Paint Grandpa / Grandpa Ate Paint
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About
Paint Grandpa / Grandpa Ate Paint refers to a viral tweet describing how a 90-year-old grandpa named Bobby accidentally ate a whole can of paint thinking it was yogurt, along with an image of Bobby with green paint around his mouth and on his jacket. The tweet went viral in February 2019 as the media reported on it and Twitter users made jokes and memes referencing it, including photoshops using the image as an exploitable. On November 2nd, 2023, Bobby's granddaughter announced that Bobby died peacefully in his sleep that past June at the age of 91.
Origin
On February 22nd, 2019, Twitter[1] user Alex Stein tweeted, "Sooo my grandpa ate half a quart of paint today thinking it was yogurt" along with two images: one of the empty can of paint, the other of their grandpa standing in the hallway with the same colored paint covering his lips and on his jacket (shown below). The tweet went viral, garnering over 462,000 likes and 159,000 retweets in two years.
Later that day, Stein commented[2] with an update on the original tweet, writing, "Update: his stomach’s completely unfazed" along with a screenshot of a video chat with him smiling (shown below). The image was originally posted to Instagram[6] by @itsbobbybiiiiiitch, the man who ate the paint, along with the caption, "Apparently I ate paint this morning…but #no #regrets (poison control laughed at me, but they said I’ll be fine)" garnering over 25,500 likes in two years.
Spread
The post quickly took off on Twitter as users began making jokes referring to the tweet and image, nicknaming the man "Paint Grandpa." For example, on February 22nd, 2019, Twitter[3] user @iucipur made a post joking that the man was his grandfather and that he wanted to stock up on his favorite paint flavor, garnering over 3,800 likes in two years (shown below). On the same day, @PardonMyTake retweeted[4] Stein's original post, adding the caption "That's grit," garnering over 10,000 likes in the same span of time.
On February 23rd, Twitter[7] user @briansOtherLeg tweeted a labeled image detailing "the anatomy of the old man who eat paint" garnering over 2,800 likes and 600 retweets in two years (shown below, left). On the same day, Twitter[8] user @shonenslumped made a post joking about the tweet and referenced Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, garnering over 1,100 likes in a comparable span of time (shown below, right).
On February 23rd, The Daily Mail[5] posted an article about the man, named Bobby, eating paint in which they interview Alex, who made the tweet, revealing Bobby to be a 90-year-old who eats around 7 gallons of yogurt per week. In the article, they describe how they took him to the hospital after the incident and determined he would be okay.
On February 23rd, Stein commented another update under the original post, this time a video where he asks his grandpa if he knows he's famous online (shown below).
— Alex Stein (@alexsteinnn) February 23, 2019
On February 24th, Metro[9] posted an article on the tweet, followed by The Sun[10] on the same day.
2023 Resurgence
On October 22nd, TikToker[11] @princesspeyto1 posted a video showing herself dressed up as Paint Grandpa for a college party, but being disappointed that no one understood the reference. The video gathered over 8 million views and 800,000 likes in three days (seen below).
@princesspeyto1 :( #halloween #halloweencostume #paintgrandpa ♬ original sound – :).
Death
On November 2nd, 2023, a video compiling various clips of Bobby was posted to the @alexsteinnn TikTok[12] page and itsbobbybiiiiiitch Instagram[13] page announcing that Bobby passed away peacefully in his sleep in June. November 3rd would have been his 92nd birthday. The video gained over 1.1 million views on TikTok and 34,400 likes on Instagram in four days.
@alexsteinnn Hbd to this icon of a man who marched to the beat of his own drum, lit up every room he entered, and always found a way to make everyone around him laugh. The world’s a duller place without ya Bobby boy🤍
Today would’ve been Bobby’s 92nd birthday. For those who don’t know, he passed away peacefully in his sleep this June. And though he’s missed tremendously, he really did live a long, happy, healthy & fulfilling life as a doctor, musician, father, and grandfather. He loved nothing more than to make people laugh, so having the internet as his audience truly meant the world to him. Huge thanks to everyone who’s supported Bobby boy over the years -- I’m confident you guys will keep his legend alive🤍🕊️
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] Twitter – Sooo my grandpa ate half a quart of paint today thinking it was yogurt
[2] Twitter – Update: his stomach’s completely unfazed
[3] Twitter – This is my grandpa
[4] Twitter – That’s grit
[5] The Daily Mail – Mint chip or paintstachio? Unlucky grandfather, 90, accidentally eats a quart of PAINT after mistaking it for yogurt but has 'no regrets' as he claims poison control told him he'll be fine
[6] Instagram – Apparently I ate paint this morning…but #no #regrets
[7] Twitter – -- the anatomy of the old man who eat paint ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:
[8] Twitter – Sooo my grandpa ate half a quart of paint today thinking it was yogurt
[9] Metro – Grandad eats half tub of paint thinking its yogurt
[10] The Sun – Grandad, 90, accidentally eats half a litre of PAINT after mistaking it for YOGURT – and feels fine
[11] TikTok – princesspeyto1
fn12 TikTok – alexsteinnn
[13] Instagram – itsbobbybiiiiiitch
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Top Comments
Everything is Terrible
Mar 02, 2021 at 02:16PM EST
KoimanZX
Mar 01, 2021 at 06:41PM EST