Is That Ham Processed?

Submission 11,759

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About

Is That Ham Processed? continued, If It's Processed I Don't Want It, refers to a copypasta from the perspective of a grocery store worker angrily telling a female customer ("Ma'am") that "an eleven pound whole slab of deli ham" is "an amalgamation of the meat of several pigs, emulsified, liquefied, strained, and ultimately inexorably joined in an unholy meat obelisk." The original post was shared on Facebook in 2021. The meme then trended on video platforms like YouTube and TikTok in 2023, via voiceovers and animations that imagined the employee vs. customer scene.

Origin

On June 25th, 2021, Facebook^[1] user Kiel Fauxton posted a Photoshopped picture of a Polish ham standing on a beach with a caption that outlined a scene in which a customer seemingly asked him, "Is that ham processed? If it's processed I don't want it," to which he replied with an overly verbose answer that demeaned her. The post gained roughly 1,100 shares in two years (shown below).

Copypasta

From the Facebook^[1] post, the "Is That Ham Processed?" copypasta reads:

"is that ham processed? If it's processed I don't want it"
Ma'am, that is an eleven pound whole slab of deli ham. It has no bones, fat, or connective tissue. It is an amalgamation of the meat of several pigs, emulsified, liquefied, strained, and ultimately inexorably joined in an unholy meat obelisk. God had no hand in the creation of this abhorrence. The fact that this ham monolith exists proves that God is either impotent to alter His universe or ignorant to the horrors taking place in his kingdom. This prism of pork is more than deli meat. It is a physical declaration of mankind's contempt for the natural order. It is hubris manifest. We also have a lower sodium variety if you would prefer that.

Spread

Starting on July 3rd, 2021, a screenshot of Kiel Fauxton's Facebook^[1] post started to spread on social media (shown below, left). It was first posted by Twitter / X^[2] user @mrs__peel on July 3rd, who said it was from "the Wegmans FB group," gaining over 29,000 likes in two years. On the same day, the screenshot was posted by TikToker^[3] @intellectuallyhonestslop where it gained roughly 12,900 likes in two years.

On October 21st, 2021, iFunnier^[4] @murdergod666_2019 posted an image that used the copypasta and a white background, gaining 10 smiles in two years (shown below, right). The iFunny^[4] post is currently the first discovered upload of the iteration.

Soon after, the aforementioned iteration from iFunny^[4] gained reposts on Reddit.^[5] In 2022, more images that used the copypasta surfaced on iFunny,^[6] among other platforms.

Voiceovers / Animations

On May 5th, 2022, TikToker^[7] @valentivideos posted the first known voiceover of the "Is That Ham Processed?" copypasta, gaining roughly 96,300 plays and 16,200 likes in one year (shown below, left).

On May 16th, 2023, TikToker^[8] @osaka_dreams posted a voiceover and the first known animation of the copypasta, using Wojak characters. Over one year, the TikTok received roughly 87,300 plays and 13,100 likes (shown below, right).

Other voiceovers surfaced on YouTube^[9] in 2022 and 2023. However, the most widely shared voiceover of the copypasta wasn't posted until September 18th, 2023, by YouTuber^[10] burialgoods, gaining roughly 52,000 views and 3,800 likes in two months (shown below).

YouTuber^[10] burialgoods' voiceover was cropped and reposted by TikToker^[11] @jaboriswitherspoon on September 29th, 2023, gaining over 4.7 million plays and 785,400 likes in two months.

Going into late 2023, TikTokers started using burialgoods' voiceover for their own animations. For instance, on September 25th, 2023, TikToker^[12] @sparklymofin posted an animation with Spanish subtitles, gaining roughly 283,100 plays and 43,900 likes in two months (shown below).