The Defrosting Has Begun is a satirical meme utilizing Mariah Carey's song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” paired with an image of the singer trapped inside a giant block of ice, used to humorously comment on the increasingly early onset of Christmas every year.
What is 'The Defrosting Has Begun' meme?
The Defrosting Has Begun meme uses the copypasta phrase 'the defrosting has begun' (or variations on this phrase) over a photo of singer-songwriter Mariah Carey—usually from the video for her hit song “All I Want for Christmas Is You”—trapped inside a giant block of ice.
What does 'The Defrosting Has Begun' mean?
This meme makes fun of the fact that American culture evokes Christmas earlier and earlier every year, the primary indicator being “All I Want for Christmas Is You" playing on repeat in public places right after Halloween.
The meme format jokes that Mariah Carey herself is being thawed for "Christmas use" around October 31st, the day it is culturally acceptable to begin playing the song. The meme insinuates that playing this song will slowly defrost Mariah—an icon of Christmastime culture—and by extension, the holiday itself.
With that logic, if Mariah (and her Christmas vibes) begins to defrost after Halloween, the singer will be fully thawed and Christmas will be in full force just in time for Dec. 25th.
Meme basics
- Meme creator: Unknown
- Meme type: satire, copypasta
- First appearance: Oct. 2017
- Origin source: X
- Peak popularity: Nov. 1st. 2024
Origin and spread
Though we can't pinpoint exactly where the concept of Mariah Carey defrosting/'the defrosting has begun' came from, we do know that in October 2017 and 2018, early jokes were made about defrosting Carey in preparation for Christmas.
The joke gained considerable traction in 2018, becoming an annual trend during October and early November.
At present, the joke has never been more popular, likely due to the trend of 'the defrosting has begun' extending to TikTok.
Who else is involved in the 'great defrosting?'
Mariah Carey is not alone in her involvement in the early evocation of the holidays. Canadian singer Michael Bublé and his music is also associated with this meme and trend.
Mariah is also in on the joke
For the past couple of years, Mariah Carey has leaned into this phenomenon, releasing her own, high-production videos celebrating her 1994 hit and the transition from Halloween to Christmas. In the 2024 video, “It’s time!” she's even frozen in a block of ice, with Jack-o-lantern capers keeping Carey captive in a frozen vault. Carey shatters the ice and the scene immediately becomes Christmas-y, as the singer declares "It's time."
Does Mariah also go into hibernation?
Yes, yes she does. Because of the popularity of this meme, an inverse version was created, alluding to Carey returning to a state of hibernation until the next holiday. Posting Carey hibernation memes also became a tradition in the days following Christmas.
TikTok & meme variations
More than any other platform, TikTok has embraced The Defrosting Has Begun, creating all kinds of variations to explore the annoying nature of how an early Christmas is thrust upon us. One of the more popular versions is people leaving their homes, looking around, and "sensing" that Carey is defrosting/on her way...
Cultural context
The Defrosting Has Begun meme is both funny and popular in short, because of the nature of American consumerism. The absurdly early transitions from one holiday to the next (and specifically with Christmas), are largely made by large corporations wishing to capitalize on seasonal sales as much as possible. Though there are (of course) many cultural downsides to this aggressive economic influence, at least we're getting some fun memes out of it!
More Christmas memes:
- It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas memes
- Ding Fries Are Done: meme origins
- Reddit’s best, worst, and weirdest Christmas presents
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