About

Best By 07 SEP 18 043 / 40 is a non-sequitur catchphrase based on a viral photograph of a printing error on a Life-Savers candy bag. After being posted on Twitter, the line has been subject to many surreal memes and shitposts replacing the punchline of many jokes with the misprinting.

Origin

On March 15th, 2018, Twitter^[1] user @knitcapchan posted a photograph a package of sour LifeSavers that featured a joke, which features a purple LifeSaver saying to a red LifeSaver, "I have a headache. This weather stinks." However, due to a printing error, the punchline could not be read because the expiration date, "Best By 07 SEP 18 043 / 40," was printed over it. This was paired with the caption, "I almost burst a lung laughing at this comic on the back of my lifesavers bag." This tweet (shown below) received more than 40,000 retweets and 137,000 likes in four days.

Spread

Shortly after the post was made, users responded with variations of the meme. Twitter^[2] user @ricetactician tweeted a version of the Steven Crowder 'Change My Mind' meme in which Crowders head is replaced by a LifeSaver the sign reads the expiration date. The post (shown below, left) received more than 1,300 retweets and 8,500 likes in four days.

Additionally, Twitter^[3] user @YourFriendHau tweeted a version of This Is Fine featuring the date, which received more than 2,000 retweets and 15,000 likes in four days. Twitter^[4] user @thecroutonkid posted a screen capture of the music group Earth, Wind and Fire singing the song "Do You Remember" with the expiration date instead of the lyrics. Within four days, the post (shown below, right) received more than 1,000 retweets and 5,000 likes.

Two days later, on March 17th, Twitter^[5] published a Moments page on the variations and popularity of the meme.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References