{"slug":"steamed-hams","name":"Steamed Hams","url":"/templates/steamed-hams.jpg","w":400,"h":291,"top":"OBVIOUS LIE","bottom":"STEAMED HAMS","alternateFormats":[{"slug":"steamed-hams-gif","label":"GIF Version"},{"slug":"steamed-hams-blank-gif","label":"Blank GIF"}],"sourceVideo":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jXEuIHY9ic","description":"Principal Skinner serves Superintendent Chalmers fast food hamburgers and claims they're homemade \"steamed hams.\" A meme for any bold, transparent lie delivered with complete confidence.","keywords":"steamed hams meme, skinner chalmers meme, simpsons steamed hams, aurora borealis meme, obviously fast food meme, skinner hamburgers meme","year":1996,"origin":"From The Simpsons Season 7, Episode 21 (\"22 Short Films About Springfield,\" 1996), in the segment known as \"Skinner and the Superintendent.\" Principal Skinner invites Superintendent Chalmers over for dinner, burns the roast, sneaks out to Krusty Burger, and serves the fast food burgers as his own \"steamed hams.\" Chalmers questions everything. Skinner doubles down on every lie. The scene escalates to Skinner claiming the kitchen fire visible through the window is actually aurora borealis. The segment became one of the most remixed and referenced scenes in Simpsons history, spawning thousands of YouTube edits. For another Simpsons scene about doubling down on absurdity, see That's a Paddlin' (escalating consequences). For a presentation-based argument format, see Lisa Simpson Presentation or Change My Mind.","format":"classic","howToMake":["Skinner and Chalmers are seated at the table with those suspiciously familiar-looking hamburgers. Pick the template","Top text describes the blatant lie or cover-up. Bottom text delivers the punchline or Skinner's confident excuse","The dining room scene is warm-toned with purple walls, so white Impact text with black stroke stands out sharply","Best results come from extremely transparent lies. The more obvious the deception, the funnier Skinner's straight face becomes","Serve your creation: Download the PNG to save it, or Share the steamed hams with anyone who just told a terrible lie"],"exampleCaptions":["CLEARLY BOUGHT FROM A RESTAURANT","NO MOTHER, IT'S JUST THE NORTHERN LIGHTS"],"exampleAltText":"Steamed Hams meme about trying to pass off restaurant food as homemade","exampleRefreshDate":"2026-03-12","seo":{"aliases":["Skinner and the Superintendent","Aurora Borealis Meme","Skinner Chalmers Meme","Simpsons Hamburgers Meme","Obviously Lying Meme"],"description":"Principal Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers from The Simpsons sit at a dining table in Skinner's home. Skinner faces away from the camera with his gray hair visible, while Chalmers faces forward in a blue suit and red tie, looking skeptical. Between them on a white tablecloth sits a tray of hamburgers and a green bottle. The purple walls and a green painting in the background frame the scene of a dinner that is clearly not going as planned.","definition":"When someone tells a lie so transparent that everyone in the room knows the truth, and yet they refuse to break character. Skinner serves fast food to his boss and calls it homemade. The meme works because the confidence of the lie matters more than its plausibility.","useCases":[{"category":"Cooking & Food Deception","examples":["Serving store-bought cookies on a nice plate and calling them homemade / steamed hams","Telling your guests the frozen pizza is \"artisan\" because you added extra cheese / steamed hams","Pouring boxed wine into a decanter and swirling it around / steamed hams","Ordering takeout, putting it on real plates, and saying you've been cooking all day / steamed hams"]},{"category":"Work & Professional Cover-Ups","examples":["Telling your boss the project is \"almost done\" when you haven't started / steamed hams","Claiming the meeting went great when half the team fell asleep / steamed hams","Saying \"the system was down\" to explain why nothing got done / steamed hams","Presenting someone else's template with your name on it / steamed hams","Calling a bug a \"feature\" in the product demo / steamed hams"]},{"category":"School & Academic Bluffing","examples":["Confidently presenting on a book you didn't read / steamed hams","Turning in a paper 20 minutes late and claiming email problems / steamed hams","Using bigger margins and a slightly larger font to hit the page requirement / steamed hams","Telling the group you \"did your part\" when you added one sentence / steamed hams"]},{"category":"Relationship & Social Lies","examples":["Saying \"I'm five minutes away\" while still in the shower / steamed hams","Telling someone their haircut looks great when it absolutely does not / steamed hams","Claiming you've been eating healthy while hiding candy wrappers in the couch / steamed hams","Insisting you're \"not tired\" while your eyes are closing on their own / steamed hams"]},{"category":"Shopping & Lifestyle Fraud","examples":["Wearing the same outfit in different combinations and calling it a new wardrobe / steamed hams","Keeping the price tag tucked in so you can return it after the event / steamed hams","Telling everyone the knockoff sunglasses are designer / steamed hams","Repackaging leftovers as \"meal prep\" / steamed hams"]},{"category":"Technology & Internet Excuses","examples":["Blaming your internet connection when you just don't want to be on camera / steamed hams","Saying \"I didn't get your message\" when you left it on read / steamed hams","Claiming your phone died when you just didn't want to talk / steamed hams","Telling IT you restarted your computer when you definitely did not / steamed hams"]}]}}