"Internet phenomena" and "Internet sensation" redirect here. For people who have achieved fame through the Internet, seeInternet celebrity.
This is adynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help byediting the page to add missing items, with references toreliable sources.
Internet phenomena are social and culturalphenomena specific to the Internet, such asInternet memes, which include popularcatchphrases, images,viral videos, and jokes. When such fads and sensations occur online, they tend to grow rapidly and become more widespread because the instant communication facilitatesword of mouth transmission.
This list focuses on the Internet phenomena which are accessible regardless of localinternet regulations.
Beanie Babies – Cited as being the world's first Internet sensation in 1995.[2]
Cerveza Cristal – A Chilean beer company that produced a series of advertisements during aStar Wars original trilogy broadcast in 2003. The commercials, titledThe Force is with Cristal Beer, would air seamlessly with the scenes in the trilogy, such as a pair of hands likeObi-Wan Kenobi's opening a chest, revealing the beer. The advertisements were critically acclaimed in the country and became internationally viral on Twitter in March 2024.[3]
Cooks Source infringement controversy – This publication drew backlash after it committed copyright infringement by using an online article without permission for commercial purposes. This backlash further increased due toCooks Source's response which showed a misunderstanding of copyright and an increasing agitation to the original writer of the article.[4]
Elf Yourself (2006) andScrooge Yourself (2007) –Interactive websites created byJason Zada and Evolution Bureau forOfficeMax'sholiday seasonadvertising campaign.Elf Yourself allows visitors toupload images of themselves or their friends, see them as dancingelves,[5][6] and includes options to save or share the video.[7] According to ClickZ, visiting theElf Yourself site "has become an annual tradition that people look forward to".[8] While not selling any one specific product, the two were created to raise consumer awareness of the sponsoring firm.[9]
Flex Tape – An infomercial of the product Flex Tape. It became a meme after YouTuberJonTron made a video reviewing the infomercial.[10]
FreeCreditReport.com – A series of TV commercials that were posted on the Internet; many spoofs of the commercials were made and posted on YouTube.[11]
HeadOn – A June 2006 advertisement for ahomeopathic product claimed to relieve headaches. Ads featured the tagline, "HeadOn. Apply directly to the forehead", stated three times in succession, accompanied by a video of amodel using the product without ever directly stating the product's purpose. The ads were successively parodied on sites such as YouTube andrapperLil Jon even made fun of it.[12]
Kerfuś – A robot with cat face use as a mascot forCarrefour. The robot became viral in Poland in 2022, where Kerfuś became the main character of many memes anderotic pictures.[13][14]
Little Darth Vader – An advertisement byVolkswagen featuring youngMax Page dressed in aDarth Vader costume running around his house trying to use "the Force". It was released on the Internet a few days prior toSuper Bowl XLV in 2011, and quickly became popular.[15] As of 2013 it was the most shared ad of all time.[16]
LowerMyBills.com –Banner ads from this mortgage company feature endless loops of cowboys, women, aliens, and office workers dancing.[17][18]
"Mac Tonight/Moon Man" – A McDonald's commercial made to promote dinner sales. Starting in 2007, the character in the commercial, "Mac Tonight" was used in videos where he is depicted promoting violence against minorities and promoting theKKK with racist parodies of rap songs. The best-known parody, "Notorious KKK" (a parody of "Hypnotize" byThe Notorious B.I.G.), has accumulated over 119,000 views on YTMND.[20]
Nicole Kidman AMC Theatres commercial – In September 2021,AMC Theatres began airing a commercial starring actressNicole Kidman in its theaters and on television. The ad, written by screenwriterBilly Ray, was intended to spur theater attendance following theCOVID-19 pandemic by highlighting the "magic" of the movie theater experience. The commercial's grand style and the earnest melodrama of Kidman's monologue has led the commercial to be appreciated as an artifact ofcamp. The commercial has been the subject ofinternet memes, parodies, merchandise, andaudience participation rituals.[21]
"Nope, Chuck Testa" – A local commercial made for Ojai ValleyTaxidermy, owned byChuck Testa, suggesting that the stuffed creatures were alive until Testa appeared, saying "Nope, Chuck Testa!"; the ad soon went viral. The commercial was created byRhett & Link for their show Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings.[22][23]
Potato Parcel – A web site that allows the user to send anonymous personalized messages on potatoes via the mail.[24][25][26]
Pepsi MAX & Jeff Gordon Present: Test Drive – A short film whereNASCAR driverJeff Gordon poses as an average car buyer to prank a cars salesman.[27] A sequel,Test Drive 2, was released the following year, with Gordon pranking a writer who had branded the original video as fake.[28]
"Rivals" – A commercial for video game retailerEB Games that promotedCall of Duty: Advanced Warfare. The commercial drew criticism for its concept and the performances of its actors.[29]
Vans (2016) – Featured in the "Damn Daniel" viral internet meme.
What Would You Do for a Klondike Bar? – A slogan at the end of commercials advertising the ice cream sandwichKlondike bar. People on YouTube and Facebook began posting videos depicting people in dangerous and absurdist situations attempting to reach a Klondike Bar in response to the slogan.[31]
"Whopper Whopper" – A song by American restaurant fast-food chainBurger King which serves as a jingle for the restaurant's signature burger, theWhopper.[32]
Will It Blend? – Theblender productBlendtec, claimed by its creator Tom Dickson to be the most powerful blender, is featured in a series of YouTube videos, "Will It Blend?" where numerous food and non-food items are used within the blender.[33]
Xtranormal – A website allowing users to create videos by scripting the dialog and choosing from a menu of camera angles and predesigned CGI characters and scenes. Though originally designed to be used to easestoryboard development for filmmakers, the site quickly became popular after videos made with the tool, including "iPhone 4 vs HTC Evo", became viral.[34][35]
Animals
Memes involving text overlays on images of non-specific, interchangeable animals are listed in theImages section.
Cats on the Internet – Images of cats are very popular on the Internet, and have seen extensive use in internet memes, as well as some cats becoming Internet celebrities.[37][38][39]
Grumpy Cat – A cat named Tardar Sauce that appears to have a permanent scowl on her face due tofeline dwarfism, according to its owner. Pictures of the cat circulated the Internet, leading it to win the2013 Webby for Meme of the Year, and her popularity has led her to star in a feature film.[40] Tardar Sauce died on 14 May 2019.[41]
Dicks out for Harambe – A slogan that was popularized months after thedeath of Harambe, a gorilla in a Cincinnati zoo, which could be interpreted as telling individuals to expose theirpenises in public in honor of the gorilla (although the word "dicks" here is slang for guns). The line was notably uttered by actorDanny Trejo.[42][43]Big Floppa
Floppa – A collection of images either portrayingcaracals or a specific caracal by the name of Goshe, Shlepa, Pumba or more commonly Big Floppa. The collection of images do not portray to a specific themeper se, but always hold Floppa as a centerpoint or personification of something.[44][45]
Gabe the Dog – Gabe was a miniature American Eskimo dog owned by YouTube user gravycp. In January 2013, gravycp uploaded a short video of Gabe barking. The footage itself never went viral though it was used in dozens of song remixes, some of which accrued up to half a million views.[46]
Homophobic dog – A series of images of a whitedachshund accompanied byhomophobic captions, such as "not too fond of gay people" and "let's hope it's just a phase". According to the dog's owners, a gay couple, most of those memes were made and shared by members of theLGBTQ community to mock homophobic people.[47][48] A fakeWashington Post headline describing the dog as "the new face of online homophobia"[49][50] was criticized byChristina Pushaw, press secretary of Florida GovernorRon DeSantis, unaware that it was not a real article.[51][52]
Hurricane Shark or Street Shark, a recurring hoax circulated after a variety of natural disasters,[53] appearing to show a shark swimming in a flooded urban area, usually after ahurricane. Several images have been used, most often one of a freeway that first appeared duringHurricane Irene in 2011. However, a 2022 video of a shark or other large fish swimming inHurricane Ian's floodwaters inFort Myers, Florida, proved to be real, itself becoming part of the phenomenon and leading to phrases like "Hurricane Shark is real".[54][55]
Oolong – Photos featured on a popular Japanese website of a rabbit that is famous for its ability to balance a variety of objects on its head.[56]
Spiders Georg – A meme which imagines that the (untrue) statistic that the "average person eats 3 spiders a year" is the result of a statistical error caused by the incorporation of "Spiders Georg", a fictional character who resides in a cave and eats over ten thousand spiders every day, into the study from which this conclusion was drawn. The meme originated with a Tumblr post by user Max Lavergne, and has inspired many derivative works about the character.[57] Variations of the meme have imagined other characters named "Georg" to explain other real or imagined statistics and beliefs.[58]
