From campaign funds to a 'Beatles' concert, this viral cockroach memorial is hard to squash

For most people, cockroaches don’t have a reputation worth memorializing. At an apartment complex in Chattanooga, Tennessee, though, tenants found the death of a roach deserving — so much so that their attempts at honoring it went viral.

Jessie Bettis, known as @heyjessieyy, first shared the roach's memorial to TikTok on Sept. 15. Her post features a slideshow of photos showing the evolution of the insect's tribute, thanks to neighbors in her apartment gradually adding to it.

The first image is a recognizable scene for many who live or have lived in an apartment: a dead roach on its back in the hallway, legs curled inward, shiny brown wings splayed. However, one difference is the makeshift paper tombstone above the roach that reads “RIP.”

Speaking to TODAY.com, Bettis, 29, recalls laughing when she first spotted the dead roach and its tombstone in the hallway outside of her apartment on the fourth floor where she lived.

“Every time I came back out of my room, there were more things added. I don’t know who added what,” she explains.

The memorial initially grew with small items, like tiny rocks and a touch of greenery. Then, in the coming days, larger statements started popping up, such as a poster that reads “Wanted: 1st degree murder” with a reward.

Things escalated from there, with a “Vote for Mayor” sign promising to cut down on crime, an invitation to a memorial concert by The Beatles and a tiny coin cup marked "Campaign Donations."

Bettis says that while she had a general sense of who contributed certain parts to the cockroach memorial, she didn’t talk much with the other tenants about the hallway project.

“(My neighbors and I) never really talked about it though. Whenever we’d be passing by or saw somebody, we didn’t even mention the roach. It was just this little memorial on the ground ... It felt like if we talked about it, it would go away.”

Bettis decided to share the visual series of events on TikTok, with a caption that read, “When a roach died in the hallway of my building, and the responses from people on my floor get more unhinged."

The rest is viral history, with the post accumulating 8.1 million views, 1.5 million likes and over 4,000 comments.

"This is what community is all about," a user replied to the post.

"The Beatles performing is what got me. I just know they were giggling like crazy when writing that," one other replied.

"Roaches r my biggest fear, but this is funny, lol," another added.

Eventually, the cockroach and its memorial were removed, but the obsession with the post has endured on social media.

“I was so surprised it went viral so quickly,” Bettis says. “I never expected something so simple and funny to blow up like that.”

As for why the death of a cockroach would become so popular on social media, Bettis thinks it’s more about the simple, shared humor than the insect itself.

“It is a tough time right now, so anything simple and funny really resonates with a lot of people,” she explains. "Some people don’t like that kind of humor, but for many, it’s special.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com