s01e01 Ross: Split it?

Is splitting Oreo a thing for Americans?

Monica has just gone to bed. Ross and Rachel are left together for the first time in a history of the show. Between then there is a dish on the table with only one Oreo cookie left. Ross and Rachel reach for that cookie at one and the same moment. But as each of them realizes that the other wants this cookie, both retreat, leaving the sweet treat to another.

Ross: Split it?

Rachel: Okay.

Is splitting cookies a thing in America?

Just to be clear, this is not exactly a joke. But this is the first scene in the entire series where Ross and Rachel are together. In order to make the first time viewer root for the couple writers took time to sew in the reference that is dear to the American heart.

Let's take a look at the the Oreo. It is a brand of cookie that is recognizable even to me. And marketers know how much meaning and stories can be packed in one brand name. So I went on searching.

Apparently, this cookie is going strong in US for over 100 years! Oreo was born before World War I, a month before Titanic was sunk, in March, 1912. Meaning? This cookie is a pretty big thing for the American culture. Therefore it is literally guaranteed that an American viewer of any age is getting more invested in the Rachel-Ross-are-finally-along scene. The cookie is known. The splitting process is also familiar to a bone. A question that naturally arises is 

Are Ross and Rachel the two halves of one cookie?

Another point. Since the cookies invention Oreo has changed its slogans quite a few times. The ones that are still recognizable are:

- ‘Oh! Oh! Oreo.' (1950)

- For the Kid in All of Us (1980)

- The One and Only (1982)

- Oreo, The Original Twister (1995)

- Milk’s favorite Cookie (2004)

Look at the dates of the slogans again. The first FRIENDS episode has aired in September 1994. That makes the slogan 'The One and Only' be the freshest in both writers' and Ross's mind when the Oreo splitting is happening. On some level Ross and the viewers are sent a message that the two are the true one and only loves for each other.

Plus we all can agree sharing food makes us connect on a deeper level. Since the beginning of human history sharing food means trusting each other enough to put down protecting weapons, relax and get vulnerable. 

Ross: Oh. Listen, do you think- and try not to let my intense vulnerability become any kind of a factor here- but do you think it would be okay if I asked you out? Sometime? Maybe?

That is how I think the Oreo cookie code was meant be broken. 

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I'd love to hear your views on how this joke was supposed to work in the comments below,

Katia