STORY:

“When I was growing up there was a really popular urban legend. Basically, there was this girl who was eating Pop Rocks, which is that candy that like crackles when you eat it, and she drank Coke while she was eating them. That caused some weird chemical reaction that caused her throat and mouth to blow up and killed her. Other kids would be afraid to eat Pop Rocks and drink soda because of that story so it was pretty popular”

CONTEXT:

The informant stated that she heard this story when she was growing up, so presumably as a child. She said the legend was very common and that her peers had heard the story as well. She did not specify who in particular told her the legend, but if it was very famous then she could have heard it from anyone.

ANALYSIS:

This urban legend plays into the anxieties people may have about what they are eating. I believe that it is similar to the legend about razor blades in candy in that both ask the listener to be cautious about an unhealthy snack. Both Pop Rocks and soda are easy targets for this type of legend due to Pop Rocks’s unusual popping effect and soda’s infamously explosive reaction with mentos. This legend also plays with the anxieties a parent may have over their child, as children would be the most likely to eat Pop Rocks as well.