@Versacepoptarts' Hot Pocket Stunt

Overview

@Versacepoptarts’ Hot Pocket Stunt refers to a Vine video of a teenager attempting to pleasure himself with a Hot Pocket microwavable pastry that was shared on the video-sharing platform in late February 2014. Shortly after he uploaded the video, his Vine account was suspended for violating the site’s terms of services, which in turn made him a legendary figure on Twitter and in the blogosphere.

Background

On February 20th, 2014, Vine user @Versacepoptarts posted a video of himself humping a hole in a box of Pop Tarts microwavable pastries. Immediately after, he tweeted a selfie of himself with the used Pop Tart box (shown below). The original video was subsequently removed.

On February 23rd at 12:17 p.m., @Versacepoptarts posted a tweet claiming that he would “fuck a hotpocket on vine” if he received 420 retweets. Within the first 24 hours, the tweet received over 868 retweets and 690 favorites. Eight hours later, @Versacepoptarts delivered his promise by sharing a video of himself making love to a warmed-up Hot Pocket with the hashtag #FoodPorn. The clip was subsequently removed.

Eight hours later, a video in which he is shown engaging in a sexual act with a warmed-up Hot Pocket was uploaded to Vine with the hashtag #FoodPorn. The clip was subsequently removed.

Notable Developments

After posting the Hot Pocket video on February 23rd, 2014, @Versacepoptarts posted several tweets joking about the Vine clip (shown below).

On February 25th, @Versacepoptarts tweeted a screenshot of the @hotpockets Twitter feed, which displayed a message indicating that the account had blocked him (shown below, left). On February 26th, @Versacepoptarts posted a tweet announcing that his Vine account had been suspended (shown below, right).

News Media Coverage

In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the Vine incident, including The Daily Dot,^[3] Bro Bible,^[4] Elite Daily,^[5] Gawker^[6] and BuzzFeed.^[7]

Online Reaction

On February 26th, The Daily Dot article was submitted to the /r/WTF^[2] subreddit, where it received more than 4,300 up votes and 430 comments in the first week. The same day, YouTuber Kingsley posted a video titled “The Hot Pocket Vine,” in which he criticized @Versacepoptarts for using a Hot Pocket as a masturbation tool (shown below). On February 28th, @Versacepoptarts Twitter account was suspended.

Interview with First We Feast

On February 28th, 2014, the food blog First We Feast^[1] published an interview with @Versacepoptarts in which he described his experience in details, like how he had to use a condom because the Hot Pocket was too warm, while recommending others to try the stunt in their own privacy.