There are at least two social media managers deserving of a raise this week.
One Twitter user stoked a friendly rivalry Wednesday (September 13) between London’s Science Museum and Natural History Museum that would have Ross Gellar worked up into a who-stole-my-sandwich level frenzy.
“Who would win in a staff battle between @sciencemuseum and @NHM_London, what exhibits/items would help you be victorious? #askacurator,” user @bednarz posed, the picture of innocence.
“We have dinosaurs,” the Natural History Museum answered. “No contest.”
Who would win in a staff battle between @sciencemuseum and @NHM_London, what exhibits/items would help you be victorious? #askacurator
— Nick O'Connell (@bednarz) September 13, 2017
We have dinosaurs. No contest.
— Natural History Museum⁷ (@NHM_London) September 13, 2017
Of course, it was a contest. The Science Museum responded by lauding their robot collection. The exchange continued with a back-and-forth continuing for dozens of tweets as the two museums challenged each other by highlighting everything from vampire fish to ear trumpets to whale songs, and battling one another with lava and meteorites.
@NHM_London is full of old fossils, but we have robots, a Spitfire and ancient poisons. Boom! #AskACurator https://t.co/lsdOS3HqyO
— Science Museum (@sciencemuseum) September 13, 2017
We have robot dinosaurs, Pterodactyls and the most venomous creatures on Earth. Plus volcanoes and earthquakes … And vampire fish. pic.twitter.com/H2dNv0wgQr
— Natural History Museum⁷ (@NHM_London) September 13, 2017
What about this merman & we do have a Polaris nuclear missile as Khalil says! pic.twitter.com/uczMFrvKIw
— Science Museum (@sciencemuseum) September 13, 2017
*Game of Thrones theme music* Send in the (sea)-dragons… (from The Book of the Great Sea-Dragons by Thomas Hawkins, 1840). pic.twitter.com/K4Duh3w7Vk
— Natural History Museum⁷ (@NHM_London) September 13, 2017
We see your dragons and have escaped in this bathyscaphe https://t.co/m4gMCpGNxq pic.twitter.com/zqs0YwiQRO
— Science Museum (@sciencemuseum) September 13, 2017
OK, we weren't going to do this, but here come the locusts… Phymateus viridipes, Phymateus karschi, and Ornithacris pictula magnifica… pic.twitter.com/LWq6WfCCB9
— Natural History Museum⁷ (@NHM_London) September 14, 2017
And this locust is one you can see on the balconies of the new #HintzeHall. pic.twitter.com/Gpbtivr28T
— Natural History Museum⁷ (@NHM_London) September 14, 2017
Obviously we won't use this DDT Insect Spray (on display in our new Mathematics Gallery) https://t.co/vQzoHMaSD5 so instead…. pic.twitter.com/t3imuW1WqP
— Science Museum (@sciencemuseum) September 14, 2017
This isn’t even the entire thread. At one point the Victoria & Albert Museum attempted to intervene and break up the fight, but the contest continued undeterred.
Guys… we are all friends here at Exhibition Road! #LoveWins #WeHaveDragonsToo #JustSaying pic.twitter.com/fDFHfYaBo3
— V&A (@V_and_A) September 13, 2017
The war at the museums ended in a draw, but a valiant effort was put forth by curators on both sides.
