I Wouldn't Tell Anyone I Won The Lottery, But There Will Be Hints — Lobster tail placed inside a Maruchan instant ramen cup with the lottery hints caption above

I Wouldn't Tell Anyone I Won The Lottery, But There Will Be Hints

2021catchphraseclassic

Published October 9, 2026

A catchphrase template that pairs the line 'I wouldn't tell anyone I won the lottery, but there will be hints' with an image showing one absurdly expensive upgrade inside an otherwise cheap setting. Starting as a 2021 Instagram image macro over a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles van, it later mutated into a snowclone and powered a 2024 TikTok slideshow trend that pulled in Charlie Puth and Noah Beck.

catchphrase memes snowclone memes image macro memes exploitable templates absurdist humor memes

Overview

The joke works by pairing the deadpan line with a visual gag where something cheap or ordinary hides one wildly out of place upgrade. Early examples leaned on cheap food plus luxury seafood, like a whole lobster crammed into a Maruchan ramen cup or a giant squid parked on top of a basic plate24. Other versions swapped the food setup for consumer stuff, like a man wearing a stack of sunglasses or a bass player who sneaks an extra string onto their instrument1.

By 2022, the phrase started working as a snowclone, with meme creators swapping 'won the lottery' for whatever secret they wanted to telegraph through small clues5. The template keeps the sentence rhythm intact and only swaps the noun, which is why it travels so well across unrelated topics, from religion to fandom to lifestyle hints1. The humor lives in the mismatch between the modest promise ('I wouldn't tell anyone') and the obviously loud visual tell.

Origin & Background

Platform
Imgflip / Instagram (viral spread)
Date
2021

The first known post of the catchphrase went up on May 30th, 2021 on the Instagram page @90stothefuture, which stamped the line in Impact font over a photo of a real street van painted like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vehicle1. According to Know Your Meme, the underlying image macro had actually been built earlier on Imgflip by an unknown creator, so the Instagram account was the first to boost it rather than the original author3. The next day, the Facebook page Books & Brews reposted a cropped version without the top black bar3.

The format broke out in early June 2021 when the Facebook page Mexicans Be Like applied the caption to a lobster stuffed into a cup of instant ramen. That post was later deleted, but Instagram user @bharris8379 reposted it on June 11th, 2021 with the Mexicans Be Like watermark still visible in the corner2.

How It Spread

The lobster image moved fast once the Facebook page What Do You Meme? reposted it on June 15th, 2021 with the watermark cropped out, pulling thousands of shares3. Through July 2021, Instagram meme accounts kept building new image macros around the same line, including a man wearing a stack of sunglasses and a bass player adding a sixth string to a five string bass1. By January 15th, 2022, the catchphrase had crossed to Twitter, where user @evvok used it to caption a modest meal with one oversized squid dropped on the plate4.

The snowclone phase kicked in that spring. On April 25th, 2022, Instagram page @babayagabiscuits swapped the key noun for a religion joke, writing 'I won't tell anyone that I've found religion but there will be hints,' which pulled roughly 4,200 likes in two days5. From there the line worked as a plug and play template rather than a single image macro3.

The biggest wave came in early 2024 on TikTok, where creators turned the phrase into a slideshow format. The first slide showed the poster, and the follow up slides showed the specific products they would quietly buy if they ever hit the jackpot. On February 19th, 2024, @allison.private4 pulled over 5.5 million views and 913,000 likes in a week on a slideshow in the trend6. Charlie Puth, Alyssa Violet, Noah Beck and an account tied to Taylor Swift's PR operation all posted versions, which drew pushback from TikTokers who thought celebrities and brands were missing the point of the joke, including @maddybieschke's critique video7.

Timeline

2021-05-30

Instagram page @90stothefuture posts the earliest known version of the catchphrase over a real Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles van.

2021-06

Facebook page Mexicans Be Like applies the line to a lobster in a Maruchan ramen cup; the post is later deleted but reposted widely.

2021-06-15

What Do You Meme? reposts the lobster version on Facebook, cropping out the Mexicans Be Like watermark.

2022-01-15

Twitter user @evvok posts a squid on a plain plate version of the meme.

2022-04-25

Instagram page @babayagabiscuits launches the snowclone phase with a 'found religion' variant.

2024-02-19

TikToker @allison.private4 posts a slideshow version that collects over 5.5 million views in a week.

2024-02-20

Noah Beck joins the TikTok slideshow trend, racking up 10.4 million views in six days and drawing backlash from users like @maddybieschke.

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