Sheriff Grady Judd of Polk, County Florida has a solution for the increase of homicides in both his county and the United States at large since the pandemic: “Just chill out. Drink a 7 Up. Eat a MoonPie. Quit murdering people.” This advice has gone viral on TikTok, and pretty much all social media platforms because it’s both absurd and relatable.
Many of the TikTok lip syncs for the soundbite are people (and animals) who aren’t necessarily homicidal but are otherwise at their wit’s end with life. The hyperbolic humor of drinking soda and eating sweets in order to stop “murdering” people translates well to digestible memes that can relieve stress.
It’s not just the junk food itself that makes the clip so lovable, it’s the slightly quirky and anachronistic choices Sheriff Grady used. 7Up is way less popular than its rival Sprite, and Moon Pies are a relic from the past. Their still around mostly because they tap into nostalgia marketing.
No doubt the sales for both of these refreshments will be through the roof because of this virality. Maybe not at the same levels as when Ocean-Spray Cran-Raspberry juice helped get us through the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, but close.
Before he went viral recently, Grady Judd has actually long had some solid internet fame for his very watchable press conferences broadcast on Fox 13 Tampa Bay‘s YouTube Channel. The man just has some stage presence and a way with words.
