One man’s TikTok video has viewers perplexed when he points out that the jars containing our favorite hamburger topping don’t even say the word “pickle” on the label. Has he discovered some long-hidden conspiracy? Or is there some more rational explanation?
@jessebanwell #pickle #pickles #notapickle#CapCut ♬ original sound – createsure
After TikTok user Jesse Banwell, who posts under the handle createsure (@jessebanwell), made sandwiches for his family, his son decided to look at the jar of Claussen Kosher Dill Sandwich Slices to figure out how to spell the word “pickle.” That’s when things got strange.
In a video posted one day ago, which now has over 82,000 views, Jesse points out that the word is nowhere to be found on the jar’s label.
“There’s a picture [of a pickle] of course,” Jesse says as he displays the jar. “But it doesn’t actually say the word ‘pickle’ anywhere on here. I looked at all the fine print as well.”
Jesse checked a large jar of Mt. Olive Kosher Hamburger Dill Chips, only to discover that it too was missing the word. He searched Google and learned that jars of Vlasic don’t mention the word either. Another internet search also failed to inform him why the word had been omitted.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence. There has to be some reason for it,” he says. “If anybody knows [why,] fill me in.”
Many of Jesse’s viewers were also confused as to why the term was missing from the packaging.
“Is this a new Mandela effect? I remember pickles on the label and none of mine have it now,” another viewer wrote.
Someone else joked, “To be called pickles, they need to be from the Pickle region in France.”
Some users suggested that the word was left off because it isn’t actually the product. Rather, it refers to the process of preserving foods by anaerobic fermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar.
“Pickle is what you do to them, not what they are,” wrote one person.
“Just a guess, but I think pickles is a colloquial term we use for them. But pickling is just the process, not the food,” another commenter added.
Indeed, what most people in the U.S. and Canada are referring to when they use the term is “pickled cucumbers.” The process can be used to preserve many foods such as beets, carrots, boiled eggs, and even sausages. However, since pickled cucumbers are the most popular version of the preserved food in the States and in Canada, the term is often used synonymously.
However, according to other comments on Jesse’s video, many companies do use the term on their packaging.
“I buy Milwaukee pickles and those say pickles!” wrote one person.
“I have Bubbies and the word ‘pickle’ is on the chips and the whole pickles,” another user commented.
“Sam’s Club brand says pickles on it… just looked” another viewer stated.
So far, Jesse has not posted any sort of follow-up. The Daily Dot has reached out to him via TikTok for further comment.
