The crayon-eating Marine is a humorous

trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things in medi ...

(or

meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...

) associated with the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

, emerging online in the early 2010s. Playing off of a stereotype of Marines as unintelligent, the trope supposes that they frequently eat

crayons A crayon (or wax pastel) is a stick of pigmented wax used for writing or drawing. Wax crayons differ from pastels, in which the pigment is mixed with a dry binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a mixture of wax a ...

and drink

glue Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advantage ...

. In an instance of self-deprecating humor, the crayon-eater trope was popularized by Marines through social media and in Maximilian Uriarte's comic strip '' Terminal Lance''. The joke's ubiquity has led to real-life humorous consumption of crayons and has been referenced by the Marine Corps itself in celebration of National Crayon Day. Multiple products have capitalized on the trend, including two lines of edible crayons created by former Marines and a coloring book by Uriarte.

Origin and spread

Interservice rivalries Interservice rivalry is rivalry between different branches of a country's armed forces. This may include competition between land, marine, naval, coastal, air, or space forces. Interservice rivalry can occur over such topics as the appropriat ...

in the United States military involve stereotypes for each branch. The primary stereotype for the Marine Corps is one of low intelligence. The crayon-eating Marine trope is built around the humorous notion that Marines, owing to this low intelligence, will fail to recognize

crayon A crayon (or wax pastel) is a stick of pigmented wax used for writing or drawing. Wax crayons differ from pastels, in which the pigment is mixed with a dry binder (material), binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a ...

s as inedible and instead eat them. Alex Hollings of ''

The National Interest ''The National Interest'' (''TNI'') is an American bimonthly international relations magazine edited by American journalist Jacob Heilbrunn and published by the Center for the National Interest, a public policy think tank based in Washington, ...

'' describes this as "By far ... the most popular way to insult a Marine's intelligence". ''

Task & Purpose ''Task & Purpose'' is an American online publication founded in 2014 which covers the United States Armed Forces and the defense industry. They serve millions of readers monthly. History ''Task & Purpose'' was founded in 2014 by Zachary Isco ...

'' notes a

Pinterest Pinterest is an American social media service for publishing and discovery of information in the form of digital Bulletin board, pinboards. This includes recipes, home, style, motivation, and inspiration on the Internet using image sharing. Pint ...

post from 2010 that may refer to the idea of Marines and crayons, and a

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

post from 2012 that uses "I wanna be a crayon eater" as a

cadence In Classical music, Western musical theory, a cadence () is the end of a Phrase (music), phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution (music), resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don ...

. The trope became more popular in 2014 and 2015, before going

viral The word ''Viral'' means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). It may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spre ...

in 2016, possibly due to a post on a Facebook page titled "", in which two

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

soldiers prank a Marine with a

Meal, Ready-to-Eat The Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) is a self-contained individual United States military ration used by the United States Armed Forces and Department of Defense. It is intended for use by American service members in combat or field conditions wher ...

(MRE) containing crayons and glue, only for the Marine to promptly eat both and ask for

jalapeño The jalapeño ( , , ) is a medium-sized chili pepper Fruit, pod type cultivar of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. A mature jalapeño chili is long and wide, and hangs down from the plant. The pungency of jalapeño peppers varies, but is usual ...

cheese sauce. The trope of the crayon-eating Marine subsequently entered widespread use throughout the Corps, popularized through venues including and the comic '' Terminal Lance'' as a form of self-deprecating humor. On National Crayon Day in 2018, the Marine Corps posted a video to Facebook showing a Marine opening an MRE—ostensibly a gift from the Army—and finding crayons inside, followed by a

record scratch Scratching, sometimes referred to as scrubbing, is a DJ and turntablist technique of moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable to produce percussive or rhythmic sounds. A crossfader on a DJ mixer may be used to fade between two records ...

and a close-up of his face. Another notable take on the trope was a 2019 article in the satirical ''

Duffel Blog ''Duffel Blog'' is an American military news satire organization featuring satirical articles reporting on national security and US military topics. It is often described as "the military version of ''The Onion''." It was founded in March 2012 by ...

'', which imagines a crayon-eating competition in which a Marine dies because he was not told he needed to chew the crayons.

Heckler & Koch Heckler & Koch GmbH (HK or H&K; ) is a German firearms manufacturer that produces handguns, rifles, submachine guns, and grenade launchers. The company is located in Oberndorf am Neckar, Baden-Württemberg and also has subsidiaries in the United ...

, in a later-deleted February 2019 post humorously referring to their M27 rifles as "Marine-proof", teased Marines as "crayon eaters", which ''Task & Purpose'' characterized as both "deliciously viral" and a "silly ploy to troll Marines and get a pat on the head from corporate overlords". A 2021 article in the ''

Marine Corps Gazette The ''Marine Corps Gazette'' is a professional journal by and for members of the United States Marine Corps. Known as "The Professional Journal of U.S. Marines", the ''Gazette'' was founded in 1916 at Marine Corps Base Quantico by Colonel Jo ...

'', a professional journal, bemoans low

graduate degree Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor ...

levels in the Marine Corps as "unflatteringly reinforc ngthe crayon-eating stereotype for Marines". Hollings recounts that at an event in the late 2010s, he and a fellow Marine were served crayons as a joke, and that he ate one to cheers from the crowd. Eating crayons has become a humorous tradition for Marines at graduations and

Marine Corps balls The United States Marine Corps birthday is an American holiday celebrated every year on 10 November with a traditional ball and cake-cutting ceremony. On that day in 1775, the Continental Marines were established. Historical birthday The o ...

Commercialization

In 2018, veteran Frank Manteau and colleague Cassandra Gordon began selling chocolate crayons that are usable for drawing, under the name Crayons Ready-to-Eat. Manteau has said he was inspired by a video of a Marine eating an actual crayon at a Marine Corps ball. After initial sales only in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California, followed by setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Manteau and Gordon's MILTreats prepared a national launch in February 2021; the product was available nationwide by March 2023. The crayons are triangular, to avoid rolling away and to be easily visually distinguished from non-edible ones. Others to commercialize the trope include: veteran Tashina Coronel, who as of August 2020 was selling edible crayons and glue through her

confectionery Confectionery is the Art (skill), art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two bro ...

business, Sweets by Okashi; veteran Spencer Garvin, whose Sven Smash Designs has manufactured a "crayon-eater"

challenge coin A challenge coin is a small coin or medallion, bearing an organization's insignia or emblem and carried by the organization's members. Traditionally, they might be given to prove membership when asked and to enhance morale. They are also colle ...

that doubles as a

bottle opener A bottle opener is a device that enables the removal of metal bottle caps from glass bottles. More generally, it might be thought to include corkscrews used to remove cork or plastic stoppers from wine bottles. A metal bottle cap is affixed ...

; and Icarus Brewing, which sells a beer called Drinking Crayons. In 2023, Maximilian Uriarte of '' Terminal Lance'' created a

coloring book A coloring book (British English: colouring-in book, colouring book, or colouring page) is a type of book containing line art to which people are intended to add color using crayons, colored pencils, marker pens, paint or other artistic media. ...

called ''Coloring for Marines'', based on the trope''.''

References

{{reflist Internet memes introduced in the 2010s United States Marine Corps lore and symbols Military humor Crayons