'I'm so hungry I could eat' trend takes the internet by storm
"I am so hungry I could eat ... Who's like a cute, squishy ... Jimmy Fallon," actress Kate Hudson said in a viral video.
"I'm so hungry I could eat..."
As part of the latest social media trend, users are pranking family members, friends and coworkers by telling them they are just so hungry they could eat someone from their pasts, like an old friend, boss or ex. The trend appears to pull inspiration from the expression, "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse," which means someone is very hungry.
"I'm so hungry I could eat Mike Dunlap," Content creator Katie McNelly tells her mom in a video posted to TikTok in April. Per the on-screen caption, Mike Dunlap was her mother's college boyfriend, whom her mother has never spoken about to McNelly.
Taken by surprise, McNelly's mom responds, "What? Why would you say that name? You should not know that name."
Countless social media users have tapped into the trend, sharing funny videos of people responding in various ways, some laughing and others angry, about bringing up a name from the past.
Unfamiliar? Here's what to know about the "I'm so hungry I could eat" trend and who is participating.
What is the 'I'm so hungry I could eat' trend?
Making waves on TikTok, the "I'm so hungry I could eat" trend features an individual behind the camera telling someone on camera − usually caught off guard − "I'm so hungry I could eat (insert name here)." The inserted name tends to be an off-handed, niche individual that the person on camera may not expert the videographer to know about. Most videos part of the trend appear to be made by children pranking their parents.
For example, a daughter participating in the trend may film a video of her father. She may say, "I'm so hungry I could eat John Smith," and John Smith, in this case, could be the father's middle school best friend, someone he's never even told his daughter about.
One of the most viewed TikTok videos following the trend was shared by content creator Joe Mele on April 23. In a video that appears staged, Mele tells his father he's so hungry he could eat Gino Romano, a "random guy" that Mele found in his father's school yearbook.
In response, Mele's father tells him, "That's not a name you throw around," and "You never said that name. We never had this conversation."
Celebrities hop on the 'I'm so hungry' trend
Actress Kate Hudson recently, and unknowingly, participated in the trend when a videographer told Hudson, while riding in the car, that she was so hungry she could eat Reese Witherspoon.
Unfamiliar with the trend, Hudson responded, "I am so hungry I could eat ... Who's like a cute, squishy ... Jimmy Fallon." As of May 5, the TikTok video had more than 3.5 million views.
"Apparently that's not how this trend works," Hudson wrote in the TikTok caption.
The internet erupted and soon, Fallon took part in the trend, too, sharing on TikTok that he could eat Penny Lane, Isla Gordon and Elle Wood − Hudson's character from the film "Almost Famous," the television series "Running Point" and Witherspoon's character from "Legally Blonde," respectively.
The Seattle Seahawks also jumped on the trend, pranking football guard Grey Zabel.
From behind the camera, a woman tells Zabel she is so hungry she could eat a man named Jett Lamb, who turned out to be one of Zabel's childhood friends.
Laughing in confusion, Zabel responds, "That's just a buddy of mine ... I'm almost positive it's not the same Jett Lamb," in response to the videographer acting surprised that they both know a man of the same name.
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at Paste BN. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.