Memes are basically the modern equivalent of folk tales, but instead of morality lessons, we get a fat pig begging for porridge. If you spent any time on the weird side of Twitter or Reddit around 2017, you definitely saw it. A painting of a large, slightly distorted hog looking longingly at a smaller hog eating from a bowl. The caption? May I have some oats brother. It sounds stupid because it is. But the staying power of this specific image says a lot about how internet humor shifted from "relatable" jokes to pure, unadulterated surrealism.
Honestly, the whole thing started with a painting from the 1800s. We aren't talking about a digital artist trying to be "random." This was a legitimate piece of agricultural art. Back then, farmers commissioned paintings of their livestock to show off how well-fed and "premium" their animals were. They wanted them to look massive. Unnatural, even. Little did those Victorian farmers know that their prize-winning swine would become the face of a million "brother" posts a century and a half later.
Where May I Have Some Oats Brother Actually Came From
The image itself is actually a painting titled The Berkshire Silver Prize Hogs. It was painted by an artist named John Vine around 1850. Vine was famous for his depictions of livestock, often exaggerating their features to please his clients. The pig on the left—the one asking for oats—looks like a giant, fleshy rectangle with tiny legs. It’s a masterpiece of "chonk" before that word even existed.
The meme's modern life began on Twitter. A user named @pigs_and_plans (later changed to @shun_v) posted the image with the "oats" caption in late 2016. It didn't explode instantly. It simmered. It was one of those things that people scrolled past and thought, "Huh, that’s weird," and then three days later, they were crying laughing at it. By early 2017, it was everywhere. It wasn't just a picture anymore; it was a format.
People started photoshopping the pigs into everything. The "oats" became "loops" (for the Bröther, may I have some lööps cat variant) or "lamps" (for the moth meme). But the oats pig was the progenitor. It set the tone for a specific brand of "polite but demanding" surrealism.
Why the Language Matters
There is a very specific linguistic tick in may I have some oats brother. It’s the lack of punctuation. It’s the formal "may I" mixed with the casual "brother." It sounds like a Victorian ghost trapped in the body of a 600-pound hog.
Most memes rely on a punchline. This one relies on a vibe. It’s the vibe of being hungry, being slightly grotesque, and having a strangely polite relationship with your peers. When you look at the painting, the pig in the foreground is clearly getting the better deal. He’s got the bowl. The pig in the back—the "brother"—is the one left wanting. It taps into a primal sense of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Oats).
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The Evolution of Surrealist Meme Culture
To understand why this caught on, you have to look at what was happening in 2017. We were moving away from "Advice Animals" (like Success Kid or Bad Luck Brian). Those were too structured. Too predictable. The internet was getting weirder. We wanted stuff that made no sense to our parents.
The "oats" meme fits into the "Deep Fried" aesthetic. This is where images are compressed, distorted, and saturated until they look like they’ve been through a literal deep fryer. The oats pig was often subjected to this treatment. By the time the meme peaked, the original painting was often unrecognizable, glowing with red lens flare eyes and distorted text.
- It started with John Vine's 1850 painting.
- It evolved through Twitter and Reddit's "Deep Fried" communities.
- It influenced the "Moth and Lamp" era.
- It eventually became a shorthand for any situation involving a desperate need for resources.
The Psychological Hook
Why do we find a pig asking for oats so funny? Psychologically, it’s about "incongruity theory." This theory suggests that humor arises when there is a mismatch between what we expect to happen and what actually happens. You expect a painting of a pig to be boring or historical. You do not expect it to be talking to you about its breakfast requirements in a subservient yet haunting tone.
The word "Brother" also carries a lot of weight here. It implies a shared struggle. We are all, in a sense, the pig asking for oats. Whether we are looking for a job, a relationship, or just a literal bowl of cereal at 2:00 AM, the "oats" represent that thing we crave but don't quite have.
The Commercialization and Irony
Naturally, once something gets popular, people try to sell it. You can find "May I have some oats brother" t-shirts, mugs, and even high-quality canvas prints of the original John Vine painting. There is a delicious irony in someone hanging a $100 print of a meme pig in their living room, effectively reverting the image back to its original status as "fine art."
But the meme resisted being "normiefied" for a long time. Because it’s so inherently strange, it didn't fit well into corporate advertising. You can't really use a distorted, starving hog to sell insurance. This allowed the meme to retain its "edge" longer than things like "Doge" or "Grumpy Cat."
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How to Use the Meme Today
If you’re going to drop an "oats" reference in 2026, you have to be careful. It’s a "vintage" meme now. Using it straight-faced might make you look like you’re stuck in 2017. However, using it ironically—or applying it to hyper-specific niche situations—still works.
For example, if you’re a programmer asking a senior dev for a code review, "May I have some lints brother" is a solid 7/10 joke in the right Slack channel. It shows you know the history but aren't just repeating the original line like a bot.
The Real Legacy of the Oats Pig
The biggest takeaway from the "may I have some oats brother" phenomenon is the democratization of art history. Before this meme, John Vine was a footnote in a very specific niche of British art history. Now, millions of people have seen his work. Sure, they’ve seen it with "DEEP FRIED" filters and weird text, but they’ve seen it.
It also proved that the internet has a collective memory. We don't just move on to the next thing and forget the old stuff. We build on it. The "oats" pig paved the way for the "Lööps" cat, which paved the way for the "Moth," which paved the way for the chaotic, AI-generated surrealism we see today.
Everything is connected. Even the hogs.
Actionable Insights for Content Creators
If you want to tap into the "oats" energy for your own projects, keep these things in mind:
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1. Lean into the Incongruity
Don't explain the joke. The power of the oats pig is that it makes no sense. If you’re creating content, sometimes the most "random" or historically out-of-place element is what will trigger the most engagement.
2. Use Specific Language
The word "brother" was the secret sauce. "May I have some oats" is okay. "May I have some oats brother" is a legend. Find your "anchor word" that gives your content a specific voice.
3. Respect the Source Material
Knowing that the pig was a "Silver Prize Hog" adds a layer of depth to the meme. When you’re researching trends, go two levels deeper than everyone else. Find the "John Vine" of your specific niche.
4. Understand Meme Cycles
The oats meme followed a classic path: Discovery -> Saturation -> Deep Frying -> Irony -> Nostalgia. Currently, we are in the Nostalgia phase. Treat it with the respect a 170-year-old pig deserves.
5. Avoid Over-Optimization
The reason people loved this meme was that it felt human and weird. If you try to force a meme into a corporate box, it dies. Keep your "oats" weird, or don't serve them at all.
Basically, the internet is just a giant farm where we all stand around waiting for someone to drop some content in our bowl. Sometimes that content is a high-quality article, and sometimes it's just a picture of a very large pig. Both are necessary for a balanced digital diet. Just remember to be polite when you ask for your share. It's what the brother would want.
Now, go check out the original John Vine paintings if you want to see just how weird 19th-century livestock art really was. It’s a rabbit hole worth falling down. Don't say I didn't warn you about the leg-to-body ratios. They are genuinely upsetting. But that’s the beauty of it. That’s why we’re still talking about it. That's why the oats will live forever.