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People love to be outraged on social media — and this week, Hellman’s gave them a reason to be with this Helltweet. 

It got 2.5K+ quote tweets and 1.5K+ replies. 

It’s risky to make your product sound disgusting, but there was historical evidence — if the Hellmann’s team looked for it — that the tweet would perform. 

A brief history of drinking mayo

Let's get into it.

2021

‍In May, a user posted in r/unpopularopinion that watered down milk was better than cream in hot chocolate— and got 4.3K comments and 20K+  upvotes.

The post was... oddly persuasive. “It has an added benefit of not triggering any lactose intolerances,” the user wrote.

2017

‍A Philadelphia sportswriter admitted to trying mayo in his coffee. His tweet gets 450+ QTs, 80+ replies, and coverage in Food & Wine, Today, and (somehow?!) Business Insider.

‍2011

‍A Reddit post about mayo tasting “awesome” in coffee got 22 replies — all negative. As the comment Reddit's  filter deemed "Best" put it, "What? No. Just...no.”

The original poster deleted their account, but arguably started this trend.

Our takeaway? 

Social posts about drinking mayo have been doing numbers for 10+ years. 

They hit that perfect, unbearable-yet-plausible note that sparks major engagement. But also… 🤮.