Zach Cregger’s new horror mystery Weapons might have delivered plenty of scares, but one seemingly random lunch scene had audiences buzzing – and laughing – all weekend. 
That now-viral “hot dog moment” wasn’t just a quirky visual gag; it was a deeply personal tribute to Cregger’s late friend and longtime comedy partner, Trevor Moore.
In the scene, just before a key arrival at Marcus’s home – the Maybrook Elementary principal – his husband serves up a curious midday feast: seven mustard-only hot dogs, a pile of chips, four chocolate chip cookies, raw carrots, and a generous side of ranch dip. While the snack tray’s contents are odd enough to spark memes, the choice of exactly seven hot dogs comes straight from a beloved Whitest Kids U’Know sketch called Hot Dog Timmy, where Moore plays a doctor baffled by a patient’s confession of eating seven hot dogs a day.
The comedy troupe, co-founded by Cregger and Moore, ran for five seasons on Fuse and IFC, building a cult following with absurdist humor. Moore tragically passed away in August 2021 after an accidental fall, and Cregger has shared that Weapons as a whole – from its release date of August 7 to the recurring 2:17 a.m. motif – is intertwined with his grief and memories of Moore.
For Cregger, this wasn’t just a sly Easter egg for fans. “I wanted to do something honest,” he told Rolling Stone. “The more I wrote, the more I identified with everyone I was writing about. It became an honest diary of my inner mess.” In that way, the hot dogs are more than a meme – they’re a quiet nod to a friendship, a legacy of laughter, and a way to process loss through art.