About

Explaining To An American: Imagine A Burger refers to a phrasal template meme that pokes fun at the idea that Americans must be explained complex concepts through the use of burgers and fast-food joints as a metaphor, referencing the nationality stereotype about Americans consuming burgers. Memes about Americans being explained things in "burger terms" began gaining traction after 2020, notably due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The war between Russia and Ukraine notably disproved the "Golden Arches Peace Theory," which assumed that two nations economically developed enough to have a McDonald's were unlikely to engage in war.

Origin

An early example of the Explaining To An American: Imagine A Burger meme is a February 24th, 2022, post by X / Twitter^[1] user @furby_hancock that reads, "(explaining war to an american) imagine a hamburger."

The post was made in response to a post by Twitter^[2] user @spignal quoting American political commentator Thomas Friedman's "Golden Arches Peace Theory,"^[3] which assumes that two nations economically liberal enough to have McDonald's would be more focused on economic development than war.

Spread

Other internet users made similar posts about explaining complex topics to Americans in burger or fast-food terms, as seen in a November 6th, 2022, post by Tumblr^[4] user @quendergeer that read, "explaining purchasing power collapse to an american: imagine no burger." The tweet was posted in response to another Tumblr user noting that one could buy six Big Macs with one hour of minimum wage in 1980.

On March 14th, 2023, Twitter / X^[5] user @nikicaga tweeted, "Explaining Military Aid to Americans: Okay so imagine a burger." The tweet was posted in response to a graphic that portrays the American federal budget as a Big Mac and military aid to Ukraine as a pickle slice. The post gathered over 8,000 likes in two years.

On December 31st, 2024, Twitter^[6] user @NxtDeterio posted a tweet that read, "an American explaining their misogyny: imagine 2 burgers." The tweet was posted in response to a post showing a burger with a smooth bun vs. another with a wrinkled one and text that read, "Women before makeup vs Women after makeup." The post gathered over 400,000 likes in two months.

On February 20th, 2025, Twitter^[7] user @maxie_paws posted a tweet that translates to, "Americans when they have to explain the terrible consequences of a war: okay imagine a McDonald's." The tweet was posted in response to a post about the first McDonald's in Kyiv being bombed by Russia. The post gathered over 190,000 likes in five days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

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External References