A Divorced Adult’s Guide to Kids’ Culture: What Is “The Snack Demon”?

This week, a meme-fueled generational civil war broke out on TikTok, and only one side is aware of it; a throwaway tweet from rapper Young Thug made me wonder why so many rappers add “ASAP” to their names, and we’re back to 2012, when internet pranks reigned supreme.

TikTok’s “Snack Demon” and Why It Signals a Generational Gap

TikTok has been around since 2016, Instagram since 2010. Both services have been around long enough to witness clashes between longtime users and newcomers, and a veritable battle of generations is unfolding around a small AI-powered cartoon character named Snack Demon. It all started on the (older) version of Instagram , where this video from an AI-powered account went viral:

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You don’t have to be 17 to understand that this meme is stupid and bad. It’s about something most young people don’t care about: the desire to avoid snacking because you’re on a diet. This is exactly the kind of meme a mom would post. This fact hasn’t escaped TikTok’s attention, as @nataliethebrownie demonstrated in this video:

Thus, everything was set for the “Snack Demon” to be both sincere and ironic. TikTok moms and users close to them take this meme literally and post similar videos.

The younger generation responds with similar videos, designed to poke fun at the absurdity of the original posts. The ironic versions of the “Snack Demon” videos typically feature a different AI-generated protagonist—a gray “Snack Demon”—and often reference the popular Arby’s meme, but the dance, the irritating song, and the sweet, slightly chowder-like atmosphere remain the same.

I especially like that they call it ” Le Snack Demon,” a wry nod to how older internet users used to mock cheesy internet comics called “le me”—a double dose of irony!

Ultimately, the younger generation doesn’t understand that they can’t actually win this war. Firstly, because the number of people who appreciate irony has never been huge, and it looks like it’s rapidly declining in 2026. Secondly, because no matter how cool you were in your youth, anyone who lives long enough will sooner or later be ridiculed online for posting their own version of “Snack Demon.”

Why do rappers use ‘ASAP’ in their names?

Rapper Young Thug recently tweeted that he was changing his name. His real name is Jeffrey, and he wants nothing to do with Epstein. I’m only mentioning this because the tweet said, “I’m changing my f—ing name ASAP, man,” and at first I thought he was saying he was changing his name to “ASAP Bro,” joining A$AP Rocky, ASAP Lou, A$AP Ferg, ASAP Twelvyy, A$AP NAST, and about a hundred other rappers and producers who have chosen “ASAP” or “A$AP” as part of their stage name.

Traditionally, “ASAP” means “as soon as possible,” and that’s what Young Thug meant in his tweet. As much as I’d like to believe it, A$AP Rocky’s stage name isn’t “As Soon As Possible, Rocky.” “A$AP” or “ASAP” refers to his affiliation with the ASAP Mob, a New York hip-hop collective founded by ASAP Yams, ASAP Bari, and ASAP Illz back in 2006.

As for what those letters actually mean in the context of rap names, it depends on who you ask. Some say ASAP is short for “Always Strive and Prosper.” Others say it stands for “Kill Snitchers and Police.” If you work at NASA , ASAP stands for “Aerospace Safety Advisory Board,” and if you’re religious, it’s “Always Say a Prayer,” but my favorite definition is offered by A$AP Rocky: “An acronym symbolizing any purpose.”

Viral video of the week: screaming while ordering food.

The video below has been viewed over 50 million times. In it, TikTok user @pablopyee feigns hearing impairment to shout out orders to a stressed-out fast-food counter worker.

And that’s not all. This TikToker has created an entire industry of pranks featuring him yelling at fast food workers , mispronouncing words , aggressively praising strangers , and generally causing a bit of chaos.

Yes, it’s annoying to make people feel awkward in public, especially if they’re working, but most of his subjects seem to at least be having fun, and no one gets hurt—unlike past generations of pranks, which were sometimes as simple as “walk up to a stranger and punch them in the face ” or ” drive blindfolded .” And I love that this TikToker is bucking the trend of his peers, whose generational characteristic is a fear of doing anything ( socializing , drinking , taking risks , having sex , making friends ) for fear of appearing “ridiculous” on social media. And at least he’s not an AI. He’s loud and ridiculous in person.

Brain-bending educational videos are taking over TikTok.

If your little friend spends their days watching AI-generated TikTok videos, don’t assume they’re watching mindless content. While most AI-generated videos online certainly deserve the label “brainwashing,” a counterintuitive trend of educational brainwashing videos is gaining momentum online. This format seems to have started with the skeleton and Socrates videos I mentioned a few weeks ago, and has since expanded beyond Greek history. Here are a few channels that are making (relatively) useful brainwashing.

• MoggyBoi : This channel features videos explaining hygiene and self-care using skeletons.

• Law by Skele : This channel uses legal examples to explain basic legal concepts.

• jessicaer45 : No skeletons here. This channel is a strange combination of sea songs and grotesque scientific and medical situations, answering questions like, “What would happen if you were trapped inside a giant oyster?”

All of these videos appear to be generated entirely by artificial intelligence, so I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the facts they contain, but at least they strive for the truth, which is better than most types of nonsense.

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