Erling Haaland has turned one of the strangest AI memes about him into the real thing. In a new collaboration with MrBeast, the Manchester City striker sits at a dining table and recreates the exaggerated flinch from a viral face-swap clip.
The joke works because the original video never featured Haaland at all. The source footage came from Chinese comedian Jin Long, whose performance was digitally altered so the person sitting at the table resembled the Norwegian striker.
That altered version circulated widely enough that Haaland has now joined the joke himself. MrBeast posted the new Reel with the caption “scariest meal of my life,” turning an imitation of Haaland into an actual Haaland performance.
It continues an unusually playful side of his public persona. Haaland has previously leaned into everything from his teenage rap song resurfacing years later to unexpected appearances away from Manchester City. This time, the internet had already written the part for him.
Where the Haaland flinch meme came from
The original comedy video appeared on @jinlongqiuqiu, the account associated with Jin Long and Qiu Qiu. In the skit, Jin Long eats beside a mirror before noticing his reflection and jolting backward.
The Haaland version kept the basic scene and physical comedy intact while digitally changing the performer’s appearance. AI didn’t invent the gag. It simply placed Haaland inside it.
That’s what makes the MrBeast remake work so well. Instead of a digital edit making somebody else look like Haaland, Haaland is now deliberately acting out the same reaction himself.
The meme has effectively traveled full circle: a comedian performed the joke, the internet turned him into Haaland, and eventually the real Haaland played the part.
