We have all wondered this – what is the brownie riddle all about? Perhaps it made its way into your feed a couple of times. Maybe you tried to make sense of it. For those who frequent the social media platform, the sensation of the brownie meme was hard to miss.
Many of you might not even know what this meme is. It all started in 2008 when a Twitter user put a tweet containing a picture of a brownie with a caption that stated, “I thought these were brownies.” This caption got the attention of netizens recently on Facebook, and they are busy posting pictures of food with this caption, trying to make it sound funny.
Whichever side you may be on, we are here to help settle this once and for all. What is the brownie meme, and what is it trying to tell us? Let’s find out!
What Is the Brownie Meme?
The brownie meme is a picture of what appears to be a brownie with icing on the top. The image is usually accompanied by a caption, challenging the user to either identify what it was or poking fun at the self. Typically, the captions would read something self-deprecating like, “my fat a** thought these were brownies!” or “I thought these were brownies.”
Roots in 2008 Twitter
Interestingly, despite its viral status on Facebook, the brownie meme traces its origins back to 2008 Twitter. A user called @queenxo0_ had posted the picture on her handle. The original caption read, “LMFAO my fat a** thought these were brownies.”
The original meme was posted when it was trendy to post some food with a self-deprecating caption. For example, a picture of mac and cheese would be accompanied by the caption “my fat a** thought this was mac and cheese.” The caption intended to poke fun at how one always had an eye out for food.
The tweet was taken down soon after, in February of the same year, but the internet had already caught on and made the meme go viral. It made a resurgence on Facebook in early 2020.
The brownie meme first appeared not on Facebook but Twitter, a whole 12 years before it went viral!
What Was the Creator Trying To Say?
Several interpretations of the meme have been proposed. While it’s impossible to narrow down what the creator, @queenxo0_, was really thinking when she made that tweet, people have let their imaginations run wild. Some users believed it was a riddle as they weren’t convinced it could be so simple.
However, not everybody felt inclined to let their imagination dictate their thoughts on the meme, and they chose a more practical answer.
The meme was essentially no more than just regular old brownies. The not-so-typical captions that accompanied them were simply an effort of the creator to be funny or quirky.
What Is It Trying To Say?
Many people were naturally left scratching their heads over the intended meaning of the brownie meme. Ironically, there was no profound meaning behind it. The images were indeed just regular old brownies. Nothing fishy about it. It was merely intended as a pun, a silly joke, at the reader’s expense.
By insinuating that one was a “fat a**” for thinking they were brownies, which they indeed were, they also indirectly make the viewer feel stupid. While it’s easy to see it as offensive, the intent was to simply poke fun at each other for having a keen eye for different items.
Did It Cross a Line?
When you have strong words, there’s always going to be an odd chance that people will take offense to them. People can take the intended meaning with a cruel twist.
Despite its apparent looks, it might not be offensive. The strong language used in the captions was still within reasons for the trends at the time. People could be seen routinely using pejorative terms for added emphasis. Sometimes, they were used for comedic or hyperbolic effects.
Moreover, with the rising prevalence of eating disorders, talking about food and eating habits more generally has become a sensitive affair. Given that this meme dates back to 2008, when awareness of eating disorders was scarce, we do not have reason to believe this was hateful.
Final words
While the meme remains open to interpretation, not everyone was happy with the popular explanation for the meme. They insisted that there was more to it. It was hard for them to make do with the fact that something as simple as a picture showing some baked brownies could not hold more layered meaning. Only the original creator, after all, can let us in on what they meant.
