On October 30th, K-State student Hunter Jobbins posted a tweet that was spread across the nation. Someone entered his car, stole a Kit Kat, and left a handwritten note. When he discovered this, he posted a photo on Twitter, not realizing that it would be retweeted over 150,000 times throughout the span of a week.
Since the tweet went viral and caught The Hershey Company’s eye, a representative decided to bring 6,500 Kit Kats to Manhattan, KS and fill up Hunter’s car with them. At 4:30pm on Thursday afternoon, those Kit Kats were given out to students in front of Haymaker residence hall.
Chocolate For All
November 3rd became an exciting day for many K-State students. Hundreds of students gathered in front of Haymaker about an hour before the giveaway, capturing the moment on social media and inviting friends to come get a Kit Kat. Fellow Spoon contributor Mallory Diekmann was there to capture photos and enjoyed her Kit Kat live via Facebook.
After getting her candy bar, Rose Micke, a sophomore majoring in chemistry, shared her reaction of the whole ordeal. “I think it was kind of fun. I was kind of excited to go get a Kit Kat. I didn’t love the crowd, but I was excited to go and see the guy’s car and see exactly what happened.”
Hunter’s Response
Before the giveaway, I had the opportunity to ask freshman Hunter Jobbins a few questions.
Spoon: Did you expect for the tweet to go as far as it did, to make national news?
Hunter: No, not at all. I really only tweeted it because I thought, you know, a few friends would laugh at it and think, ‘Aw, this is pretty funny [that] it happened to him.’ And then after about an hour it just started catching fire, and a whole bunch of people just started retweeting and liking it, and it just went crazy from there.
Spoon: Would you ever feel compelled to go into someone else’s car and get a snack?
Hunter: No, I don’t think I’d ever feel the urge to go into somebody’s car after seeing a candy bar in there but, hey, if you want to, if you like Kit Kats, that much then I can’t blame you.
Spoon: Has this person reached out to you yet?
Hunter: No, I have no idea who did this. I really wish I did know.
Spoon: A couple friends of mine have brought up the issue of food insecurity in the United States. Do you suspect that this is a person who was just looking for a snack, or they might be a food insecure student?
Hunter: I think honestly it was just a kid who saw my Kit Kat bar and he really liked candy or something, so he just took it. I really don’t think it was food insecurity.
Spoon: Now, the glaring question: are Kit Kats your favorite candy?
Hunter: Kit Kats are easily in the top three. They’re probably tied for first. So yeah, they’re probably my favorite.
“Kit Kat-astrophy” Solved
The moral of the story: food can truly bring people together, even in unexpected circumstances. Thanks to the Internet and the generosity of The Hershey Company, an unknown Kit Kat thief helped create a food-centered event on campus that no KSU student will ever forget.