Chocolate!

Disclaimer: This entry is currently a work in progress. Major rewrite currently in the works.

About

Chocolate! (also known as Chocolate Guy) is a Photoshop-based meme featuring a character from the Nickelodeon cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants, depicting the character in a fit of rage over the mention of the word “chocolate.” Because of the amusing nature of the short scene, it became a template used for Photoshop images, and GIF remixes of the clip have been created. This meme got its start within the image-sharing community YTMND .

Origin

“Chocolate with Nuts” is an episode of Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants that aired on June 1, 2002.^[1] In this episode, SpongeBob and his best friend Patrick Star try to sell chocolate bars in order to become rich entrepreneurs. Along the way they encounter a fish (recurring character “Tom Smith”, voiced by Doug Lawrence^[2]) who starts screaming when he hears that chocolate is being sold. The fish continues to do so as he follows SpongeBob and Patrick throughout the episode, and catches them at the end, where he buys all the chocolate bars SpongeBob and Patrick have.

On June 22, 2005, YTMND user “hehelololol” created a page^[3] featuring the “Chocolate” character, called “Metal Gear Chocolate.” However, the YTMND Wiki states^[4] that the page popularized the character and fad was called “CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”^[5]. This page was created by user “SonofPrince” on December 28, 2006.

Spread

Researching

Notable Examples

Several popular YTMND pages have been created featuring the “Chocolate” character, including the thirteenth highest-rated YTMND page of all time (as of July 8, 2013), called “It’s Good, Want Some?”^[6]. Other popular YTMND pages featuring the character include “Hello. My Name’s Forrest Gump.”^[7], “The Land of You Know What”^[8] and “Everybody Loves Chocolate”^[9].

Search Interest

As early as December 2004, search volume for the term “spongebob chocolate” became noticeable for its dynamic nature. Since July 2006, search volume has steadily risen upward, peaking in February 2013 and gradually declining since then.

External References

^[1]TV.com Chocolate With Nuts / Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V

^[2]SpongeBob SquarePants Wiki Tom Smith

^[3]YTMND Metal Gear Chocolate

^[4]YTMND Wiki Chocolate

^[5]YTMND CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

^[6]YTMND It’s Good, Want Some?

^[7]YTMND Hello. My Name’s Forrest Gump

^[8]YTMND The Land of You Know What

^[9]YTMND Everybody Loves Chocolate