John Oliver 'literally destroys' piñatas, for the internet

John Oliver &#039;literally destroys&#039; pi&amp;ntilde;atas, for the internet

(Image credit: Last Week Tonight)

last updated 8 January 2015

John Oliver's HBO show Last Week Tonight is on hiatus for another two weeks, but he left a little gift for his fans online early Monday morning. Well, it was less a gift for his fans than a not-too-subtle dig at the hyperbole of internet headline writers (the headline above will make more sense if you watch the clip below). He trolls The Huffington Post, then explains this clip "in terms the internet will respond to: What happens at the 2:00 mark of this video will amaze you."

The ostensible target of Oliver's ire was the humble piñata, "or as they should be called, the Trojan donkeys of diabetes." His gist is that piñatas teach kids that cruelty to animals is tasty, and argues that parents at birthday parties should just give their guests candy instead of "trick-or-treating execution style." But his real target was the excitable viral-video phenomenon that has put his show on the map. And I don't know, by the end he looked like he kind of got the appeal of the piñata after all. There is some mildly NSFW language. --Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.