s financial obstacles now well-publicised by the co-owner himself, winning the tournament and therefore securing a shot at Champions League football next season is crucial to how their ambitious rebuild and, notably, stadium redevelopment plans pan out.

With that in mind, the club are looking to be bolder than ever when it comes to creating an atmosphere for the crucial knockout fixture, announcing that a tifo banner will be unveiled inside the stadium for the first time in the club’s history.

For any of those still unclear on what a tifo is, they are large, colourful, choreographed displays typically organised by the supporters themselves, which spotlight things like club badges, legendary players, insignias, messages and more.

Popular in various other parts of the continent and beyond, especially in the likes of Italy (where the trend first started) and Germany, as well as southern and eastern Europe, this particular part of global football fan culture hasn’t really made it over to the Premier League just yet.

Not too far away from the kinds of big banners that are commonplace throughout most football, only even more massive and usually much intricate in shape, design and detail, the club has confirmed their inaugural attempt at a United tifo will be shown in front of the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand.

As for what it’s going to look like, the specifics are being kept under wraps for now, but the club are said to have worked with fan representatives closely on the project before being shared with captain Bruno Fernandes to get his seal of approval. 

man united tifo design
The flag shown during this year’s Munich Disaster memorial observation. (Credit: The Manc Group)

For now, the only details revealed are that “the ‘tifo’ will be raised from the ground to the roof, in front of the halfway line, creating a spectacular moment ahead of kick-off in M16.”

There have been plenty of big banner moments – both in protest and to mark important memorials – already this season, but this promises to be a whole different kettle of fish for the club.

During their most recent Europa League fixture, those up in the stands even got to witness Old Trafford putting on pyrotechnics for the first time, though it’s safe to say they didn’t quite nail the concept.

In fact, it looks like the club itself would be the first to admit it, as they also confirmed that the pre-match pageantry will include “red-and-white pyrotechnics will also appear adjacent to the banner, in a larger display than the one seen before the win over Real Sociedad in the previous round.”

Tifos are all well and good, but they need backing up with results, and it goes without saying that this match could define not just Man United‘s season but work wonders for Amorim’s future moving forward. This is the sort of standard they’re up against…

Ultras do not mess about when it comes to this kind of stuff.

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For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group

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