SuppliedThis new viral trope is good enough to eat.
Austin Stenson and his newfound friend – and former stranger – Harisson Corboy, have truly been paying attention in assembly, and have now got the whole world in their hands…Or rather between two slices of bread.
The teens, who’ve never met before and live on opposite sides of the world, were able to pull off a daring culinary treat of world cuisine through the power of social media on January 9, 2019.
Stenson has a cool 112,000 followers on Instagram which he smartly leveraged to get that bread, after seeing the ‘Earth Sandwich’ meme elsewhere online.
Speaking exclusively to UNILAD, Austin recalled his inspiration:
It was in a meme where two other guys did it years ago and I wanted to do one of my own. I liked the meme because it was positive and brought two strangers from opposites sides of the world together for the joke.
So he released a quick morning shout-out from his home in Atlanta – the sprawling urban metropolis capital of the US state of Georgia – to his fans on the other side of the world for a helping hand.
It was picked up in Seymour, Victoria, Australia – a historic railway town nestled into the Goulburn Valley 104 kilometres north of Melbourne – by a young local resident by the name of Harisson.
Austin explained it was completely ‘random’, adding:
I have this meme page on Instagram and I said I want to make an Earth Sandwich with one of my followers. Harrison messaged me. It was just a random follower of mine.
Harisson slid into his DM’s and it was go time. As Austin puts it, ‘The rest is history.’
The plan was simple: Place two slices of bread on the floor, topping and tailing the entire planet, to make an Earth Sandwich.
After a quick debrief via messages pinged back and forth between the distant wannabe deli workers, they executed the snack perfectly and the results were posted to Twitter.
With over 100,000 likes and over 30,000 retweets (at the time of writing), the Earth Sandwich has proved popular.
In fact, it’s the most popular meme Austin has ever made and shared, he confirms.
Commenting on the viral success of his work, Austin mused:
The positive output the tweet has had makes it even better. People love it because it’s wholesome and positive. People love seeing wholesome stuff especially in today’s age.
Some members of the Internet Jury have even dubbed the collaborative project ‘Art’ with a capital ‘A’.
The curator of this partisan group work (pictured above) laughed, and replied:
An Earth sandwich alone isn’t art but I think the fact it’s just strangers from opposite sides of the world doing something that random makes it art.
Speaking of art, Austin was also kind enough to send UNILAD an artist’s interpretation of the Earth Sandwich, as seen from space.
Here it is, for context (not to scale):
SuppliedSo, now they’ve made the critics smile with their meme, the pair won’t be strangers to each other for much longer, especially after tasting viral success together.
Will they remain friends, UNILAD asks.
‘Of course we will – he’s a cool guy and I have other friends from different places so this isn’t any different,’ the sandwich replicator replied.
The 18-year-old self-titled Social Media Influencer said the beauty of the World Wide Web is in its ability to make the world feel more connected – small enough to fill the gap between a couple of slices of bread, even.
After all, amid all the trolls on Twitter and Instagram – and even Facebook – they can broaden your horizons but bring the farther flung places of the world closer together…
To break bread, you might say:
WE DID IT🌎 pic.twitter.com/xy6RhRbywv
— 6 inches is enough (@ExtendoBans) January 9, 2019
Austin agreed, speaking from experience:
Some of the people I’ve met over social media I’m close with so, yeah, it’s nice how it brings people from different places and lives together.
If you agree Earth sandwiches be the food of love, share away, folks.
If you have a story you want to tell, share it with UNILAD via [email protected].
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.