Dear God, Twitter Resurrected the Quiznos Monsters That Haunted the 2000s

We like the moon

If you were the right age at the turn of the Willennium, you probably remember staying up late on your Tandy computer, going to rathergood.com, and watching the Spongmonkeys hit “We Like The Moon.” Convinced you were the only one in the world who appreciated this janky, weird animation and humor, incensed you were—incensed!—when the stretched out gerbils in hats or whatever they were made an appearance in a damn Quiznos commercial in 2003.

Anyway, two days ago Twitter user @sullivem tweeted “millennials don’t own homes because this quiznos commercial put a hex on us as children,” and it went viral, and now everyone is remembering what a weird thing it used to be for a fast food chain to put a proto-meme in its ads. It’s almost quaint, remembering a time when a chain would actually hire the original creator to make their ads instead of ripping off memes. [Twitter]

And in other news...

• You can get a free Doritos Locos Taco at Taco Bell today. Thanks, Raptors! [Taco Bell]
• A man ate expired food for a year and concluded the system is bogus. It’s true that some labels (but not all) are meant to reflect when the manufacturer thinks the product won’t be at its peak anymore, but not necessarily when it will be unsafe for human consumption. “I mean, I ate heavy cream I think 10 weeks past date,” said intrepid taster Scott Nash, “and then meat sometimes a good month past its date. It didn’t smell bad. Rinse it off, good to go.” [Washington Post]
• The New York Times takes a look at the state of wine criticism, and why it might be time to change from the tasting note and score system that’s dominated for the past few decades. [NY Times]
• Krispy Kreme is introducing a stuffed version of their classic glazed donut, and are giving them away for free on June 22. The brand is also still grappling with the fact that it’s owned by JAB Holding Company, which was founded by someone who was an “unconditional follower” of Nazi race theory. [Foodbeast]
• Food writer Molly O’Neill passed away at age 66. She was an integral part of the modern food writing movement. “She celebrated all kinds of cooks and articulated very clearly that cooking is what brings us together,” said Ruth Reichl. “And she had no prejudice about whether this kind of food was better than that kind of food.” [NY Times]
• Hot take: the Veggie Delite is the only good Subway sandwich. [Vice]
• Hotter take: Apple Jacks are trash. [The Takeout]
• USA Today posits that it’s possible to send food back at a restaurant without making it awkward. If you’ve ever seen this happen successfully, please send us a tip. [USA Today]

• All AMI Coverage [E]