The Oscars' Attempt To Be Fresh And Cool Got Roasted On Twitter

“Army of the Dead” took home the first-ever #OscarsFanFavorite prize at the 2022 Academy Awards on Sunday night, in a moment that spliced some “People’s Choice Awards” DNA into the usual proceedings ― albeit not without some viewer confusion.

The new “Fan Favorite” initiative is one of two categories being introduced for the first time this year, as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences attempts to revive the show’s low ratings and try out something new. (The other initiative is the #OscarsCheerMoment category.)

But just to make things a tad more muddled, the #OscarsFanFavorite category isn’t recognized as an official Oscars award. It’s seemingly just there to get people to engage with the award show ahead of time, and to tune in when the winner is announced. Participants voted for their favorite movie by tweeting their pick with the hashtag #OscarsFanFavorite, or by going to OscarsFanFavorite.com and making their selection.

Submissions closed earlier this month, and the Academy released its top 10 nominees via Twitter: “Army of the Dead,” “Cinderella,” “Dune,” “Malignant,” “Minamata,” “The Power of the Dog,” “Sing 2,” “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “The Suicide Squad” and “Tick, Tick... Boom!”

“Army of the Dead,” a heist movie that takes place in the middle of a zombie outbreak, ended up winning. But all the confusion and anti-climatic buildup led to a lot of reactions (and roasting) on Twitter, as one might expect:

The #OscarsCheerMoment didn’t fare much better:

Check out more Oscars moments below: