Sweet treats in a child’s lunch box. Good idea? Bad idea? Is it possible to be neutral about such a thing? A woman’s Instagram account, @ashleighjamz, went viral at the start of the new school year for posting text messages the creator claimed were from the “mom’s group chat” at her daughter’s school. The messages revolved around a request from “Michelle” for the other mothers not to pack Oreos in their children’s lunch boxes. Over a series of 40 videos, the “moms” castigate one another over their parenting choices and plot against “Michelle.” The posts have been viewed millions of times, reposted, stitched, commented on by everyone from parents to dietitians to the official Oreos account (“Oreo-gate was NOT on my 2026 bingo card”). So far, so clickbait.

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It didn’t seem to matter if the messages were entirely fictional – it’s fair to say their authenticity is, at best, uncertain. Doesn’t really matter as long as they go viral, right? The storm became known as #oreogate, and media outlets from Good Morning America to Business Insider reported on it. Generally the reporting focused on parents’ opinions around allowing kids to have treats in their lunch boxes, coupled with a strong helping of disdain for the fictional women involved in the chat, a disdain that effortlessly spilled on to real women.

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