Check Your Kids' Halloween Candy

About

Check Your Kids' Halloween Candy, also known as Parents, Please Check Your Kids' Candy, refers to a series of memes that parody a Halloween urban legend about people hiding needles and razors in candy before giving them out to trick-or-treaters. The meme format started with a viral post made in October 2014, developing into an annual trend.

Origin

The meme format parodies urban legends about malevolent strangers spiking candy with poison or drugs or putting sharp objects such as razor blades, needles or broken glass inside candy bars. The myths about poisoned candy first gained during the Industrial Revolution when food production moved out of local areas.^[1] The myth established connection with Halloween in particular in late 1950s.

The parody trend started with YouTuber^[2] jacksfilms posting a video "RAZORS IN YOUR APPLE (on Halloween)" on October 29th, 2011 (shown below). The video received over 1.5 million views in ten years.

On November 1st, 2012, an unknown Imgur^[3] user posted a photograph of a safety razor blade piercing an apple titled, "Noticed something fishy about this apple I got last night…" The post received over 630 upvotes and 8,300 views in nine years (shown below, left). The trend did not take off until October 27th, 2014, when Redditor 511100 reposted the image to /r/funny^[4] subreddit, writing, "PSA: Make sure you check the candy on Halloween, If you look closesly there is a razor hidden in this apple." The post received over 8,600 upvotes in six months (shown below, right).

Spread

Prior to November 3rd, 2014, Twitter user @cherdelrey posted a photograph of a handgun next to a Twix candy bar, advising others to check their kids' Halloween candy (original post no longer available). On November 3rd, Tumblr^[5] user ruinedchildhood posted a screenshot of the post which gained over 59,300 likes and reblogs in seven years (shown below, left). On the same day, Imgur^[6] user groanboii posted the photograph with a similar title, with the post gaining over 6,600 upvotes and 8,700 vies in seven years. On November 4th, Twitter^[7] account @itswillyferrell reposted the joke, with the tweet gaining over 1,200 retweets and 1,700 likes in the same period.

On October 2nd, 2015, Redditor CANT_TRUST_HILLARY reposted the image to /r/pics,^[8] with the post gaining over 22,100 likes in six months.

On October 28th, 2015, comedian Brittlestar posted a Vine^[9] in which he found a Nickelback album inside a candy bag. The Vine received over 9.6 million loops and 27,900 likes in one year (shown below). On the same day, Redditor^[10] kdanson posted a GIF based on the video to /r/GIFs, where it received over 25,000 upvotes in six months.

In the following days, more versions of the meme were posted on social media. For example, on October 30th, 2015, Twitter^[11] user @bobvulfov posted a photograph of razor scooter "found" in Halloween candy that gained over 4,200 retweets and 6,700 likes in six years.

In the following years, the joke became an annual trend on social media, with viral posts based on the format appearing every year. In 2016, versions in which sports and concert tickets were added into the candy gained popularity (example^[12] shown below, left). In 2020, versions in which people edited absurd imagery directly into the candy appeared, with the earliest known post of the variety posted by Twitter^[13] user @phuckchristy on October 13th, 2020 (shown below, right).

Multiple viral versions of the joker were posted in 2021, with several news outlets reporting on the spread of the meme.

2022 Variations

The meme saw a resurgence in October of 2022, with the meme growing more abstract and surreal than in previous years. On October 4th post by @JohnBiggs^[14] showing Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights in a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup that gained over 5,100 retweets and 22,000 likes in three days (shown below, left). On the 6th, user GrantBrisbee^[15] posted a similar example that used San Fransisco Giants statistics, gaining over 140 retweets and 1,000 likes (shown below, middle). The same day, user @DillySanders^[16] posted an example showing a football game between the Colts and Broncos, gaining over 3,900 retweets and 36,000 likes (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References