If you're ever in a quandary as to what to wear for a costume party during All Hallow's Eve, then Spirit Halloween is the store for you.
With over 1,400 stores across the country, the seasonal pop-up retailer has every creepy prop, costume, and decoration to suit your needs.
What the store doesn't have in stock, however, is the "Gay Guy" costume.
The fake outfit that is not sold at any Spirit Halloween location appeared on Instagram alongside other mocked-up merchandise, according to Queerty.
The photo of the fake "Gay Guy" costume shows a Photoshopped image of a young White male with bleached hair wearing a tank top and jeans and draped in a large Pride flag.
@beyondalxander/Twitter
The photo made its way over onto Twitter where it went viral.
Some got the joke, while others didn't.
"My culture is not your costume," wrote Twitter user Andrew Alexander.
\u201cmy culture is not your costume \ud83d\ude12\u201d— Andrew Alexander (@Andrew Alexander) 1666236504
Others who were convinced that Spirit Halloween was hawking the "Gay Guy" merchandise lambasted the retailer on Twitter.
\u201c@beyondalxander WTF \ud83d\ude2c this is really unnecessary!!\u201d— Andrew Alexander (@Andrew Alexander) 1666236504
After being barraged with complaints, the store's Twitter account emphatically maintained the product was fake and not conjured up by them.
On October 21, they declared once and for all:
"Hey! This is not something we carry or have carried before."
\u201c@aubs_4213 Hey! This is not something we carry or have carried before.\u201d— aubs (@aubs) 1666373847
Clearly, once was not enough.
On October 23, the retailer once again announced:
"This is not an officially licensed costume from our company."
"Photoshopping our packages seems to be trending at the moment. We will be passing this to our review team."
"Thank you for bringing this to our attention."
\u201c@EdwinBJr This is not an officially licensed costume from our company. Photoshopping our packages seems to be trending at the moment.\n\nWe will be passing this to our review team. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. \ud83c\udf83\u201d— \u201cRed The Witch\u201d Is Out Now!!! (@\u201cRed The Witch\u201d Is Out Now!!!) 1666538107
Rest assured, discerning Twitter users responded with wisecracks.
\u201c@beyondalxander No gay guy will wear those jeans\u201d— Andrew Alexander (@Andrew Alexander) 1666236504
\u201c@beyondalxander Are you bothered that hes not wearing flipflips or because the daddy issues are sold separately?\u201d— Andrew Alexander (@Andrew Alexander) 1666236504
Jokesters found Spirit Halloween's predicament delightfully hysterical and stirred the cauldron by adding their own costume ideas using gay stereotypes.
These examples are fun and hilariously accurate.
We know these people.
\u201cMy culture is not ur costume \ud83d\ude24\u201d— Sera Sanderphim (@Sera Sanderphim) 1666130734
\u201cmy culture is not a costume\u201d— \ud835\udd86\ud835\udd93\ud835\udd99\ud835\udd94\ud835\udd93\ud835\udd8e\ud835\udd94 (@\ud835\udd86\ud835\udd93\ud835\udd99\ud835\udd94\ud835\udd93\ud835\udd8e\ud835\udd94) 1666386092
The meme also inspired a sub-genre called "Gay Loser."
\u201c@SpiritHalloween This a good one guys I got it today with the 20% off\u201d— Spirit Halloween (@Spirit Halloween) 1666616414
\u201cspirit halloween never misses\u201d— nick (@nick) 1666625751
The fake costume giving a nod to HBO's period comedy, Our Flag Means Death–which was lauded for its LGBTQ+ representation–is especially clever.
\u201cspirit halloween is really running out of costume ideas\u2026\u201d— dan (@dan) 1666387181
The theme expanded by dropping the "Gay" descriptor to show the Republican Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis–who signed the controversial "Don't Say Gay" bill on March 28, 2022.
He clearly was not a winner in most people's eyes.
\u201cSpirit Halloween costumes are getting too real. #FLGovDebate\u201d— Thomas Kennedy (@Thomas Kennedy) 1666656521
Finally, our favorite out rapper Lil Nas X was dragged into the online frivolity and was teased for the orange outfit he wore to the Variety Hitmaker Brunch in 2019.
This fake item was labeled, "Gay person in terrible outfit."
We still love you, Nas.
\u201cit\u2019s funny until u realize both of my dead grandmothers stitched this outfit together by hand right before passing and i wore it to go and donate to a childrens hospital after volunteering at a soup kitchen for the homeless. not so@funny now is it?\u201d— im not reading all that (@im not reading all that) 1666628993
When it comes to Halloween 2022 costume ideas, there is definitely no shortage of inspiration.