In Internet culture, a Milkshake Duck is a person who gains popularity on social media for some positive or charming trait but is later revealed to have a distasteful history or to engage in offensive behavior. The term has been connected to cancel culture, a perceived trend of call-out culture on social media, sometimes resulting in celebrities being ostracized and careers abruptly derailed by publicized misconduct.
The phrase is derived from a Twitter post made on 12 June 2016 by Ben Ward, an Australian cartoonist using the online handle "pixelatedboat". His Twitter joke describes a fictional Internet viral phenomenon of a "lovely duck that drinks milkshakes" which is then immediately discovered to be racist. Ward stated the joke was partially influenced by the Chewbacca Mask Lady.
Notable instances
The phenomenon appeared prior to June 2016, in particular with Ken Bone during the 2016 United States Presidential debate, who was initially given positive exposure, until a questionable Reddit history was revealed after his appearances.
The demonstration of the independently developed video game The Last Night was a highlight of Microsoft's press conference during the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017 due to its stylish cyberpunk visuals. Then one of its creators, Tim Soret, was found to have spoken in support of the Gamergate harassment campaign in 2014, which led to criticism of his views a day later and tarnished the game's image. Soret apologized the next day and said his views on Gamergate and other matters had since changed. The "milkshake duck" term was quickly applied to the game. Criticism over the game and the subsequent controversy over social media led to wider adoption of the term.
American rapper and singer Doja Cat was declared the Milkshake Duck of 2018 by NME. The recording artist had experienced a viral hit with her single "Mooo!", a novelty song with an absurdist lyrical theme in which she fantasizes about being a cow. Controversy ensued when it was revealed that in a 2015 tweet she had used the homophobic slur "faggot" to describe hip-hop artists Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt, members of the musical collective Odd Future. She initially defended her remarks, writing, "I called a couple people faggots when I was in high school in 2015 does this mean I don't deserve support? I've said faggot roughly like 15 thousand times in my life. Does saying faggot mean you hate gay people?" Her response met further backlash, including a critical tweet by Will and Grace actress Debra Messing, expressing disappointment in Doja for defending past ignorance and imploring her to use her fame and platform for good. Doja Cat later issued a series of apologies for her derogatory words and deleted her tweets. The controversy generated much discourse about the limits of "cancel culture".
Shortly after his webcomic Strange Planet began to achieve viral success in early 2019, US cartoonist Nathan W. Pyle was described as an example of the milkshake duck phenomenon when a 2017 tweet of his was revealed that expressed anti-abortion views. Pyle said shortly afterward that he and his wife "have private beliefs as they pertain to our Christian faith. We believe separation of church and state is crucial to our nation flourishing", and were supporters of the Democratic Party.
Rod Ponton, a lawyer and former prosecutor, went viral in 2021 as the "Zoom Cat Lawyer". Within a day, reports surfaced that he had previously "used federal agents to torment a former lover with drug raids and bogus charges" in 2014.
In 2021, comedian Jensen Karp went viral for a tweet about finding what appeared to be a shrimp tail in his Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. He was later revealed as an alleged abuser by numerous other Twitter accounts.