About

Mike Who Cheese Hairy is a phrase that when spoken out loud sounds like, "my coochie's hairy." In 2019, TikTokers began posting prank videos where they attempt to get people to read the phrase out loud and repeat it until they understand what it sounds like. The trend saw a resurgence in virality in 2022. It is similar in structure to the ICUP and ligma memes or other homophone-like wordplay jokes.

Origin

The earliest known use of the phrase "mike who cheese hairy" online was posted by Twitter^[1] user @1of1cinco on November 1st, 2011. On December 31st, 2017, YouTuber^[2][3] Guappa23 posted two videos where he gets his girlfriend and grandma to say the phrase over and over again, garnering over 11,000 and 13,000 views, respectively, in four years (shown below, left and right). This is the earliest known upload of the prank.

Spread

The trend spread on YouTube over the following months. On January 5th, 2018, YouTuber^[4] racquell fultz posted a video pulling the prank on their mother, garnering over 87,000 views in four years (shown below).

In 2019, the trend started to become popularized on TikTok. On February 12th, 2019, TikToker^[5] @kaelakinz posted a video where they pull the prank, garnering over 3.7 million views in three years (shown below, left). On September 10th, TikToker^[6] @cate_eppley posted a version of the prank, garnering over 9 million views in roughly the same span of time (shown below, right). On March 24th, 2021, TikToker^[7] @kylethomas posted a video pulling the prank, garnering over 4.5 million views in a year.

The trend saw a resurgence in popularity again in 2022. On October 24th, 2022, TikToker^[8] @mamamilllz posted a video where she gets her mother to read the phrase, garnering over 6.5 million views in a month (shown below). On November 8th, Sportskeeda^[9] published an article about the phrase. On November 10th, Distractify^[10] published an article on the phrase.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References