‘Please check your kids’ Halloween candy ... I just found Gritty in my brother’s KitKat’: The Twitter meme explained in Philly terms
On Twitter, a new twist to poking fun at Halloween candy cautionary tales.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/pmn/3O5LQCAD2JBM5DJNMAXD2EASLY.png)
A quick scroll through your Twitter timeline may show a bunch of open Snickers bars with illustrations of random objects Photoshopped on them. It’s not an advertisement for the chocolate treats, but rather, the latest iteration of a meme that’s at least 8 years old.
Parents have worried about potential safety issues with their kids’ trick-or-treating hauls for decades, despite reports showing that the threat of razors, poison, or drugs stuffed inside commercially packaged Halloween candy is largely unfounded.
According to the Washington Post, the fears are often stoked by viral, and sometimes fake or exaggerated, social media posts further amplified by local news reports.
In 2019, a Facebook post by the Johnstown, Pa., police department warned that drug-laced edibles “are packaged like regular candy.” The post never said that edibles were being handed out to kids during Halloween. Still, the post went semi-viral as a cautionary tale about evil neighbors who secretly want to get your kids high.
Joel Best, a professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware and expert on Halloween candy contamination, told the Post that he’s been researching the spread of contemporary Halloween legends and their spread since 1985.
On Twitter, a new wave of memes poking fun at Halloween candy cautionary tales is circulating.
The formatting is simple. They use the following components:
The text: “Please check your child’s Halloween candy. I just found [description of something outlandish, an inside joke, or a pop culture reference] in my child’s [candy bar of choice].”
A photo of a candy bar broken in half, with an image crudely photoshopped on top. This is typically done with Snickers, but we’ve also seen KitKats and Reese’s.
Variations may change the type of candy bar or the intricacy of the photo edit.
How did the Halloween candy meme evolve?
The “check your kids’ Halloween candy” meme has been circulating since at least 2011, according to Know Your Meme, but took off on Twitter around 2014 when user @cherdelrey posted a photo of a handgun next to a Twix bar, advising others to check their kids’ candy. Screenshots of the since-deleted original post continued to spread on Twitter and Tumblr.
“The meme format parodies urban legends about malevolent strangers spiking candy with poison or drugs or putting sharp objects, such as razor blades, needles or broken glass inside candy bars,” according to Know Your Meme.
By 2015, a version of the meme became popular on the now-defunct short-video platform Vine. The joke has since become an annual social media trend. Know Your Meme editors say 2020 marked when over-the-top edited photos of the candy started popping up but didn’t have a theory as to why.
This year’s variations began in early October, “growing more abstract and surreal than in previous years,” the site noted.
Journalist John Biggs’ version, posted Oct. 4, showed Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights inside a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. The tweet has garnered nearly 30,000 likes and over 6,000 retweets.
Similar versions have been taking off ever since.
The Halloween candy meme in Philadelphia terms
To make this meme as accessible as possible, here are a few Philly-centric versions The Inquirer staff came up with.
Parents, please check your kids’ candy this Halloween …
I just found the infinite towel from McGlinchey’s in my kid’s Snickers bar.
I just found vegetable crudité from Wegman’s inside my kid’s Reese’s.
I just found the Philly Philly bronze statue of Doug Pederson and Nick Foles inside my kid’s KitKat.
I just found an Italian hoagie from Angelo’s inside my kid’s Snickers bar.
I just found the LOVE sculpture inside my kid’s KitKat.
I just found the Italian Market grease pole in my kid’s Twizzler.