Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In 2012, one photo of a Burger King employee standing in a bin of lettuce turned him into an internet villain overnight. Five years later, a YouTuber named Chills turned "Burger King Foot Lettuce" into one of the internet's most enduring memes. In 2024, the man behind the photo, Alex, finally came forward to tell his side of the story. In 2025, he passed away.
This is the full story of how a joke between friends became internet infamy, why the meme refused to die for over a decade, and the man who spent years living in its shadow.
Note: While we were unable to 100 percent confirm the veracity of Alex’s claims of being the subject of the Burger King Foot Lettuce meme, in 2025 he sent us photographs of his 2012 high school yearbook from Mayfield Heights High, the high school in the town where the incident is confirmed to have taken place.
The man who took the photo also provided us with a quote about the story but wanted to remain anonymous. He told us:
“I posted it to get a rise out of people and see their reactions. It fit in perfectly with the kind of thing that got posted on /b/ at the time and, not realizing there could be any consequences, I posted it with a taunting message: 'This is the lettuce you eat at Burger King.' As soon as I saw the post that doxxed the pic, I became immediately nauseous and felt my heart rate and blood pressure go through the roof. There were, in fact, consequences for my actions.”
Read the written version: trending.knowyourmeme.com/editorials/interviews/the-man-behind-the-burger-king-foot-lettuce-meme-talks-getting-doxxed-fired-and-tanking-bks-sales-for-stepping-in-lettuce
Watch our full interview with Alex: youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Ij06dNy98
Check out our new MEME STORE: thememestore.com
Subscribe to our channel to learn more about trending memes, hear interviews from meme personalities, and more! / @knowyourmeme
▶ FRANKIE FEY
YouTube: youtube.com/@FrankieFey
Instagram: instagram.com/frankie.fey
TikTok: tiktok.com/@frankie.fey
X / Twitter: https://x.com/frankiefey
0:00 Intro
0:59 What Is the Burger King Foot Lettuce Meme?
1:31 How the Burger King Foot Lettuce Guy Got Doxxed
2:41 Did the Burger King Foot Lettuce Guy Get Fired?
3:06 How the Meme Faded (Then Came Back)
3:33 Who Is Chills the YouTuber?
4:13 The "Number 15" Burger King Foot Lettuce Line
4:54 How Burger King Foot Lettuce Went Viral
5:18 Sans Undertale, SpongeBob & the Foot Lettuce T-Pose Meme
6:07 Burger King Foot Lettuce in a College Textbook
6:52 Why the Burger King Foot Lettuce Meme Never Died
7:39 Who Is the Real Burger King Foot Lettuce Guy?
8:33 Alex's Job at Burger King
9:10 The Night Alex Got Doxxed
9:50 Did Burger King Actually Serve the Lettuce?
10:30 Did Foot Lettuce Hurt Burger King's Sales?
11:29 Alex's Life After Going Viral
12:10 Is the Burger King Foot Lettuce Guy Dead?
12:52 Remembering the Burger King Foot Lettuce Guy
#burgerkingfootlettuce #knowyourmeme #memehistory
In 2012, one photo of a Burger King employee standing in a bin of lettuce turned him into an internet villain overnight. Five years later, a YouTuber named Chills turned "Burger King Foot Lettuce" into one of the internet's most enduring memes. In 2024, the man behind the photo, Alex, finally came forward to tell his side of the story. In 2025, he passed away.
This is the full story of how a joke between friends became internet infamy, why the meme refused to die for over a decade, and the man who spent years living in its shadow.
Note: While we were unable to 100 percent confirm the veracity of Alex’s claims of being the subject of the Burger King Foot Lettuce meme, in 2025 he sent us photographs of his 2012 high school yearbook from Mayfield Heights High, the high school in the town where the incident is confirmed to have taken place.
The man who took the photo also provided us with a quote about the story but wanted to remain anonymous. He told us:
“I posted it to get a rise out of people and see their reactions. It fit in perfectly with the kind of thing that got posted on /b/ at the time and, not realizing there could be any consequences, I posted it with a taunting message: 'This is the lettuce you eat at Burger King.' As soon as I saw the post that doxxed the pic, I became immediately nauseous and felt my heart rate and blood pressure go through the roof. There were, in fact, consequences for my actions.”
Read the written version: trending.knowyourmeme.com/editorials/interviews/the-man-behind-the-burger-king-foot-lettuce-meme-talks-getting-doxxed-fired-and-tanking-bks-sales-for-stepping-in-lettuce
Watch our full interview with Alex: youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Ij06dNy98
Check out our new MEME STORE: thememestore.com
Subscribe to our channel to learn more about trending memes, hear interviews from meme personalities, and more! / @knowyourmeme
▶ FRANKIE FEY
YouTube: youtube.com/@FrankieFey
Instagram: instagram.com/frankie.fey
TikTok: tiktok.com/@frankie.fey
X / Twitter: https://x.com/frankiefey
0:00 Intro
0:59 What Is the Burger King Foot Lettuce Meme?
1:31 How the Burger King Foot Lettuce Guy Got Doxxed
2:41 Did the Burger King Foot Lettuce Guy Get Fired?
3:06 How the Meme Faded (Then Came Back)
3:33 Who Is Chills the YouTuber?
4:13 The "Number 15" Burger King Foot Lettuce Line
4:54 How Burger King Foot Lettuce Went Viral
5:18 Sans Undertale, SpongeBob & the Foot Lettuce T-Pose Meme
6:07 Burger King Foot Lettuce in a College Textbook
6:52 Why the Burger King Foot Lettuce Meme Never Died
7:39 Who Is the Real Burger King Foot Lettuce Guy?
8:33 Alex's Job at Burger King
9:10 The Night Alex Got Doxxed
9:50 Did Burger King Actually Serve the Lettuce?
10:30 Did Foot Lettuce Hurt Burger King's Sales?
11:29 Alex's Life After Going Viral
12:10 Is the Burger King Foot Lettuce Guy Dead?
12:52 Remembering the Burger King Foot Lettuce Guy
#burgerkingfootlettuce #knowyourmeme #memehistory
