Deep breath. It happens to the best of us. One minute you are scrolling, the next you are convinced a clear sauce belongs on your chips. This is your friendly guide to the snackfish. Read on, learn the clues, then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
A snackfish is a pretend snack or drink that looks official online. It is a neat product image, a label that passes the blink test, and a caption that tells you what you are really looking at if you read it. Think of it as catfishing for food. The aim is to entertain, poke fun at hype, and encourage a little media literacy. The aim is not to sell you fake food. The point is to make you smile, then think for a second before you share.
House rule We always label a snackfish so nobody is misled. See where to find that label below.
Here is the short version. A bottle that looked like clear ketchup appeared in a quick shelf clip. People did a double take. The video travelled far beyond the usual circle and reached millions. Group chats lit up. The classic line followed. Please tell me this is a joke. It was a joke, neatly packaged. The bottle in the video was a prop. The sauce was not a real listing. It was a small lesson in a shiny label. When a thing feels like a perfect headline, check for the label before you plan a shop run.
Writers and culture sites covered the moment and unpacked why the format works. They looked at how a nine second shelf pull can race across feeds, how packaging primes our curiosity, and why audiences enjoy being in on the reveal. You will find links to those pieces down the page.
The term snackfishing and the playful format were started by @uksnackattack. What began as tidy internet humour became a language for spotting pretend products. The trick was simple and honest. Make a clever visual, place it in a familiar setting, and always tell people what it is. Over time more people learned the word, media wrote about it, and the label became part of the fun.
Tip. If a post has travelled without the label, check the original on snack dot fish before you believe it.
Use this quick five point scan before you fall for a sudden product drop.
Sometimes other pages lift content and remove the label, or crop it off. If a clip or image looks familiar but the caption or the bottom left watermark is missing, treat it as unverified. For the source of truth, check the post on snack dot fish where the label is always present.
Tick what you are seeing, then read the result. This checker runs in your browser only.
Click the boxes and the meter will change.
Five quick questions to see if you can spot the signs. No trick questions. Answers come from the guide above.
No. It is a concept. Please do not ask your local shop to scan it in.
Yes. On Instagram the caption says snackfish. On Facebook the watermark sits in the bottom left of the image.
The term and the format were started by @uksnackattack.
It is light entertainment. Treat it like street magic. Enjoy the reveal and carry on.
Read the caption, look for the watermark, and check the post on snack dot fish before you share.
These publications have written about the snackfish trend and the clear ketchup story. They are helpful reads if you want a deeper dive.
Snackfish
[sn-a-ck-fish] verb
A snack that lies about its legitimacy as an official product online for internet clout and attention. Most commonly fabricated in Adobe Photoshop or using the unofficial Snackfish AI.
