Why is a screaming AI tomato teaching you how to cook? Internet’s strangest trend explained
And the worst part? It works. People are watching every second.
Image credit : AI generated via Freepik | The surprising part isn’t that adults don’t know these things, it’s that learning them from animated fruit has become a huge trend.
Are we taking advice from a yelling onion?
It sounds absurd. Yet media psychologist Dr Pamela Rutledge has suggested that the appeal is rooted in something very human. Non-human characters, especially cartoons, remove the threat of embarrassment. When advice comes from a vegetable with eyebrows, it does not feel like criticism. It feels like theatre.She explained that animated characters can deliver blunt guidance without bruising anyone’s ego. There is no judgement in a digital carrot. Just facts.
Image credit : AI generated via Freepik | A yelling veggie doesn’t judge you, it just tells you where it belongs and moves on.
She also noted that people gravitate towards information that feels easy. Search engines require effort. You have to know what you are asking and sift through sources. A dramatic pasta character simply tells you what not to do, wraps it in humour, and moves on. Your brain happily accepts the shortcut.
In other words, our minds prefer entertaining clarity over effortful research. Lazy? Perhaps. Efficient? Absolutely.
The anti-shame education era
There is something oddly comforting about being scolded by a cartoon tomato instead of a real person. Real-life advice can trigger insecurity. Should you already know this? Is everyone else secretly better at adulthood?
A digital onion does not care about your pride. It just announces where it belongs and continues screaming.
By exaggerating expressions and leaning into absurdity, these AI characters soften the blow of correction. They turn instruction into performance. You laugh, but you also listen. And suddenly, you are reorganising your kitchen because an animated vegetable told you to.
Image credit : AI generated via Freepik | By using exaggerated expressions, humour and a bit of attitude, these AI characters reduce the “ego threat” of being told what to do.
Are we okay?
Perhaps the bigger question is not why AI vegetables are yelling at us, but why we prefer them to humans.
Part of it is the performance factor. Social media rewards boldness and humour. A calm instructional video does not travel as far as a chaotic aubergine with opinions. But part of it is emotional safety. Learning from a cartoon feels low stakes. There is no fear of sounding foolish.
The irony is delicious. Adults, fully capable of critical thought, are now learning basic culinary etiquette from animated produce. And they are grateful for it.
Image credit : AI generated via Freepik | Our brains are lazy, so we are happy to pay attention to something that reduces information to ‘good enough’.
The future of adulting, apparently
The trend shows no sign of slowing down. If anything, it is expanding. Some users have joked that they would happily watch animated vegetables explain taxes, pensions, and other terrifying grown-up responsibilities.
And honestly? That might be the next frontier.
For now, though, the kitchen is the battleground. Tomatoes are reclaiming their rightful place outside the fridge. Pasta is fighting back against oily water. Onions are asserting cupboard dominance.
Image credit : AI generated via Freepik | A cartoon vegetable can give advice (and even call you names) without threatening your ego, so it’s easier to comply.
If your social media feed feels like it has turned into a chaotic farmer’s market with Wi-Fi, do not panic.
You are not alone, you are just being parented by produce.
