"I Ain't Fresh?" Whataburger Unc

Submission 4,515

Part of a series on Viral Videos. [View Related Entries]

About

"I Ain't Fresh?" Whataburger Unc refers to a viral video of an older Black man at a Whataburger being roasted by a group of women off-camera who are calling him "not fresh" to which he asks, "I ain't fresh?" The man, referred to online as Unc, is seen wearing a blue-and-white striped Polo Ralph Lauren shirt, blue jeans and blue-and-white New Balance sneakers while holding two large sodas. The video went viral on Twitter / X and TikTok in March 2024. Many people humorously defended the man and said that he was fresh while the women were just "hating." The man's name and identity were later revealed to be Derrick Lambert, and he responded positively to the people defending him on Facebook.

Origin

On March 15th, 2024, TikToker^[1] @quiicb17 posted a video of a man at Whataburger who asked a group of women off-camera, "I ain't fresh?" One woman is heard replying, "At all." The man is seen wearing a blue-and-white striped Polo Ralph Lauren shirt, blue jeans and blue-and-white New Balance sneakers while holding two large sodas. Over six days, the video received roughly 1.1 million plays and 102,700 likes (shown below, left).

On March 16th, TikToker^[2] posted an extended part two of the interaction, receiving roughly 466,300 plays and 10,400 likes in five days (shown below, right).

Ay-
I ain't fresh? I ain't fresh?
You not fresh, no.
At all. No, sir.
Sometimes you just gotta take your L, bro.

Spread

On March 19th, 2024, TikToker^[3] @chinaadoll8.8 posted a stitch with the video, defending the man's attire by calling him "clean," receiving over 414,500 plays and 47,200 likes in two days (shown below, left).

On March 20th, TikToker^[4] @anamolykb posted a similar video defending the man's attire, writing in her caption, "This man is fresh. Period!" gaining over 2.2 million plays and 289,900 likes in one day (shown below, right).

On March 19th, 2024, X^[5] user @JoshyBeSloshy tweeted the original video, captioning it, "Unc is fresh why they hating 🤣," receiving roughly 39 million views and 64,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Viral quotes of the video then surfaced, like one shared by X^[6] user @Atom_Kane_ on March 19th who said, "kids got no respect for foundational drip," earning over 18,000 likes in two days (shown below, left).

On March 21st, 2024, X^[7] user @TASH__P tweeted photos of each piece of clothing worn by the man, writing, "How I’m pulling up this summer," receiving over 48,000 likes in less than a day (shown below, right).

The video also went viral on Instagram^[8] when user @keep6ixsolid posted it as a Reel on March 20th, 2024, gaining over 20,200 likes in a day.

Derrick Lambert's Reaction

On March 20th, 2024, X^[9] user @alexissTyler posted a series of screenshots from Facebook that showed a woman named Chelsea Graham and others telling Facebook^[10] user Derrick Lambert that he looked fresh. X^[9] user @alexissTyler captioned the screenshots, "The positive side of the internet >>>>>," receiving over 43,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Then, later on March 20th, X^[11] user @Jenlashawun tweeted a screenshot of purported messages between her and Derrick Lambert in which he described what happened before the women started recording (shown below). He described the women's clothes. In one day, the tweet received over 1,900 likes.