Animation and comics
Animutations – EarlyAdobe Flash-based animations, pioneered byNeil Cicierega in 2001, typically featuring foreign language songs (primarily Japanese, such as "Yatta"), set to random pop-culture images. The form is said to have launched the use of Flash for inexpensive animations that are now more common on the Internet.[59][60][61]
Arthur – A 1996PBS educational series that became popular on the Internet in July 2016 through humorous stills, including a still of the title character's clenched fist.[62][63]
Ate my balls – One of the earliest examples of an internet meme, which involved web pages depicting a particular celebrity, fictional character, or other subject's relish for eating testicles.[64]
Axe Cop – Initially a web comic series with stories created by five-year-old Malachai Nicolle and drawn into comic form by his 29-year-old brotherEthan, the series gained viral popularity on the Internet due to the vividness andnon-sequitur nature of Malachai's imagination, and has led to physical publication and a series of animated shorts in the 2012–2013 season for the Fox Television Network.[65][66][67]
Battle for Dream Island – an animated web series onYouTube, created by brothers Michael and Cary Huang, revolving around competitions between anthropomorphic objects. It has influenced a genre of similar independently produced webseries, known as "object shows".[69][70]
Big Chungus – A still frame of the 1941Merrie Melodies shortWabbit Twouble whenBugs Bunny mocks a fatElmer Fudd. The meme originated from fictitious cover art for a video game titledBig Chungus (with "chungus" being a neologism associated with video game commentatorJames Stephanie Sterling), which featured a still from the scene, and was popularized by a Facebook post by aGameStop manager who alleged that a colleague's mother had inquired about purchasing the "game" as a gift.[71][72] Warner Bros. later incorporated Big Chungus into its own video gameLooney Tunes World of Mayhem.[73]
Bongo Cat – Originated on Twitter on 7 May 2018, when a simple animated catGIF, was edited for it to play the song "Athletic" from theSuper Mario World soundtrack. This cat has since been edited to play various songs on bongos, and later other instruments.[74][75]
"Caramelldansen" – A spoof from the Japanesevisual novel openingPopotan that shows the two main characters doing a hip swing dance with their hands over their heads, imitating rabbit ears, while the background song plays the sped-up version of the song "Caramelldansen", sung by the Swedish music groupCaramell. Also known asCaramelldansen Speedycake Remix orUma uma dance in Japan, the song was parodied by artists and fans who then copy the animation and include characters from otheranime performing the dance.[76][77][78]
Charlie the Unicorn – A five-part series of videos involving the titular unicorn who is repeatedly hoodwinked by two other blue and pink unicorns, Lolz and Roffle, who take him on elaborate adventures to steal his belongings or cause him physical harm.[79]
Dancing baby – A 3D-rendered dancing baby that first appeared in 1996 by the creators ofCharacter Studio for3D Studio MAX, and became something of a late 1990scultural icon, in part due to its exposure on worldwide commercials, editorials about Character Studio, and the popular television seriesAlly McBeal.[80]
The End of the World – A Flash-animated video by Jason Windsor in 2003 that depicts a situation when the entire world is nuked by rivalling countries.[81][82][83]
Homestar Runner – AFlash animated Internet cartoon by Mike Chapman, Craig Zobel, and Matt Chapman, created in 1996 and popularized in 2000. The cartoon contains many references to popular culture from the 1980s and 1990s, including video games, television, andpopular music.[85]
I'll take a potato chip... and eat it!!! – A scene from the English-language dub of episode 8 of the anime adaptation ofDeath Note, showing the main characterLight Yagami taking a potato chip from a bag of chips and eating the chip in a dramatic way.[86] The scene includes dramatic music and action movie-style camera cuts.
Joe Cartoon – Creator of interactiveFlash animationsFrog in a Blender[87] andGerbil in a Microwave,[88][89] which were two of the first Flash cartoons to receive fame on the Internet.[90]
"Loss" – Awebcomic strip published on 2 June 2008, by Tim Buckley for his gaming-related webcomicCtrl+Alt+Del. Set during a storyline in which the main character Ethan and his fiancée Lilah are expecting their first child, the strip – presented as a four-panel comic with no dialogue – shows Ethan entering a hospital, where he sees Lilah weeping in a hospital bed; she has suffered amiscarriage. It has received negative reception from critics and webcomic creators and been adapted and parodied many times.[93][94][95][96]
Motu Patlu – An Indian cartoon aired onNickelodeon (India), made widely popular by a Nick India ad celebrating Teacher's Day in India, which has been reposted under the title "D se Dab".[97]
Nyan Cat – A YouTube video of an animated flying cat, set to anUtau song.[98]
Pusheen – An animated grey tabby cat, originally drawn as a character in the webcomic "Everyday Cute" by artists Clare Belton and Andrew Duff.[102] Belton has since released a Pusheen book.[103]
Rage comics – A large set of pre-drawn images including crudely drawn stick figures, clip art, and other artwork, typically assembled through website generators, to allow anyone to assemble a comic and post to various websites and boards. TheNew York Times reports that thousands of these are created daily.[104] Typically these are drawn in response to a real-life event that has angered the comic's creator, hence the term "rage comics", but comics assembled for any other purpose are also made. Certain images from rage comics are known by specific titles, such as "trollface" (a widely grinning man), "forever alone" (a man crying to himself), or "rage guy" (a man shouting "FUUUUU...").[citation needed]
Salad Fingers – A Flash animation series surrounding a green man with severely elongated fingers in a desolate world populated mostly by deformed, functionally mute people.[105]
Skibidi Toilet – A series of viral YouTube animations made by animator Alexey Gerasimov usingSource Filmmaker which depicts a war between skibidi toilets (disembodied heads inside moving toilets which can be killed by being flushed down) and a faction of people with cameras, TVs and loudspeakers for heads.
The Spirit of Christmas – Consists of two different animated short films made byTrey Parker andMatt Stone, which are precursors to theanimated seriesSouth Park. To differentiate between the two homonymous shorts, the first short is often referred to asJesus vs. Frosty (1992), and the second short asJesus vs. Santa (1995). Fox executiveBrian Graden sent copies ofJesus vs. Santa to several of his friends, and from there it was copied and distributed, including on the internet, where it became one of the firstviral videos.[110] They were created by animating constructionpaper cut-outs withstop motion, and featuresprototypes of the main characters ofSouth Park.[111]
Steamed Hams – Remixes of a segment ofThe Simpsons episode "22 Short Films About Springfield" involving Principal Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers, in which Skinner has invited Chalmers over to dinner, inadvertently sets his ham on fire, and covers it up by serving fast food hamburgers as "steamed hams".[112]
"This is fine" – A two-panel comic drawn in 2013 by KC Green as part of theGunshow webcomic, showing an anthropomorphic dog sitting in a room on fire, and saying "This is fine". The comic emerged as a meme in 2016, used in situations, as described byThe New York Times, "halfway between a shrug and complete denial of reality". Numerous derivatives of the "This is fine" comic have been made.[113]
"Tuxedo Winnie the Pooh" – A photoshopped image of Winnie the Pooh sitting in an armchair from the featuretteWinnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, which became popular on Reddit in 2019. The meme, which is also known as "A fellow man of culture", features Winnie the Pooh wearing a tuxedo and smiling.[114][115][116]
Ultra Instinct Shaggy – A character interpretation that theScooby-Doo characterShaggy is immensely more powerful than he presents himself. The meme is usually presented as still frames of a behind-the-scenes interview ofthe 2002 live-action movie with subtitles implying that Shaggy is restraining his power to prevent catastrophe.[118][119][120] Subsequently, Warner Bros. canonized the meme as part of a credits gag in the animated filmMortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms,[121] as well as including Shaggy as a fighter in theMultiVersus crossover fighting game.[122]
Weebl and Bob – A series of Flash cartoons created byJonti Picking featuring two egg-shaped characters that like pie and speak in a stylistic manner.
xkcd – A webcomic created byRandall Munroe, popularized on the Internet due to a high level of math-, science- and geek-related humor,[123] with certain jokes being reflected in real-life, such as using Wikipedia's "[citation needed]" tag on real world signs[124] or the addition of an audio preview for YouTube comments.[125]
Challenges generally feature Internet users recording themselves performing certain actions, and then distributing the resulting video through social media sites, often inspiring or daring other users to repeat the challenge.
