An understated running joke on the show is that Michael Scott is drawn to sweet-tasting foods and drinks.
Examples[]
- In an extended cut scene, after he returns to the office with ice cream sandwiches, he eats one in his office with several empty wrappers on the desk ("Health Care").
- He insists on a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake for Meredith's birthday party ("The Alliance").
- Every year, he eats lots of cake on his birthday and then has a sugar crash ("Michael's Birthday", deleted scene).
- He gets a pretzel with 18 sweet toppings ("Initiation").
- At David Wallace's cocktail party, he asks for Splenda (an artificial sweetener) to add to his scotch ("Cocktails").
- He asks for a lollipop from his doctor (a pediatrician) ("Fun Run" deleted scene).
- At the coffee shop, he ordered a hot chocolate with a shot of peppermint ("Chair Model").
- At the club, he orders chicken fingers and a midori sour. When he learns that they don't serve food, he asks for a cup of olives and a cup of maraschino cherries. ("Night Out")
- Michael carries candy corn in his pockets. ("Job Fair" deleted scene.)
- He takes two brownies, so he can parcel them out and eat them later on ("Frame Toby"). "Much healthier," he explains. Later in the episode, he wolfs them down.
- He pours sugar into a diet soda ("The Surplus").
- He eats tiramisu that had been thrown in the garbage ("The Surplus").
- He orders a "one of everything": Scotch, absinthe, rum, gin, vermouth, triple sec, and two packs of Splenda ("Moroccan Christmas").
- He describes his undermining of Prince Family Paper as a bittersweet moment, and then wonders why bittersweet chocolate even exists. Why not just sweet? ("Prince Family Paper")
- He says he is drinking "scotch with Splenda. Tastes like Splenda gets you drunk like scotch" ("Two Weeks"). He needed to add copious amounts of Splenda in order to get rid of the scotch taste.
- He hosts a pancake luncheon for prospective clients ("Michael Scott Paper Company").
- He drinks milk and sugar in the morning ("Broke").
- He tries to cheer Jim up with jelly beans. "Those are the best. Little sugar rush." ("The Meeting")
- He asks for cocoa upon returning from an ill-fated sales call ("Koi Pond").
- At the bar, he orders grenadine, which is basically fruit-flavored sugar ("Happy Hour").
- He packed a honey and jelly sandwich for lunch ("New Leads"). Basically a sugar sandwich.
- He says, "it's never too early for ice cream." However, they didn't have ice cream, so he ate mayonnaise and olives ("The Cover-Up").
- Pam's preparations for Michael after breaking up with Donna included many flavors of ice cream. She said that after his last break-up, "he ate 40,000 calories in three hours." ("The Chump")
- His favorite breakfast is Hostess apple pie ("Classy Christmas").
- While waiting to hear Holly's response to his ultimatum, he prepares gummi bears (sad) and gummi worms (happy) as comfort food ("The Ultimatum").
Dental consequences[]
Michael's penchant for sweets has had consequences for his teeth.
- Michael dips his meat in his wine because of his soft teeth. ("Dinner Party")
- When everyone is trying to find a date for Meredith's intervention, Michael says he can't make the 5th because of his "monthly dental appointment, soft teeth." ("Moroccan Christmas")
- When negotiating the buyout of the Michael Scott Paper Company, one of Michaels' demands is that dental insurance be included "this time" ("Broke"), implying that Michael has been paying out-of-pocket for his monthly dental appointments.
Other references[]
Michael has a monthly dental appointment, ostensibly for his soft teeth ("Moroccan Christmas").
After David Wallace praises Michael for his recon work in "Prince Family Paper", a guilt-ridden Michael describes it as bitter-sweet, then asks why bitter-sweet chocolate even exists. To Michael, the point of chocolate is to be as sweet as possible.