Eat

An Animal-And-Food Photo Meme Is Taking Over The Internet

An animal-and-food photo meme is taking over the internet

By Abby Reisner/

Until recently, Portland-based 25-year-old Karen Zack's Instagram offered tours of breakfast nooks and beautiful Montana mountainscapes. Then, boom: It's dogs, bagels, muffins, more dogs and a few more dogs. And to think it all started with a plantain and some baby chicks.

Remember those two minutes where no one could tell what color that dress was? The latest in online Insta-fads is like that, but with dog-and-food photo grids. Not like dancing kibbles, but animals plus food, arranged in a bingo-like setup. Bob Kahn, I'm sure this is what you were after when you created the internet.

Dog-related memes are no new thing, but not even Comic Sans and Shiba Inus can compete with this. (Actually, they can. As long as they're not actually toasted marshmallows in disguise.)

Lest you think she takes herself too seriously, note the time she posts to Instagram (4:20) and battery percentage (69%). Seems about right. So is the hype really all it's cracked up to be? It's spreading like wildfire, and rightfully so. It won't get stuck in your head the way the Harlem Shake did (yup, there it goes again), and there's no planking required for enjoyment. My favorite fan-created grid is "sloth or pain au chocolat."

Zack has since expanded to parrots (or is that guacamole?) and baffling comparisons of kittens and ice cream. If you own a like-colored cat, do not let me near it. Otherwise, you might be left with a bowl of dulce de leche-topped ice cream for a pet.

The popular puppy-or-bagel meme is also legitimately difficult to decipher. I know what you're thinking. Of course, I can tell a dog from a blueberry muffin! One's better with butter; the other needs a good raspberry jam! Blame it on my poor vision, but when I look at these photos without my contact lenses in, I'm helpless.

#HumbleBrag, Karen Zack, but yes. You're not wrong at all. Now excuse me while I go try to think of intersections for every food and animal I've ever encountered.

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