Coffin Dance/Dancing Pallbearers – A group of Ghanaian pallbearers that respectfully dance during funeral processions were covered by the BBC in 2017 and gained some initial Internet popularity.[126] In the wake of theCOVID-19 pandemic, a popularTikTok video mashed[jargon] the BBC footage with the EDM song "Astronomia" from Russian artistTony Igy, creating a meme that appeared to spread as a morbidly humorous reminder about the dangers of COVID-19.[127][128]
Dab – A dance move where a person drops their head into a bent, slanted arm, with the other arm out straight and parallel.
Hampster Dance – A page filled with hamsters dancing, linking to other animated pages. It spawned a fictional band complete with its own CD album release.[131]
Harlem Shake – A video based onHarlem shake dance, originally created by YouTube personalityFilthy Frank, and using an electronica version of the song byBaauer. In such videos, one person is dancing or acting strange among a room full of others going about routine business. After thedrop in the song and a video cut, everyone starts dancing or acting strangely. The attempts to recreate the dance led to a viral spread on YouTube.[132][133]
"Hit the Quan" – A viral dance challenge to the song "Hit the Quan" by American rapperiLoveMemphis.Rich Homie Quan originally performed this dance in his music video for his song "Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)". iLoveMemphis produced the "Hit The Quan" based around Rich Homie Quan's dance. iLoveMemphis' song launched the "Hit the Quan" viral dance challenge because of its convenient lyrics to dance to.[134] "Hit the Quan" reached 20 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart because of the popularity of the dance.[134] The dance challenge was very popular on social media platforms, especially Vine. Many celebrities participated in the popular dance challenge.[135]
"Kiki Challenge" or "#DoThe Shiggy" – A viral dance challenge to the song "In My Feelings" by Drake. This challenge was started by a comedian named Shiggy on the night that Drake released the albumScorpion. Shiggy posted a video of himself on his Instagram account dancing along to part of the lyrics in what looks like in the middle of a neighborhood street.[139] Shiggy commented #DoTheShiggy.[139] Drake claims the success of the song was due to Shiggy's popular dance to his song.[139] The dance challenge is often filmed with a twist of the original. The most popular twist of the dance is filmed from the passenger side of a moving vehicle through the open driver door where the would be driver is dancing moves along with the slowly moving car. This challenge received a lot of controversy due to the fact nobody was in control of the car. Performers have received fines and sometimes suffered injury.[140] This viral dance challenge was performed by a number of professional athletes and celebrities.[139] The dance challenge was performed by people in the U.S. and spread to the rest of the world.[141]
Running Man Challenge – A dance move where participants in a way resembling running to the 1996 R&B song "My Boo" by Ghost Town DJ's^ . First posted toVine by two teenagers from New Jersey, the dance went viral in 2016 after twoUniversity of Maryland basketball players posted their rendition.[144][145] The dance gets its name because it is an adaptation of the originalrunning man dance move.
T-pose – Asurrealist "dance move" that became popular in April 2018 modelled after the default pose (also known as a bind pose) that many 3D models in games, animations, and more take in their raw file form.[146]
Triangle Dance Challenge – Three individuals keep their hands on each other's shoulders while each takes a turn jumping to a differentvertex of an invisible triangle on the floor. This gained popularity in 2019.[150][151]
Bill Gates Email Beta Test – An emailchain-letter that first appeared in 1997 and still circulates. The message claims thatAmerica Online andMicrosoft are conducting abeta test and for each person one forwards the email to, they will receive a payment from Bill Gates of more than $200. Realistic contact information for a lawyer appears in the message.[152][153]
Craig Shergold – A British former cancer patient known for receiving an estimated 350 milliongreeting cards, earning him a place in theGuinness Book of World Records in 1991 and 1992. Variations of the plea for greeting cards sent out on his behalf in 1989 are still being distributed through the Internet, although Shergold died in 2020, making the plea one of the most persistenturban legends.[154]
Goodtimes virus – An infamous,fraudulent virus warning that first appeared in 1994. The email claimed that an email virus with the subject line "Good Times" was spreading, which would "send your CPU into a nth-complexity infinite binary loop", among other dire predictions.[155][156]
Lighthouse and naval vessel urban legend – Purportedly an actual transcript of an increasingly heated radio conversation between a U.S. Navy ship and a Canadian who insists the naval vessel change a collision course, ending in thepunchline. Thisurban legend first appeared on the Internet in its commonly quoted format in 1995, although versions of the story predate it by several decades.[157] It continues to circulate; theMilitary Officers Association of America reported in 2011 that it is forwarded to them an average of three times a day.[158] The Navy has a page specifically devoted to pointing out that many of the ships named were not even in service at the time.[159]
MAKE.MONEY.FAST – One of the firstspam messages that was spread primarily throughUsenet, or even earlierBBS systems, in the late 1980s or early 1990s. The original email is attributed to an individual who used the name "Dave Rhodes", who may or may not have existed.[160] The message is a classicpyramid scheme – one receives an email with a list of names and is asked to send $5 bypostal mail to the person whose name is at the top of the list, add their own name to the bottom, and forward the updated list to a number of other people.[161]
Neiman Marcus Cookie recipe – An emailchain-letter dating back to the early 1990s, but originating asXeroxlore, in which a person tells a story about being ripped off for over $200 for a cookie recipe from Neiman Marcus. The email claims the person is attempting to exact revenge by passing the recipe out for free.[162][163]
Nigerian Scam/419 scam – A mail scam attempt popularized by the ability to send millions of emails. The scam claims the sender is a high-ranking official of Nigeria with knowledge of a large sum of money or equivalent goods that they cannot claim but must divest themselves of; to do so, they claim to require a smaller sum of money up front to access the sum to send to the receiver. The nature of the scam has mutated to be from any number of countries, high-ranking persons, barristers, or relationships to said people.[164]
Film and television
A man in aHalloween costume as theBarbenheimer phenomenon that resulted from the filmsBarbie andOppenheimer sharing the same July 21, 2023, release date.
