About

Sonic Inflation is a copypasta and series of Don't Google memes in which people are encouraged to Google the term "Sonic Inflation" under the guise that it is a real economic term coined after a time when Sonic the Hedgehog fans crashed the economy by printing their own money. In reality, it is a form of bait, and Googling "Sonic Inflation" results in examples of body inflation content relating to the game series and its titular character. The meme began with a copypasta posted to the /r/copypasta subreddit in February 2021 related to the Sonic fast-food restaurant chain and continued to spread over the following years as being related to the Sonic video game franchise.

Origin

On February 19th, 2021, Redditor u/WanderingTyrant posted a copypasta to the /r/copypasta^[1] subreddit titled "Sonic Inflation," garnering over 210 upvotes in four years. The copypasta reads:

Today I learned that in 2003 the fast food company “Sonic” began printing out their own money to pay their workers. This led to a huge inflation in the economy and was one of the leading factors of the 2008-2009 recession. Would highly recommend looking up Sonic Inflation on google if you want to learn more.

Spread

The copypasta and idea behind the copypasta garnered viral spread over the following years, becoming more related to the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series than Sonic restaurants.

On May 5th, 2021, Redditor u/Excessumamy made a post to the /r/TwoBestFriendsPlay^[2] subreddit sharing an edited Shutterstock photo for "Sonic Inflation," writing, "I can't believe Sonic Inflation is an actual economic term, thanks Pat!" garnering over 590 upvotes in four years.

On June 7th, 2025, YouTuber^[3] Sonic David posted a video in which a woman claims that, in 2009, the Sonic fandom bought so much merchandise that it cause inflation in the economy, encouraging viewers to Google "Sonic Inflation" to learn more, garnering over 185,000 views in a month.

On July 1st, YouTuber^[4] AtariX posted a similar video in which characters from the game Sonic Adventure make a similar joke about Googling "Sonic Inflation," garnering over 369,000 views in a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References