Some Philadelphians have objected to Mayor Jim Kenney over his policies. Others might be doing it now because of his cheesesteak order. But it’s the photos that people are really mad at.
On Friday, National Cheesesteak Day, the city’s Twitter account commemorated the event by tweeting Kenney’s alleged cheesesteak order: American cheese, onions, and ketchup. Questionable, but to make matters worse, it was accompanied photos an unidentified hoagie monstrosity—we hesitate to call it a cheesesteak, and the mayor’s office later confirmed it’s not—topped with pickles, banana peppers, and a heavy drizzle of fiery red ketchup.
Within an hour, the tweet received more than 53,000 views and a slew of angry replies. But we don’t think these photos are honest.
While we can’t say for sure, given the poorly composed photos and repeated use of the smiley face emoji around town, this looks like a classic case of anger baiting.
What is rage baiting and what does it have to do with cheesesteaks?
Rage baiting, also known as rage farming, is a common practice on social media where content creators post things that intentionally infuriate viewers. Typically the goal is to get viral because let’s face it, when people are angry at a tweet or video, they share it.
On TikTok, popular anger farmer Ryan Gawlik purposely called espresso “Expresso” or bit into an entire KitKat bar without breaking it in an attempt to increase his engagement. It has become a lucrative move for his career, he told Insider.
Especially in the food scene, deliberately bad and coarse takes are popular. Like tabletop nachos. Or, more recently, a “scratch-made” pasta made from mixed cardboard pasta that sparked outrage.
We suspect City’s tweet is no different. When one user responded, “This can’t be true,” the city’s account replied, “😬” best known as the “grimacing face,” a yellow face with clenched teeth meant to express nervousness or awkwardness.
The photos are particularly gross, too, almost resembling something of the popular Boys Who Can Cook Instagram page — a meme account that posts photos of intentionally bad-looking meals — or reminiscent of 2013, when Martha Stewart was dubbed by online viewers for her ugly food was roasted photography.
It’s worth noting that the Philly account’s food photos appear to be from original sources. A reverse google image search couldn’t find any other place where they were posted. That means someone in the mayor’s office might actually have prepared this meal – oops.
TThe photos are not in Kenney’s usual order
Some light social sleuthing quickly confirmed the fact that Kenney has a true penchant for the American, onion and ketchup combo. His press team later confirmed this to The Inquirer. He also recommends the Trainwreck Cheesesteak at Becks Cajun Cafe for a less traditional order, a spokesman said.
But he never ordered cucumbers, raw tomatoes, or whatever else was piled high in those pictures.
In fact, the mayor posted a tweet from his own account about National Cheesesteak Day, where what appeared to be a normal-looking cheesesteak (although he opted for ketchup) was assembled at Reading Terminal Market and then made its way to his desk.
In 2018, Kenney tweeted about a trip to Max’s for American cheese, onions and — not ketchup, but hot sauce. Acceptable!
What does the city say about her tweet?
On Twitter, the city’s account admins are promoting the bit — and they’re using a lot of GIFs to do it.
But when asked about the photos by The Inquirer, a spokesman admitted it wasn’t a cheesesteak at all, but a loaded steak hoagie.
“[A] Steak Hoagie with the Works (the order on the City of Philadelphia Twitter account) isn’t for everyone,” reads an email. “But that’s the beauty of cheesesteak – you can make it yourself!”
When asked why they would be posting photos of a steak hoagie on National Cheesesteak Day other than to make anger bait, a spokesperson didn’t immediately respond.