Pizza Rolls in the Oven vs. Pizza Rolls in the Microwave

About

Pizza Rolls in the Oven vs. Pizza Rolls in the Microwave refers to a series of image macros and jokes that feature the opinion that Totino's Pizza Rolls of high quality when cooked in an oven. These memes generally feature an image of similar-looking subjects with one appearing slightly less attractive in the opinion of the memer.

Origin

The origin of the meme is unknown as the opinion likely existed prior to its appearance online. However, on February 22nd, 2013, Memedroid^[1] user shadowthehedgehog06 posted a First World Problems meme with the caption "Pizza rolls taste better from the oven but cook faster in the microwave." The post received more than 1,265 points (9% upvoted) in less than eight years (shown below).

Spread

The meme did not go viral until 2017, when, on July 9th, 2017, Twitter user @Reagan_Saul tweeted,^[2] "Marry a man that puts his pizza rolls in the oven instead of the microwave. He knows good things take a little more time." The tweet received more than 56,000 likes and 14,000 retweets in less than three years (shown below).

The following year, on December 28th, 2018, Redditor ^[3] Quesadiaz42 shared a variation comparing two photographs of actor Lindsay Lohan. The post received more than 9,400 points (90% upvoted) and 295 comments in less than four months (shown below, left).

On December 30th, 2019, Redditor^[4] appreciatedeeznuts posted an image of a boy eating pizza in a suit with a fork and knife with the caption "when you cook the pizza rolls in the oven instead of the microwave." Within three months, the meme received more than 18,000 points (99% upvoted) and 85 comments (shown below, center).

Months later, on March 31st, 2020, Facebook ^[5] user Mark Collins posted an image of two photographs, one of the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin feeding a tiger and one of Tiger King subject Joe Exotic feeding a tiger. The post received more than 47,000 shares, 6,400 comments and 2,800 reactions in less than two weeks (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References