The Babadook (2014) – An Australianpsychological horror film that started trending on Twitter in June 2017 when thetitle character became an unofficial mascot for theLGBT community.[165] Prior to that, rumors of the Babadook's sexuality began in October 2016, when someNetflix users reported seeing the film categorized as an LGBT movie on Netflix.[166][167][168]
Bee Movie (2007) – Sped-up or slowed-down clips of the film have become popular on YouTube.[171][172] One upload by "Avoid at All Costs" exceeded 12 million views as of December 2016.[173] Many of the edited videos in this trend were taken down for spam due to the volume of videos posted by some channels.[174] From September 2013 onwards, a few Internet users posted the entirety of theBee Movie script on sites likeTumblr and Facebook.[175]
The Blair Witch Project (1999) – The film's producers usedInternet marketing to create the impression that the documentary-style horror film featured real, as opposed to fictional events.[176]
Bye, Felicia – A line from the 1995 filmFriday originally uttered byIce Cube's character to dismissAngela Means' character, Felisha. The line became viral beginning in the 2010s.[177]
Dear Evan Hansen (2021) – A film adaptation ofthe stage musical of the same name that featured then 27-year-oldBen Platt reprising his role as 17-year-old high schoolerEvan Hansen, a casting decision that sparked widespread backlash from critics and the public, all of whom attributed it tonepotism. Two scenes from the film instantly became internet memes the moment it was made available digitally as a result of the controversy: a close-up of Evan crying during the climax of "Words Fail," his expression wrenched and tortured, and the moment Evan runs off from Zoe Murphy (Kaitlyn Dever) in the hallways during their first meeting at school. Jameson Rich ofThe New York Times observed "The image of a crying Platt is already a much-iterated joke, and its thrust is, overwhelmingly, derisive. But being the target of the internet's scorn is not de facto a bad thing. When a meme circulates far enough, the underlying movie can gain what feels like cultural currency. The very fact that the images are not part of any intentional advertising actually lends them a note of authenticity. They are, in a perverse way, resonating on their own merit. Is there a better form of contemporary publicity?"[180]
Downfall (2004) – A film depictingAdolf Hitler (portrayed byBruno Ganz) during his final days of his life. Multiple scenes in which Hitlerrants in German have beenparodied innumerable times on the Internet, including when Hitler finds out thatFelix Steiner has failed to carry out his orders and when Hitler finds outSS-GruppenführerHermann Fegelein has goneAWOL. This scene often has its English subtitles replaced by mock subtitles to give the appearance that Hitler is ranting about modern, often trivial topics, and sometimes evenbreaks the fourth wall by referencing the Internet meme itself. While the clips are frequently removed for copyright violations, the film's director,Oliver Hirschbiegel, has stated that he enjoys them, and claimed to have seen about 145 of them.[181][182]
Goncharov – A nonexistent film invented by users onTumblr.[186] It is purported to be "the greatestmafia movie ever made," released in 1973.[187][188] In 2020, a user posted a picture of a tag found on a pair of boots which featured details on the nonexistent filmGoncharov in place of a brand label, which suggested it was "A film by Matteo JWHJ0715" and "presented" byMartin Scorsese. Users have inconsistently described the film as being directed by either Matteo JWHJ0715 or Scorsese. This label was speculated by several users to be a misprint ofGomorrah.[189]Goncharov picked up traction again in late November 2022 when a user created a poster for the film that featured a lineup of actors and character names, ultimately sparking an elaborate fiction of the film's existence.[190] Discussion of the film involved detailed critical analysis of the plot, themes, symbolism, and characters, as well as creation of gifs, fan art, and theme music, all presented as if the film were real.[191] The meme's popularity caused it to become a trending topic on the Tumblr platform.[187][188][189] A similar meme that emerged onTikTok nine months later—about a fictional 1980s horror film,Zepotha—drew comparisons toGoncharov.[192][193][194]
LazyTown (2004) – A children's television program originating fromIceland, which became very popular after one of the primary actors,Stefán Karl Stefánsson, was diagnosed with cancer and set up aGoFundMe page for support. The song "We Are Number One" became a meme in October 2016, and many videos were created. It became one of the fastest growing memes in history, with 250 videos uploaded in 5 days.[197]
The Lord of the Rings trilogy – Released between 2001 and 2003, just as meme culture was taking off, several moments from the films became part of the online culture, with, most notably,Sean Bean's character ofBoromir stating "One does not simply walk into Mordor" as one of the most commonly referenced.[199][200]
Marble Hornets – A documentary-style horror, suspense short film series based on alternate reality experiences of theSlenderman tale. Marble Hornets was instrumental in codifying parts of the Slender Man mythos, but is not part of the inter-continuity crossover that includes many of the blogs and vlogs that followed it, although MH does feature in other canons as either a chronicle of real events or a fictional series.[201][202]
Marriage Story (2019) –Noah Baumbach's critically acclaimed drama about a warring couple going through a coast-to-coast divorce spawned multiple memes despite its serious tone. According toWired, a meme of Adam Driver punching a wall during Charlie and Nicole's argument scene has contributed to "re-contextualizing Charlie and Nicole's fight into something light and silly".[203] Driver punching a wall has been repurposed to represent general arguments over trivial matters in which a participant becomes angry and overreacts.[204][205]
Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus (2009) – Thetheatrical trailer released in mid-May 2009 became a viral hit, scoring over one million hits on MTV.com and another 300,000 hits on YouTube upon launch, prompting brisk pre-orders of the DVD.[206]
Minions – The mischievous yellow creatures from theDespicable Me franchise have, since their introduction in 2010, become ubiquitous in certain layers of meme culture.[207] The memes created with images of Minions have frequently been derided as bland or unintentionally absurd.[208][209] In 2022, a phenomenon known as "Gentleminions" arose, in which young men and teen boys would arrive toMinions: The Rise of Gru in formal attire.[210][211]
The adultbrony fandom ofMy Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic grew from its 4chan roots.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic –Hasbro's 2010 animated series to revive its toy line was discovered by members of4chan and subsequently spawned a large adult, mostly male fanbase calling themselves "bronies" and creating numerous Internet memes and mashups based on elements from the show.[212][213]
Re-cut trailer – User-made trailers for established films, using scenes, voice-overs, and music, to alter the appearance of the film's true genre or meaning or to create a new, apparently seamless, film. Examples include casting the thriller-dramaThe Shining into a romantic comedy, or using footage from the respective films to createRobocop vs. Terminator.[214][215][216]
The Nutshack (2007) – a Filipino-American adult animated television series that has been widely mocked for its obnoxious characters, bad writing and animation, and especially for the theme song.[217]
Pingu – An animated Swiss children's television series. The show's animation style has spawned many memes.[citation needed] In particular, a meme in which Mozart'sRequiem accompanies a viral video of Pingu the penguin saying "Noot Noot"[218] gained popularity, using the choir symphony to depict feelings of terror and dread.[219]
The Room (2003) – Written, produced, directed, and starringTommy Wiseau, the low-budget independent film is considered one ofthe worst films ever made. However, through social media and interest from comedians, it gained a large number of ironic fans and turned into acult classic. It is a popular source for memes based on some of the poorly delivered lines in the movie, such as "You're tearing me apart, Lisa!" (a shoehorned reference to an iconicJames Dean line inRebel Without a Cause) and "Oh hi, Mark."[220][221]
Sharknado (2013) – A made-for-television film produced byThe Asylum and aired on theSyFy network as amockbuster of other disaster films, centered on the appearance of atornado filled with sharks in downtown Los Angeles. Though similar to other films from the Asylum, elements of the film, such as low-budget effects and choice of actors, led to the film becoming a social media hit and leading to at least four additional sequels.[225]
Shrek – A DreamWorks franchise that has aninternet fandom likes the series.[226] The viral video "Shrek is Love, Shrek is Life" was based on a homoerotic story on4chan depicting thetitular ogre engaging inanal sex with a young boy.[227][228]
Snakes on a Plane (2006) – Attracted attention a year before its planned release, and before any promotional material was released, due to the film's working title, its seemingly absurd premise, and the piquing of actorSamuel L. Jackson's interest to work on the film. Producers of the film responded to the Internet buzz by adding several scenes and dialogue imagined by the fans.[229]
Take This Lollipop (2011) – Aninteractive horror short film andFacebook app, written and directed byJason Zada to personalize and underscore the dangers inherent in posting too much personal information about oneself on the Internet. Information gathered from a viewer's Facebook profile by the film'sapp, used once and then deleted, makes the film different for each viewer.[240][241][242]
The Three Bears (1939) – An animated short film made byTerrytoons based on the storyGoldilocks and the Three Bears. One of the scenes from the short depicting Papa Bear saying "Somebody toucha myspaghet!" in a stereotypically thick Italian accent became an internet meme in December 2017.[243]
Treasure Island (1988) – A Soviet animated film developed and distributed byKievnauchfilm based on the novelof the same name byRobert Louis Stevenson. A loop of a scene from the film showing three characters in a walk cycle withDr. Livesey showing a highly pronounced swagger, often overlaid with the phonk song, "Why Not" by Ghostface Playa, became an internet meme in August 2022.
A Very Brady Sequel (1996) – A moment whereMarcia Brady says "Sure, Jan" became a popular internet meme during the mid-2010s, usually as a responsegif.[244] The original writers and actors responded to the meme during a 2021 interview withVice.[245]
West Side Story (2021) – A clip of the openinglong take shot of "The Dance at the Gym" sequence fromSteven Spielberg's 2021 film version of themusical was uploaded to Twitter on 25 February 2022, and went viral over the weekend, reaching 3 million views and over 32,000 likes. It led to many users sharing images and clips of their favorite scenes and shots from the film during that time, while praising Spielberg's direction andJanusz Kamiński's cinematography.[246][247] This was further amplified by a Twitter thread by filmmakerGuillermo del Toro analyzing the camerawork and blocking on this particular shot.[248]
Gaming
Bowsette is a fan-made, gender-swapped version of the Mario franchise character Bowser.
