As the coronavirus continues to disrupt the day-to-day lives of more and more people around the globe, people have adjusted in their own ways. And, with so many people in some form of social isolation, be it recommended or outright ordered, it’s led to shortages in supplies both on store shelves and online. This has prompted a few people to look toward a reliable staple of the college diet: Hot Pockets.
The savory, microwave-ready turnovers were first introduced in 1980 as Tastywich, which were changed to Hot Pockets three years later. They were a $2 billion industry by the time Nestle bought the company in 2002, and though sales have slipped in the years since, they’ve become a popular item once again. With more people self-quarantining, people have to rely on what’s in their kitchens for food. Not to mention that panic buying has caused a number of shortages of normal, everyday items, from toilet paper to eggs, it seems that Hot Pockets are still a reliable item to find on grocery store shelves.
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Even though not everyone’s necessarily happy about their new dietary choices, people took to Twitter to document them nonetheless.
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No meat, dairy or bread out there. Lots of wine, though. About to find out which varietal pairs best with Hot Pockets. #StopHoarding pic.twitter.com/eqU8SXRzzF
โ Dana Albright (@dana_l_albright) March 18, 2020
okay I have to go pick up my grocery order that at this point is mostly justโ
โ hugh jonner (@alovething) March 18, 2020
[checks notes] hot pockets and kettle chips
Back in August, Amy Duggar told PEOPLE Now that when she was pregnant, “I only wanted Hot Pockets and mashed potatoes.” So much so that she made her husband, Dillon King, had to make special trips to the store for her.ย
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Being isolated and working from home is making me eat the most unhealthy foods. I’m not saying I bought a microwave just to fill my freezer with ham & cheddar @hotpockets and @realpizzarolls, but I am eating like I have the bowels of a 17-year-old. #socialdistancinglife
โ Greg Cobbe (@EditorGregCobbe) March 18, 2020
I bought so many dam hot pockets. I think Iโm still in college ๐๐๐๐
โ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐. (@shesnayy) March 18, 2020
“I would fix a whole meal, and she would take like one bite and she’d be like ‘No, that’s not good. That’s going to make me sick. I’ll take a Hot Pocket,’” King was quick to add.ย
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all the good hot pockets are gone pic.twitter.com/QbQg42PKMk
โ yendesu_ (@yendesu_) March 18, 2020
OH: “I’ve been eating Hot Pockets for 3 days straight”
โ Eric Lee (@ericblee6) March 18, 2020
In April of 2018, Reality TV star Jenelle Evans took solace in the snack after her ex-husband, Courtland Rogers, was arrested on drug charges.ย
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Water and hotpockets all i been on
โ gajdhsjshgs.. GEAUX TIGAHS๐ฏ (@imakeherleek) March 27, 2020
I eat hot pockets more often than I eat other foods
โ Sylphie (@niczaz69) March 27, 2020
“Alright, now that I ate a Hot Pocket I feel like I had lunch and can get back to cleaning,” Evans tweeted at the time.ย
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Must stop eating hot pockets ๐ช
โ $teven ๐ (@Teds_) March 27, 2020
For the first time in history we can actually save humanity by staying inside on the couch and playing video games all day and eating hot pockets
โ Domenic Dunegan (@domenicdunegan) March 23, 2020
Whoโs the fuck up now DAD?
Incidentally, after Evans tweeted about Hot Pockets, a fan asked what flavor she preferred. When another user replied with “heroin” amid accusations that Evans was back on drugs, she called the response “disgusting.”
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man fuck all yโall buyin up paper towels, havin to make hot pockets on printer paper pic.twitter.com/nqyqLOyor6
โ thestellarsock (@stellarsock) March 27, 2020
All the hot pockets are gone except for the cheese and ham ones. When they go, I’ll know shit’s about to get REALLY bad
โ Spark Daddy (@SparkDaddy1) March 27, 2020
There’s also the infamous bit from comedian Jim Gaffigan, who in 2005 said: “You can have a Hot Pocket for breakfast, a Hot Pocket for lunch, and be dead by dinner.” It turns out, the now-classicย joke may have been a major contributor to the snack’s declining sales in the years that followed.ย