Crayon Eating Marines
Well after my time in the Corps, came the Meme of the Crayon Eating Marines. I find it stupid, but then again, it wasn’t a thing while I was on active duty, so I just don’t get it.
According to online sources, the meme started in the early 2010s and was playing off of a stereotype of Marines as unintelligent, the trope supposes that they frequently eat crayons and drink glue. Of course, Marines being Marines, and not letting a good joke go to waste, we embraced that meme and continued to spread it ourselves.
The comic strip Terminal Lance (Maximillian Urirte) helped to popularize the meme in his comic strip. The joke’s ubiquity has led to real-life humorous consumption of crayons and has been referenced by the Marine Corps itself in celebration of National Crayon Day. Multiple products have capitalized on the trend, including two lines of edible crayons created by former Marines and a coloring book by Uriarte. Today the meme is a legend and lives on its own in and out of the Corps.
Some of the more popular memes are below:
And of course my favorite two are the two below.
But wait, this doesn’t end here, a Marine veteran, Frank Manteau found a way to make money off of all this, and he invented edible crayons
Sources:
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/do-marines-eat-crayons/
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2023/01/17/8-crayon-flavors-marines-would-actually-enjoy-eating/
https://taskandpurpose.com/culture/marines-eat-crayons-joke-history/
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/crayon-eater-marines-eat-crayons
https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2021/02/26/crayon-eating-marine-launches-edible-crayon-business/