Angry Birds – A mobile game series made byRovio Entertainment in December 2009 for theiOS andNokia app stores, with aGoogle Play version releasing in October 2010.[251] Since its release, the game has amassed a large following on both the internet and in media for its visuals and simple-to-understand game mechanics of launching a bird from a slingshot.[252] The game has also seen many forms of merchandising, with 30% of Rovio Entertainment's revenue coming from merchandise sales in 2011.[253] One of the largest earlier endeavors was the brand's first licensed theme park inTampere, Finland that was set to open on 1 May 2012.[254]
Among Us – A game made by game studio Innersloth released onSteam in 2018. The game reached internet fame in 2020 due toTwitchstreamers andYouTubers playing the game frequently. Still images from the game, phrases from the game like "Emergency Meeting" and "Dead body reported" as well as typical gameplay events have influenced internet memes. Other terms like "Sus", "Sussy", "Sussy Baka", "Amogus", and "When the imposter is sus" also became notable memes onsocial media platforms, later taking on a more ironic usage.[255][256]
Arrow in the knee – City guards inThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim would utter the line: "I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee". The latter part of this phrase quickly took off as a catchphrase and asnowclone in the form of "I used to X, but then I took an arrow in the knee" with numerous image macros and video parodies created.[257][258][259]
But can it runCrysis? – A question often asked by PC gaming and hardware enthusiasts. When released in 2007, Crysis was extremely taxing on computer hardware, with even the most advanced consumergraphics cards of the time unable to provide satisfactoryframe rates when the game was played on its maximum graphical settings.[261] As a result, this question is asked as a way of judging a certain computer's capability at gaming.
Can it runDoom? – A common joke question with any hardware that has aCPU, due tothe vast amount of ports the game has received. Examples of unconventional hardware thatDoom has been ported to include a Canon Proxima printer, theVIC-20, the Touch Bar on the 2016MacBook Pro, a smart fridge, an ATM, a billboard truck, and within the game itself.[262][263][264]
Elden Ring – A 2022 video game that spawned multiple memes, such as:
Let me solo her – The colloquial name for anElden Ring player who specializes in fightingMalenia, one of the game's most difficultbosses, and whose character wears no armor but a jar as a helmet.[266] "Let me solo her" became widely acclaimed within the game's online community after volunteering to deal with Malenia on behalf of other players through the game's player summoning feature, and successfully defeating her at least four thousand times without assistance.[267] Videos of the player's performances became popular and widely shared on multiplesocial news websites.[266] The player's exploits was acknowledged by the game's publisher,[268] and became the subject offan labor.[269][270] Let me solo her was awardedPC Gamer's Player of the Year award for 2022.[271]
"Maidenless" – a term used by multiple non-player characters to describe the player character. In its original context, it implies that the player character lacks a femaleguide known as a Finger Maiden, but it has been appropriated by the player community as a joke or insult, who uses it to imply that its recipient lacks a romantic partner.[272][273]
Flappy Bird – Afree-to-playcasualmobile game released on theiOS App Store on 24 May 2013, and onGoogle Play on 30 January 2014, byindie mobile app developer Dong Nguyen. The game began rapidly rising in popularity in late-December 2013 to January 2014 with up to 50 million downloads by 5 February. On 9 February, Nguyen removed the game from the mobile app stores citing negative effects of the game's success on his health and its addictiveness to players. Following the game's removal from the app stores, numerous clones and derivatives of the game were released with varying similarities to the original game.[274][275]
I Love Bees – Analternate reality game that was spread virally after a one-second mention inside aHalo 2 advertisement. Purported to be a website abouthoney bees that was infected and damaged by a strangeartificial intelligence, done in a disjointed, chaotic style resembling a crashing computer. At its height, over 500,000 people were checking the website every time it updated.[276]
Lamar Roasts Franklin – A cutscene in the 2013 action-adventure video gameGrand Theft Auto V where Lamar Davis, portrayed by comedianSlink Johnson, berates Franklin Clinton, portrayed by actor and former rapperShawn Fonteno, for Franklin's haircut and his relationship with his girlfriend, ending in Lamar uttering the word "nigga" in a condescending, sing-song voice and giving Franklinthe middle finger, much to the latter's chagrin. The cutscene experienced a resurgence in popularity in late 2020 when parodies of the scene were uploaded on YouTube and other video hosting sites. It usually involves Lamar's character model being replaced with various popular culture icons such asDarth Vader,Vegeta, andSnow White among others, with Lamar's dialogue dubbed to account for the characters used. In 2021, Fonteno and Johnson reprised their roles as Franklin and Lamar respectively in a live-action re-enactment of the cutscene.[277][278] Later that year, Fonteno and Johnson once again reprised their roles inThe Contract DLC forGrand Theft Auto Online, complete with a homage to the original roast cutscene.[279]
Leeroy Jenkins – AWorld of Warcraft player charges into a high-level dungeon with a distinctive cry of "Leeeeeeeerooooy... Jeeenkins!", ruining the meticulous attack plans of his group and getting them all killed.[280]
Let's Play – Videos created by video game players that add their commentary and typically humorous reactions atop them playing through a video game. These videos have created a number of Internet celebrities who have made significant money through ad revenue sharing, such asPewDiePie who earned over $12 million from his videos in 2015.[281][282]
Line Rider – A Flash game where the player draws lines that act as ramps and hills for a small rider on a sled.[283]
Mafia City – A mobile game that has become infamous for its odd advertising involving a person drastically increasing their stats for doing various mob-related activities, and for the phrase "That's how mafia works".[284]
Portal – The games in thePortal series introduced several Internet memes, including the phrase "the cake is a lie",[285] and the space-obsessed "Space Core" character.[286]
PressF to pay respects – A prompt for the player to press a button on the PC version ofCall of Duty: Advanced Warfare, where the player character would approach the coffin of a fallen comrade in response. The mechanic is repeatedly criticized and ridiculed for both being arbitrary and unnecessary, uninteresting gameplay, as well as being inappropriate to the tone of the funeral the game otherwise intends to convey.[287] The phrase has since become anInternet meme in its own right, sometimes used unironically: during the tribute stream for theJacksonville Landing shooting, viewers posted a single letter "F" in the chat.[288]
QWOP's title refers to the four keyboard keys used to move the muscles of the sprinter avatar.An example of a solution from the viral game "Wordle", developed byJosh Wardle
Roblox – A sandbox game that has spawned several memes, such as its "oof" sound.
QWOP – A browser-based game requiring the player to control a sprint runner by using the Q, W, O, and P keys to control the runner's legs. The game is notoriously difficult to control, typically leaving the runner character flailing about. The concept developed into memes based on the game, as well as describing real-life mishaps as attributable toQWOP.[289]
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon – A trivia/parlor game based around linking an actor toKevin Bacon through a chain of co-starring actors in films, television, and other productions, with the hypothesis that no actor was more than six connections away from Bacon. It is similar to the theory ofsix degrees of separation or theErdős number in mathematics. The game was created in 1994, just at the start of the wider spread of Internet use, populated further with the creation of movie database sites likeIMDb, and since has become a board game and contributed towards the field ofnetwork science.[290][291][292]
Sonic the Hedgehog – A video game series created bySega that has spawned multiple memes, such as the following:
SonicReal-Time Fandubs – The YouTube channel SnapCube has produced a series ofimprovisational comedygag dubs of severalSonic titles, includingSonic Adventure 2,Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) andShadow the Hedgehog, in which their cutscenes are dubbed with new, inaccurate dialogue on purpose. They have themselves earned their own fandom and derivative works based on jokes from the series. The dub over the scene inSonic Adventure 2 where Doctor Eggman destroys half of the moon featuring an expletive-filled rant from the actor has spawned several memes.[293][294]
Sanic – A purposely misdrawnSonic that has been referenced by Sega themselves, and used in merchandise;[295]
"Ugandan Knuckles" – A meme that gained high popularity thanks to the social gameVRChat, where players with a crudeKnuckles model asked other players if they "knew da wae" ("know the way"), who their "queen" was,clicking their tongue, and spitting repeatedly.[296][297]
Surprised Pikachu – An image of the PokémonPikachu with a blank look and an open mouth. It is used as a reaction image to show either shock or lack thereof.[298][299]
Twitch PlaysPokémon – An "experiment" and channel created by an anonymous user onTwitch in February 2014. Logged-in viewers to the channel can enter commands in chat corresponding to the physical inputs used in theJRPG video gamePokémon Red. These are collected and parsed by a chat software robot that uses the commands to control the main character in the game, which is then live-streamed from the channel. The stream attracted more than 80,000 simultaneous players with over 10 million views with a week of going live, creating a chaotic series of movements and actions within the game, a number of original memes, and derivative fan art. The combination has been called an entertainment hybrid of "a video game, live video and a participatory experience," which has inspired similar versions for other games.[300][301]
