--- title: "The Internet Is Losing Its Mind Over a Photo of Elon Musk Eating a Huge Potato Spiral" description: "Elon Musk walks into a sombrero festival...and the memes write themselves." date: "2022-02-28" modified: "2022-02-28" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-potato-spiral" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Off-World" - "Space" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "space" - "SpaceX" - "starlink" --- # The Internet Is Losing Its Mind Over a Photo of Elon Musk Eating a Huge Potato Spiral ![Elon Musk walks into a sombrero festival...and the memes write themselves.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* Elon Musk walks into a sombrero festival... and the memes write themselves. As [KEVO-TV reports](), the Tesla and SpaceX CEO was spotted at the Charro Days festival in Brownsville, TX — the city nearby where SpaceX's Starbase HQ is located — over the weekend when someone handed him a *spiropapa,* or a delicious fried potato spiral on a stick. Photographed [multiple times]() with his and Grimes' toddler X Æ A-12, [affectionately known as "Baby X,"]() Musk was also documented taking a giant bite of the starchy treat and pretty much instantly became even more of a meme. https://twitter.com/CalistaCordova/status/1498158473481228291 This guy simply couldn't get enough of that fried potato spiral. And really, who can blame him? Naturally, there's already been countless permutations of the photo edited into various meme formats. Here are some of our favs. ## Elon-ien ![Elon Alien]() This [post jokes that]() the xenomorph from the "Alien" franchise is Musk's "final form." And it honestly? It just might track. ## 2-for-1 ![SpaceX spiropapa]() "Two shitposts for the price of one," [commented another user](), along with a brilliant photoshop inserting the *spiropapa* into SpaceX's "[Mechazilla]()" Starship catching tower. ## We did it, Joe ![Spiropapa Starlink]() Perhaps referencing the other big Musk news of the weekend — that he's deploying his SpaceX-powered [Starlink satellite internet service to Ukraine]() amid the Russian invasion — [this incredible post]() is just galaxy-brained enough to work. **More on Musk:** [*Elon Musk Suggests That SpaceX Could Keep ISS Aloft Despite Russian Threats*]() **More on memes:** *[People Delighted When Satellite Image Looks Like Adorable Kitty]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()