Broccoli In Hot Tub

About

Broccoli In Hot Tub, also known as Gangster Broccoli or Hot Tub Broccoli, refers to an image of an animated stalk of broccoli that resembles a man wearing bling sitting in a hot tub in paradise. The image was originally created in 2010 as part of a series of print floss ads by Colgate featuring the tagline "there are places a toothpick will never reach." The broccoli's depiction has been criticized as racist, as it appears to be based on Black stereotypes, including using the head of the broccoli as an afro and the size of the broccoli's lips. The ad was designed by Chilean agency Prolam Y&R. The image's popularity in shitposting increased in 2021 when it appeared in various memes.

Origin

In May 2010, Colgate began its "there are places you will never reach" print campaign meant to advertise floss.^[1] The ads feature 3D-rendered, anthropomorphized versions of fruit and vegetables relaxing in vacation spots, meant to show how food particles hide in your teeth. One of these ads shows a stalk of anthropomorphic broccoli wearing bling relaxing in a jacuzzi. A toothpick stands in the background fishing in the pool behind him (shown below).

The advertisement was quickly accused of being racist for its depiction of the broccoli with a number of Black stereotypes, including the bling, exaggeratedly large lips and, most notably, an afro, which is portrayed by the broccoli's head. On May 10th of that year, Copyranter shared the ad on their BlogSpot^[2] page in a post titled "Blinged-out broccoli brother, chillin' in a hot tub (in your mouth)" where they accuse the ad of racism, writing: "Nothing remotely racist here in this ad for Colgate dental floss by Chilean agency Prolam Y&R, right? I mean, c'mon, Broccoli stalks naturally have a 'fro." The writer shares a number of other racist ads in the post.

Spread

On August 17th, 2021, YouTuber Troll posted a video consisting of the gangsta broccoli image with the opening of the song "Candy Shop" added, gaining over 5,400 views in two months (shown below, left). On August 23rd, YouTuber Danilo Milutinovic posted a version of the SpongeBob Doxxing Your IP Address using the image (shown below, right).

On October 20th, iFunny^[7] user sschmidt posted an image macro using all three of the ads from the Colgate campaign claiming a debate between the three would be epic, gaining over 9,500 smiles in six days (shown below).

On October 21st, Instagram^[3] meme page @creemierr posted a video showing a Photoshopped version of the broccoli image made to look like a dating profile picture with the age "22" listed beside the name "Broccoli" and a version of the song "This Love" by Maroon 5 in the background, captioned "How can a man of his stature be single, it’s impossible" (shown below). The video gained over 14,000 likes in five days. On the same day, it was reposted to Instagram^[4] page @repost.randy, gaining over 186,000 views and 50,000 likes in the same period of time.

On October 19th, Redditor GeorgeSaucington posted a Photoshopped meme to /r/shitposting^[6] showing a man asking another to see "the broccoli picture" and the other showing him the image via a speech bubble, gaining over 500 upvotes in a week (shown below). On October 25th, Instagram^[5] page @salad.snake reposted it, gaining over 36,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Santai Dulu Gak Sih

Prior to February 2023, an unknown user uploaded the broccoli in hot tub image with the Indonesian text "Santai dulu gak sih" (Eng. just relax okay) with the crying laughing emoji (shown below).

Starting in February 2023, the image became popularized in Indonesia as a reaction image telling people to relax and chill while waiting for something. For example, on February 19th, 2023, Facebook^[8] user Barun uploaded an image with a caption comparing 25-year-old boys' and girls' reactions after they are asked when they want to get married, while the boys' reaction being portrayed by the broccoli image and "Santai dulu gak sih" text. It was posted to the Lawak Science group and received more than 8,200 reactions and 1,900 shares in two weeks (shown below, left). On March 2nd, 2023, Facebook^[9] page Meme Troll Sepak Bola uploaded an image depicting the Manchester United football team chilling even though they conceded a goal against West Ham; later, Manchester United can come back and scored three goals. The post received more than 8,900 reactions and 179 shares in two days (shown below, right).

On February 20th, 2023, Facebook^[10] user Gilang Azzx uploaded a video of the tokusatsu character Kamen Rider doing the "henshin" pose while the villain, depicted as the broccoli, is waiting. The video received more than 1,800 reactions and 2,400 shares in two weeks (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References