U R MR GAY – A message allegedly hidden in theSuper Mario Galaxy box art, which appears when each letter not decorated with a star is removed from the art. It was first noticed by aNeoGAF poster in September 2007. Video game journalists have debated as to whether the message was placed on purpose or was simply a humorous coincidence.[302][303] InSuper Mario Galaxy 2, an alleged response to the former's message can be inferred in the title by reading the letters that sparkle in the box art from bottom to top, spelling out "YA I M R U?"[304]
Untitled Goose Game – A 2019 video game developed by Australian game studioHouse House, in which the player controls a goose causing mischief in an English village. An early teaser for the game in 2017 led to strong interest in the title, and on release, the game quickly became an Internet meme.[305][306]
Wordle – A word-guessing game similar toJotto andMastermind, where the player has only six tries to guess a five-letter word each day, the game indicating whether letters are in the word or in the correct position. The game became popular over a few weeks after the ability to share results with others via social media was added near the end of 2021.[307][308] The game's popularity led toThe New York Times Company acquiring the game from its creator Josh Wardle at the end of January 2022 for an undisclosed seven-figure sum.[309]
Absolute Cinema – ablack and white shot of a seatedMartin Scorsese holding his hands raised in the air, made by photographer Philip Montgomery for a 2020The New York Times interview with the phrase superscripted. Both the memed image and the standalone phrase, sometimes also superscripted on other photos, achieved virality, with usage coming in forms of admonished or ironic reaction to flashy moments andmass media content.[310][311]
AI art – Since 2022, Internet users usesgenerative AI software like especiallyDALL-E,Stable Diffusion,Midjourney andFlux to construct imagesfrom text prompts. The resulting images, often shared across social media, are often humorous and can range from uncanny to near-perfect results, sometimes as part of a meme phenomenon, becoming memes or being based on other meme images.[312][313][314][315][316] Subsequently, also – often animated – videos like "Harry Spotter – The boy who lifted" became Internet memes.[317][318][319]
Baby mugging and Baby suiting –MommyShorts blogger Ilana Wiles began posting pictures of babies in mugs, and later adult business suits, both of which led to numerous others doing the same.[320][321][322]
Babylonokia – A clay tablet, shaped like a mobile phone designed by Karl Weingärtner.Fringe scientists andalternative archaeology proponents subsequently misrepresented a photograph of the artwork as showing an 800-year-old archaeological find; that story was popularised in a video on the YouTube channelParanormal Crucible and led to the object being reported by some press sources as a mystery.[323]
Blinking white guy – An animated GIF of formerGiant Bomb video producer Drew Scanlon blinking in surprise, originating from a 2013 video on the website, became an internet meme in 2017.[326] Multiple outlets have noted the versatility of the GIF's use as a reaction.[327][328]
Blue waffle – A hoax originating in 2010 claiming to show the effects of an unknownsexually transmitted disease affecting only women, causing severevaginal infection with a blue discoloration. The disease has been confirmed as false.[329] InTrenton, New Jersey, councilwoman Kathy McBride cited the image in a 2013city council meeting, not realizing that it was a hoax.[330][331]
#BreakTheInternet – The November 2014 issue ofPaper included a cover image ofKim Kardashian in a partially nude pose, exposing her buttocks, taken by photographerJean-Paul Goude. It was captioned "#breaktheinternet", as the magazine desired to set a record in social media response from it. Several other photos from the shoot were also released, including one that mimicked one that Goude took for his bookJungle Fever involving a "campaign incident".Paper's campaign set a record for hits for their site, and the photographs became part of Internet memes.[332][333]
Brian Peppers – In 2005, a photo surfaced of a man named Brian Peppers, noted for his appearance, which suggestsApert syndrome orCrouzon syndrome. Found on the Ohiosex offender registry website, the photo gained traction after being shared on websiteYTMND. Peppers died in 2012 at the age of 43.[334]
Crasher Squirrel – A photograph by Melissa Brandts of a squirrel which popped up into a timer-delayed shot of Brandts and her husband while vacationing inBanff National Park, Canada, just as the camera went off. The image of the squirrel has since been added into numerous images on the Internet.[335][336][337]
CSI: Miami Puts on Sunglasses – Thecold opening for nearly allCSI: Miami episodes ended with starDavid Caruso asHoratio Caine, in the initial stages of an investigation, putting on his sunglasses and making a quip or pun related to the crime, before the show hard cut to the opening credits, played against the scream of "Yeah!" inThe Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again".[338] Image macros of Caruso putting on sunglasses, or similar images for other fictional characters, and the introductory scenes of theCSI: Miami opening became frequent, typically used as response to other puns made on user forums or with the puns and the following "YEAH!" incorporated into the image macro.[339][340]
Cursed images – Images (usually photographs) that are perceived as odd or disturbing due to their content, poor quality or both.[341]
Dat Boi – An animatedGIF of a unicycling frog associated with the text "here come dat boi!" that began onTumblr in 2015 before gaining popularity on Twitter in 2016.[342][343][344][345]
DashCon Ball Pit – A convention held in July 2014 by users ofTumblr that "imploded" due to a number of financial difficulties and low turnout. During the convention, a portableball pit was brought into a large empty room. When some premium panels were cancelled, the attendees were offered an extra hour in the ball pit as compensation. The implosion and absurdity of aspects like the ball pit quickly spread through social media.[346]
Distracted boyfriend – A stock photograph taken in 2015 which went viral as an Internet meme in August 2017.[347]
Dog shaming – Originating on Tumblr, these images feature images of dogs photographed with signs explaining what antics they recently got up to.[348]
Doge – Images of dogs, typically of theShiba Inus, overlaid with simple but poor grammatical expressions, typically in theComic Sans MS font, gaining popularity in late 2013.[349] The meme saw an ironic resurgence towards the end of the decade,[350] and was recognised by multiple media outlets as one of the most influential memes of the 2010s.[351][352] The meme has also spawnedDogecoin, a form ofcryptocurrency.[353]
Don't talk to me or my son ever again – Images of a subject, be they product or individual, pictured with a smaller version of themself, captioned with the text "don't talk to me or my son ever again". Popular in 2016.[354]
The Dress – An image of a dress posted to Tumblr that, due to how the photograph was taken, created anoptical illusion where the dress would either appear white and gold, or blue and black. Within 48 hours, the post gained over 400,000 notes and was later featured on many different websites.[355][356]
Ecce Homo / Ecce Mono / Potato Jesus – An attempt in August 2012 by a local woman to restoreElías García Martínez's agingfresco of Jesus in Borja, Spain led to a botched, amateurish, monkey-looking image, leading to several memes.[357][358]
First World problems – A stock image of a woman crying with superimposed text mocking people with trivial complaints compared to that of issues in theThird World.[360]
Lolcat – A collection of humorousimage macros featuring cats with misspelled phrases, such as "I Can Has Cheezburger?".[370] The earliest versions of LOLcats appeared on4chan, usually on Saturdays, which were designated "Caturday", as a day to post photos of cats.[371]
Manul – A Russian meme that was introduced in 2008. It is typically an image macro with a picture of an unfriendly and stern-looking Pallas's cat (also known as a manul) accompanied by a caption in which the cat invites the viewer to pet it.[377]
O RLY? – Originally a text phrase onSomething Awful, and then an image macro done for4chan. Based around a picture of a snowy owl.[387]
Pepe the Frog – A cartoon frog character from a 2005 web cartoon became widely used on4chan in 2008, often with the phrase "feels good man".[388][389][390][391][392] In 2015, the New Zealand government accepted proposals for anew national flag and a flag with Pepe, known as "Te Pepe", was submitted.[393][394][395]
Seriously McDonalds – A photograph apparently showing racist policies introduced byMcDonald's. The photograph, which is a hoax, went viral, especially on Twitter, in June 2011.[396]
Spider-Man Pointing at Spider-Man – An image of the episode "Double Identity" of the 1967 TV seriesSpider-Man where the characterSpider-Man and a criminal with the same costume point at each other.[397] It is often used online when a person coincidentally acts or looks like another person.[398] The meme was referenced in the post-credit scene ofSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and a real-life version with three Spider-Man actors –Tom Holland,Andrew Garfield andTobey Maguire – was tweeted by Marvel to announce the release ofSpider-Man: No Way Home on 4K UHD and Blu-ray.[398][397]
Stonks – An image featuringMeme Man in a suit against an image of the stock market, used to highlight or satirize absurd topics related to finance or the economy.[399]
Success Kid – An image of a baby who is clenching his fist while featuring a determined look on his face.[400]
Trash Doves – A sticker set of a purple bird for iOS, Facebook messenger, Facebook comments, and other messaging apps created by Syd Weiler. The animated headbanging pigeon from the sticker set started to go viral in Thailand[401] and it became globally viral on social media.[402][403][404][405][406][407]
Tron Guy –Jay Maynard, a computer consultant, designed aTron costume, complete with skin-tightspandex and light-up plastic armor, in 2003 for Penguicon 1.0 in Detroit, Michigan. The Internet phenomenon began when an article was posted toSlashdot, followed byFark, including images of this costume.[408]
Vancouver Riot Kiss – An image supposedly of a young couple lying on the ground kissing each other behind a group of rioters during the riots following theVancouver Canucks'Stanley Cup loss to theBoston Bruins on 15 June 2011. The couple, later identified as Australian, Scott Jones, and local resident, Alexandra Thomas, were not actually kissing but Jones was consoling Thomas after being knocked down by a police charge.[409]An example of the "What the fuck did I just read?" meme.
