About

Moonmelon is an Internet hoax based on a photoshopped image of a blue watermelon and a copypasta description claiming that it is a fruit native to Japan with a special ability to alter the flavor of other foods upon consumption.

Origin

On April 29th, 2011, Tumblr user NaturalChocolate^[1] posted a photograph of a blue watermelon slice (shown below). Within two weeks,^[3] Tumblr user Unremixable^[2] reblogged the photo, adding a caption claiming that the fruit is a "moonmelon" that grows in parts of Japan and can alter the taste of other foods after it is consumed. In the first three years, the post gained over 76,000 notes.

This a Moonmelon , scientifically knows as asidus. This fruit grows in some parts of Japan , and it's known for it's weird blue color. What you probably don't know about this fruit, is that it can switch flavors after you eat it. Everything sour will taste sweet, and everything salty will taste bitter, and it gives water a strong orange-like taste. This fruit is Very expensive. It costs about ￥16000 JPY (which is about 200 dollars).

Spread

On May 9th, 2011, the pop culture blog Obvious Winner^[6] published an article exposing the moonmelon photograph as a hoax. On April 5th, 2012, Redditor actonesceneone submitted the moonmelon photo to the /r/pics^[7] subreddit, where it received more than 2,600 up votes and 100 comments prior to being archived. On the following day, a moonmelon page was created on the debunking site Museum of Hoaxes,^[5] which contained a photograph of the original red watermelon (shown below).

On July 6th, the Internet news blog The Daily Dot^[4] published an article listing the moonmelon as one of the "top 10 Pinterest hoaxes." On September 4th, 2013, the hoax investigation site Hoax or Fact^[8] listed the moonmelon as an online photoshop prank. On October 15th, the Mind Blowing Facts Twitter feed posted the moonmelon photo, garnering upwards of 1,900 retweets and 1,400 favorites in the next three months.

On January 14th, 2014, several news sites published articles about the moonmelon hoax, including The Daily Dot,^[9] IBI Times^[10] and Wafflesatnoon.^[11] On the same day, the Weird Hacks & Facts Twitter feed posted the moonmelon picture, which gained over 4,100 retweets and 4,100 favorites in the first 24 hours.

Search Interest

External References