The Brief: These memes ask the question "what if" something happened, following up with "haha just kidding" and then "unless..."
DEEP DIVE
“Haha just kidding…unless” memes convey the awkwardness of trying to play something that’s serious and truthful off as a joke. They can also depict a more sinister scenario in which someone makes a threat and pretends that it’s “just a joke.”
One of the most famous renditions of this meme references how rats may have carried fleas infected with the Bubonic Plague during the Black Death:
what if I.. spread the..
Great Plague..
in europe..
Haha just
kidding… unless..? pic.twitter.com/Fc4u1Ir19n— Mina @ art raffle💖 (@Minachiio) July 2, 2019
This meme is particularly popular in Kpop stan communities.
what if… Taehyung tied his hair in a man bun… haha just kidding… unless??? pic.twitter.com/JCza9lP47b
— mar ✩❄️🐻 (@softygvk) August 9, 2019
wow it would be really cute if i woke up to $300 haha just kidding .unless
— ✰ samflower ✰ (@milkygoddess) August 8, 2019
what if….. stan twitter was used only for positivity…… and you just tweeted about what you loved….. instead of what you hate……. haha……… just kidding………… unless ?
— jordan ⍟⃝ ︽✵︽ (@mxttmurdxck) August 8, 2019
my coworkers:
me: yo what if we all just…. strike… haha just kidding!…… unless…?
— taste my blade! (@YungToothache) August 9, 2019
What If We Kissed…
“Haha just kidding…unless” memes are similar in format to what if we kissed memes. It’s no surprise that many people have combined these two formats to ask “what if we kissed…ha ha just kidding…unless…”
what if we kissed in the tall grass by the lake 🙈 haha just kidding.. unless..😳 pic.twitter.com/0EvZJ3FpAQ
— darlene☆彡 (@idvrlene) August 9, 2019
what if we kissed… platonically? jk haha………….. unless ?
— IAN (@ianaIexander) July 25, 2019
what if … we fell in love … and kissed all the time … and went on museum dates … and i write poems about you … and you called me yours … haha just kidding !!! unless … ??
— 𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖎𝖊 (@kissrot) August 12, 2019
what if we kissed 🙈 by the flag burning area .. haha just kidding 🙊 .. unless..? https://t.co/7sjOAqpASF
— izzy (@izzscarlett) August 12, 2019