The "Milk Carton" meme originates from a real-world practice, primarily in the United States and Canada during the 1980s and 1990s, where images of missing children were printed on milk cartons to aid in their search. As a meme, it features a generic milk carton with a blank space under the word "MISSING" and the phrase "HAVE YOU SEEN ME?". Its meaning revolves around highlighting the absence of something or someone, often with a humorous, ironic, or nostalgic tone. Users insert images or text into the blank area to represent anything they perceive as missing from their lives, pop culture, or a particular situation. It's used to express longing, comment on societal changes, or simply to create a relatable joke about a noticeable void.