About

Wrapped Bike Christmas Gift, also known as I Hope It's X or Bicycle In Wrapping Paper, refers to a series of image macros and memes in which photographs of Christmas gifts wrapped in a way that immediately betrays their contents, such as a bike, are paired with a caption in which the receiver of the gift expresses hope that it's something that wouldn't match the wrapping, like a gaming console. Started by a photograph of a wrapped bike paired with the caption "I hope it's an Xbox," the format has been in use since 2013 and saw a spike in virality in late November 2024.

Origin

On October 7th, 2013, 9GAG^[1] user djkakalak posted a photograph of a bike in blue-patterned Christmas wrapping paired with the humorous caption, "I hope it's an Xbox," gaining over 40 upvotes in 11 years. The original author of the meme is unknown. On November 4th, Imgur^[2] user Ijustsohappentobenewhereyes posted the same meme in a better quality (shown below).

Spread

On December 13th, 2013, Redditor Xanforth posted the earliest derivative meme within the format, pairing the photograph with the caption, "I hope it's an iPhone." The post (shown below) received over 2,100 upvotes in the /r/funny^[3] subreddit in 11 years.

The original version of the meme was shared multiple times on various blogs and social media pages through the 2010s.^[4]

The format regained popularity in the 2020s following the release of the PlayStation 5 gaming console as users paired images of wrapped Christmas presents which shape indicated that their content was definitely not a gaming console with the caption, "I hope it's a PS5."

For example, on December 25th, 2020, Redditor BigLadShem posted a photograph of a wrapped bike paired with the caption, with their meme garnering over 40,000 upvotes in the /r/memes^[5] subreddit in four years (shown below).

The format again regained popularity in late November 2024 after Instagram^[6] user thewyattfann posted a photograph on November 18th of a misleadingly wrapped Christmas present disguised as a bike^[7] with the caption, "I hope it's Rhea Ripley." Their post garnered over 79,000 likes on Instagram in one month, reigniting the trend (shown below).

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

External References