White rabbit pointing at a clock – An illustration depicting theAlice In Wonderland characterWhite Rabbit holding up apocket watch, appearing to scold the viewer that they are late (or running out of time).[411]
Wojak – Also known as "Feels Guy", a bald male character with a sad expression on his face, often used as a reaction image to represent feelings such as melancholy, regret or loneliness. It has been used to convey different feelings by means ofmemetic transformation and modification into many various unique forms, all with different meanings. Some represent specific ideas or roles in certain situations, such as theNPC meme, which mocks supposedgroupthink and a lack of individuality among a group of people. It has also spawned many derived characters, all based on the original but used to represent different emotions.[412][413]
Woman yelling at a cat – A screenshot of the members of the television showThe Real Housewives of Beverly HillsTaylor Armstrong andKyle Richards showing Armstrong shouting and pointing with the finger, followed by a photo of a confused cat (identified asSmudge) sitting behind a table with food. The meme emerged in mid-2019, when Twitter users joined the photos and included texts that looked like a mockery of the cat to the angry woman.[414][415]
The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet – A song recorded on an audio cassette off German radio in the early 1980s, the artist and song title of which remained unknown for many years, despite intensive search efforts by Internet users.[419] In November 2024, the song was identified as "Subways of Your Mind" by the German bandFEX.[420]
"Sigma Boy" – A song by Russian bloggers 11-year-oldBetsy and 12-year-old Maria Yankovskaya. German TikToker Streichbruder (@simonbth1) started a trend in which he put the song on at full volume in public transport.[421] It was part of a larger trend where bloggers go to a public place and blast silly songs that they would normally be ashamed of listening to in front of other people.[422] The song itself topped the Viral 50 Global Chart.[423]
People
Brad's Wife – On 27 February 2017, Brad Byrd of Harrison County, Indiana posted onCracker Barrel's Facebook page, asking them why they fired his wife, Nanette, after 11 years of service. The intense and serious nature of the post drew viral attention, and internet users begansemi-sarcastically demanding answers, usinghashtags such as #BradsWife and #JusticeForBradsWife. This meme was notable for being popular withbaby boomers as well as younger internet users. After the post was about a week old, several corporations jumped on the viralbandwagon and began to publicly send job offers to Nanette Byrd.[424][425][426]
Florida Man – Crimes involving bizarre behavior, perpetrated by men from the state of Florida.[427][428][429]
Hide the Pain Harold – Hungarian model András István Arató became the subject of a meme in 2011, due to his seemingly fake smile as the model instock images.[430][431] The meme depicts photos of Arató smiling, while viewers believe the smile masks serious sorrow and pain, hence the name "Hide the Pain Harold".[432]
Islamic Rage Boy – A series of photos ofShakeel Bhat, a Muslim activist whose face became a personification of angryIslamism in the western media. The first photo dates back to his appearance in 2007 at a rally inSrinigar, the capital ofIndian-administeredKashmir. Several other photos in other media outlets followed, and by November 2007, there were over one million hits for "Islamic Rage Boy" on Google and his face appeared onboxer shorts andbumper stickers.[433]
Krzysztof Kononowicz – A Polish man who became a phenomenon of the Polish Internet in 2006 after appearing in the debate of candidates for the president ofBiałystok.[434]
Meme Man – Fictional character often featured insurreal memes, depicted as a3D render of a smooth, bald, and often disembodied and blue-eyed male head.[435]
Salt Bae – Turkish chef and restaurateur Nusret Gökçe earned fame in 2017 for his camera-friendly approach to preparing and seasoning meat, including a video in 2017 in which he sprinkles salt, sparkling in the sunlight, onto a steak.[436][437] Gökçe's approach has been compared todinner theater, in that his actual finished product is secondary to the performance.[438]
Bernie or Hillary? – A political poster that compares the positions ofHillary Clinton andBernie Sanders on certain issues. It was typically used by Sanders supporters to make fun of Clinton's attempts to seem relatable to the voter base while they perceived Sanders to be more knowledgeable and in-depth on the issues.[442][443][444] However, some critiqued the meme by saying that it played into sexist stereotypes.[442][444]
Joe Biden – There are numerous iterations of President Joe Biden as a meme.[445] Theportrayal of Biden inThe Onion was popular on the Internet and influenced other memes about him, as well as his broader public image.[446][447] AfterDonald Trump won the2016 U.S. presidential election, images of Biden as the "Biden Bro" or "Prankster Joe Biden" began circulating online. In these memes, Biden was paired withBarack Obama and captioned with various fictional conversations planning pranks and jokes on the president-elect. Biden is portrayed as the immature prankster of the duo, with Obama as his exasperatedstraight man.[448][needs update]
Dean scream – FormerGovernor of VermontHoward Dean's concession speech following the 2004 New Hampshire Democratic primaries included Dean rattling off a list of states in escalating volume as crowd noise rose, resulting in increasingly distorted audio and culminating in an unusual "yeehaw" scream. It was one of the first political Internet memes.[451]
Delete your account – A phrase used on Twitter to criticize the opinions of opponents. On 9 June 2016,Hillary Clinton tweeted this phrase towardsDonald Trump. Afterwards, the tweet has become her most retweeted tweet of all time.[452][453][454]
Don't Tase Me, Bro! – An incident at a campus talk by SenatorJohn Kerry where a student yelled his now-infamous phrase while being restrained by police.[455]
Forest raking – After U.S. PresidentDonald Trump's comments thatFinland spent "a lot of time on raking and cleaning its forest floor", Finnish people began circulating satirical images of themselves raking the forests to stop wildfires.[463]
JD Vance edits – A series of images whereJD Vance is humorously edited.[464]
Ladies and Gentlemen, We Got Him – A quote said by American diplomatPaul Bremer during a 2003 press conference announcingthe capture of Saddam Hussein. The scene, coupled with audio from theBreakbot song "Baby I'm Yours", began to be widely used with clips of people being apprehended or caught off-guard in some fashion, often in the context of FBI operations.[467]
Miss Me Yet? – Billboards that appeared on American highways in early 2010 that featured George W. Bush asking "Miss me yet?".[468] Inspired a series of themed merchandise from online agencies such asCafePress.[469]
Thanks Obama – A sarcastic expression used by critics of President Barack Obama to blame personal troubles and inconveniences on public policies supported or enacted by the administration.[476]
"Running through fields of wheat" – In 2017, then UK Prime MinisterTheresa May was asked by interviewerJulie Etchingham what the "naughtiest thing" she had done as a child was. May responded that she and her friend "used to run through the fields of wheat", something "the farmers weren't too pleased about". The statement became the subject of mockery and a meme.[478][479]
Winnie the Pooh comparison to Xi Jinping – In 2013, a still image of China Chinese leaderXi Jinping meeting with US President Barack Obama was compared toWinnie the Pooh andTigger. As comparisons of Pooh to Xi persist, the government tightened its censorship to suppress the trend.[480] The comparisons are not limited to internet users in China. The phenomenon has been reported to occur in the Philippines.[481]
6-7 (meme) – Aninternet meme based onSkrilla's song "Doot Doot (6 7)," with its popularity built around the lyric "6–7." It is believed the lyric refers to 67th Street inChicago, but as a meme, it does not have a fixed meaning and is simply a catchy phrase used in a variety of contexts. It is often tied toLaMelo Ball and the "6–7 Kid."[488][489]
"And I oop" – A video ofdrag queenJasmine Masters stopping a story to say the phrase "and I oop" after accidentally hitting himself in the testes.[490]
"Banana for scale" – Aninternet meme that became popular for humorously measuring lengths of various objects. In this internet phenomenon, other objects juxtaposed with a banana are accompanied with the text "banana for scale".[491]
Binod – An internetfad which became popular in India in 2020.[493] It originated from a comment by a user with the screen name 'Binod', who had added only the word 'Binod' as a comment. This was followed by a video by Slayy Point, mocking "Binod" and YouTube comment sections in general. People started spamming the word 'Binod' across social media, primarily in YouTube comments and stream chats.[494] A number of organisations also posted memes, includingNetflix India,[495] Twitter andTinder.[495]Paytm temporarily changed its Twitter name to 'Binod'.[493]
Creepypasta –Urban legends or scary stories circulating on the Internet, many times revolving around specific videos, pictures, or video games.[498] The term "creepypasta" is a mutation of the term "copypasta": a short, readily available piece of text that is easily copied and pasted into a text field. "Copypasta" is derived from "copy/paste", and in its original sense commonly referred to presumably initially sincere text (e.g. a blog or forum post) perceived by the copy/paster as undesirable or otherwise preposterous, which was then copied and pasted to other sites as a form oftrolling. In the pre-Internet era, such material regularly circulated asfaxlore.
