Menugate

Submission 5,665

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About

Menugate refers to an ongoing viral saga and internet mystery told by TikTok user @atlcody concerning his theory that he is the only person living in a large, relatively upscale but completely abandoned apartment complex in Atlanta, Georgia. His TikToks also include videos in which a man in a suit is on the phone in the background, having the exact same conversation in each video. This led to conspiracy theories that the user is experiencing a glitch in The Matrix or had gained access to The Backrooms.

Origin

On October 31st, 2021, TikToker @atlcody^[1] posted a TikTok in which he noticed that every apartment in his Atlanta apartment building had a Chinese food restaurant menu stuck between the door and the frame. They remained there for days, suggesting no one had opened any of the doors in the building. Cody said the building is listed as "full" but he never sees anyone in the building. The video gained over 395,000 likes in two years (shown below).

Over the course of the following weeks and months, Cody provided further details about his apartment building that added credence to his theory that he was the only person living in his building, despite seeming evidence to the contrary.

For example, on November 2nd, 2021, he investigated the building's parking garage where he found multiple cars. However, some of the cars had thick layers of dust on them, suggesting they hadn't moved for a long time (shown below, left). On August 4th, 2022, he filmed himself evacuating the building after a fire alarm was pulled, showing that no one had left the building with him (shown below, right).

On July 14th, 2023, the conspiracy theory expanded when he claimed he had noticed that everywhere he went he found young men in suits on the phone having the "exact same" phone conversation (shown below). This, on top of his apartment building saga, had Cody convinced he was living in "the Matrix."

Spread

The story captivated social media users as it unfolded. In November 2021, after the first several videos were posted, some news publications covered the story and theories surrounding it. For example, on November 9th, 2021, Newsweek^[2] covered the story, noting that commenters theorized Zillow may have purchased the building's properties to inflate demand. Daily Dot^[3] also covered the story in November 2023 and noted the Zillow theory.

The story saw a significant spike in interest in the fall of 2023. On August 31st, 2023, TikToker vyakitha posted a summary of the situation, gaining over 4.4 million views in six weeks (shown below, left). The TikTok appears to have sparked interest in the story on the broader internet. On September 1st, threads about "Menugate" appeared Reddit's /r/TikTokCringe^[4] and /r/conspiracy.^[5] On September 28th, user @lilloworldwide also posted a summary of the situation, gaining over 598,000 views in three weeks (shown below, right).