About
“Why Don’t We Have Both?” is a reaction image that is used in response to various problems that involve choosing between two options or solutions.
Origin
The expression “why don’t we have both?” was originally quoted by a child model in a TV commercial for the Old El Paso at-home taco kit that contains both hard-shell and soft tortillas. In the commercial, a group of Spanish speakers are seen arguing over the quality of hard and soft tacos, to which the girl proposes “Why not both?” with a shrug and puts an end to the debate. Though it is unclear when the commercial first aired, it was discussed online as early as September 2009.[1]
Spread
On June 23rd, 2010, a Facebook fan page[2] for the girl in the commercial was launched, though her off-screen identity remains unknown. On June 30th, 2011, one of the first image macros based on a still shot from the commercial was posted to FunnyJunk,[5] paired with a screen capture from an episode clip of Yo Gabba Gabba (shown below, left). On July 21st, a second image macro was shared on the Cheezburger site Comixed[3], attached to a question surveying the viewers if they would rather kill Justin Bieber or Rebecca Black (shown below, right). On the following day, the Black / Bieber comic was reposted to FunnyJunk.[4]
On August 12th, 2011, the Yo Gabba Gabba multi-pane image was reposted to the /r/Drugs subreddit[6], where it gained 35 upvotes and 31 points overall. Sometime in October that year, “Why Not Both” reaction images were shared for the first time on Tumblr.[7]
In January 2012, a “Why Not Both” Quickmeme[8] page was created, accumulating 3,300 submissions as of May 2013. Throughout that year, “Why Not Both” images were shared on numerous subreddits including /r/Trees[9] and /r/Funny[10], as well as several humor sites including The Meta Picture[11], Meme Center[12], and We Know Memes.[13] In December, a Meme Generator[14] page titled “Why Not Both Girl” was created, accruing more than 400 submissions as of May 2013.
Notable Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1]Commercials I Hate – Old El Paso
[2]Facebook – The “Why not have both?” girl from Old El Paso Taco ads :)
[3]Comixed – Compromise Actually Works
[4]FunnyJunk – Why Cant We Have Both
[5]FunnyJunk – Why Don’t We Have Both?
[6]Reddit – /r/Drugs: Why Can’t We Have Both?
[7]Tumblr – lethargiclogic: Why Not Both?
[8]Quickmeme – Why not both
[9]Reddit – /r/Trees: Tacos and Trees, why not both!?
[10]Reddit – /r/Funny: why not both?
[11]The Meta Picture – Why not both?
[12]Meme Center – Why Not Both??
[13]We Know Memes – Why Not Both Einstein
[14]Meme Generator – Why Not Both Girl