DignifAI – A 4chan-linked campaign to use AI tools to make women in photos look more modestly dressed. The trend is the opposite ofdeepfake pornography in that it is used to add clothes rather than remove them, and it has been used as a form ofslut-shaming.[499][500]
Elsagate – A controversy surrounding children's YouTube videos in the late 2010s and 2020s.[502]
Freecycling – The exchange of unwanted goods via the Internet.[503]
Get stick bugged lol – A video clip of astick insect swaying as bait-and-switch meme similar toRickrolling, in which an irrelevant video would unexpectedly transition to the clip when the stickbug revealed with the caption "Get stick bugged LOL".[504]
Get Out of My Car – An animated video created byPsychicpebbles, which uses the real audio of a man yelling at a woman to get out of his car.[505]
Have You Seen This Man? – A viral website that emerged on the Internet in the late 2000s, claiming to gather data about a mysterious figure only known asThis Man that appears in dreams of people who never saw him before.[506]
Horse ebooks / Pronunciation Book – A five-year-long viral marketingalternate reality game for a larger art project developed by Synydyne. "Horse_ebooks" was a Twitter account that seemed to promotee-books, while "Pronunciation Book" was a YouTube channel that provided ways to pronounce English words. Both accounts engaged in non-sequiturs, making some believe that the accounts were run by automated services. Pronunciation Book shifted to pronouncing numerals in a countdown fashion in mid-2013, concluding in late September 2013 revealing the connection to Horse_ebook and identity of Synydyne behind the accounts, and the introduction of their next art project.[507][508]
Internet checkpoint – A phenomenon that originated onYouTube in 2012 after a video upload by Taia777 of stretched out game soundtrack and edited images led to viewers commenting "Checkpoints" about their life in the comments section. The term is a reference to video game automatic save points.[511]
Most Awesomest Thing Ever – A defunct website that randomly paired two objects, celebrities and activities, and asked viewers to decide their favourite. The ultimate goal of the project was to see what viewers considered the most "awesomest".[516] At the website's closure in 2022,teleportation was ranked number 1.[517]
The paperclip that Kyle MacDonald barted to buy a house, after 14 trade-ups
Netflix and chill – An English language slang term using an invitation to watchNetflix together as aeuphemism for sex, either between partners or casually as abooty call. The phrase has been popularized through the Internet.[518][519]
Omission of New Zealand from maps – New Zealand is often excluded from world maps, which has caught the attention of New Zealander users on the Internet.[520]
One red paperclip – The story of a Canadian blogger who bartered his way from a red paperclip to a house in a year's time.[521]
Planking – Also known as the Lying Down Game. An activity consisting of lying in a face down position, with palms touching the body's sides and toes touching the ground, sometimes in bizarre locations. Some compete to find the most unusual and original location in which to play.[522]
Reality shifting – A mental phenomenon similar tolucid dreaming ormaladaptive daydreaming that appeared onTikTok, in which practitioners believe they travel to alternate realities, usually fictional (for example theWizarding World of the Harry Potter franchise).[523]
Savage Babies – Also known as the Most Savage Babies in Human History, a meme popular in 2016 that uses clips from the Indian children's YouTube channel VideoGyan 3D Rhymes, namely their series of nursery rhymes "Zool Babies". The videos are heavily distorted and given edgy, ironic titles that exaggerate the meaning of the video, such as "Five Little Babies Dressed as Pilots" becoming "Savage Babies Cause9/11".[525]
SCP Foundation – A creative writing website that contains thousands of fictitious containment procedures for paranormal objects captured by the in-universe SCP Foundation, a secret organization tasked with securing and documenting objects that violate natural law or pose a threat to humanity's perception of normalcy and further existence.[526][527] The website has inspired numerous spin-off works, including a stage play and video games such asSCP – Containment Breach.[527][528]
Siren Head – A fictional cryptid which has an air raid siren as a head, created by horror artist Trevor Henderson. It has accumulated a fan following which has spawned numerous pieces of fan works and fan-made video games. Many video edits have depicted Siren Head playing various songs over a populated area.[529] Siren Head has been erroneously recognized as an SCP, most notably when the character was briefly submitted to the SCP Foundation Wiki as SCP-6789; the entry was removed after Henderson and site users expressed intention to keep Siren Head independent of the SCP Foundation Wiki.[530][531] Another entry,SCP-5987, was inspired by the character name and the controversy from the deleted entry.[532]
Smash or Pass – A game in which players decide whether they would hypothetically "smash" (have sex with) someone or "pass" (choose not to).[533]
Storm Area 51 – A joke event created on Facebook to "storm" the highly classifiedArea 51 military base, with over 1,700,000 people claiming to be attending and another 1,300,000 claiming they were "interested" in going.[535] 1,500 people arrived in the vicinity of Area 51 the day of the event, 20 September 2019, only one of whom actually breached the boundary and was quickly escorted off the premises.[536][537]
Slender Man or Slenderman – A creepypasta meme and urban-legendfakelore tale created on 8 June 2009, by user Victor Surge onSomething Awful as part of a contest toedit photographs to contain "supernatural" entities and then pass them off as legitimate on paranormal forums. The Slender Man gained prominence as a frightening malevolent entity: a tall thin man wearing a suit and lacking a face with "his" head only being blank, white, and featureless. After the initial creation, numerous stories and videos were created by fans of the character.[201][202] Slender Man was lateradapted into a video game in 2012 and became more widely known. There is also afilm released in 2018 to negative reviews.
Surreal memes – A type of meme that are artistically bizarre in appearance and whose humor derives from their absurd style. Certain qualities and characters, such as Meme Man, Mr. Orange, and a minimalist style, are frequent markers of the meme.[538]
Vibe Check – Generally ascribed as a spiritual evaluation of a person's mental and emotional state.[543][544]
Vuvuzelas – The near-constant playing of the buzz-sounding vuvuzela instrument during games of the2010 World Cup in South Africa led to numerous vuvuzela-basedmemes, including YouTube temporarily adding a vuvuzela effect that could be added to any video during the World Cup.[545][546]
Willy's Chocolate Experience – An unlicenced event based on theCharlie and the Chocolate Factory franchise held inGlasgow, Scotland. Due to the misleading AI-generated advertisements and its sparsely decorated warehouse location, images of the event went viral. Notable viral images include a dispirited woman dressed as anOompa-Loompa and an original character called "The Unknown".[547]
Yanny or Laurel – An audio illusion where individuals hear either the word "Yanny" or "Laurel".[548]
^Bissonnette, Zac (March 2015). "The $12-per-hour Sociology Major Who Made Ty Warner a Billionaire".The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute. Penguin Books. pp. 107–121.ISBN978-1591846024.
^Othmer, James P. (2009).Adland. Vol. 48, Developments in biological standardization. Random House Digital, Inc. pp. 243–250.ISBN978-0385524964. Retrieved10 July 2013.
^Diaz, Ana (14 August 2023)."TikTok has invented a fake '80s horror movie named Zepotha".Polygon.Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved15 August 2023.Zepotha really just seems like TikTok's take onGoncharov...So far,Zepotha hasn't reached the same depth of planning, and it's prompted a bit of a rivalry between the two films.
^Collis, Clark (12 December 2008)."The Crazy Cult of 'The Room'".Entertainment Weekly.Archived from the original on 4 November 2019. Retrieved30 October 2012.
^Lamerichs, Nicolle (2023). "Generative AI and the Next Stage of Fan Art".IMAGE. Zeitschrift für interdisziplinäre Bildwissenschaft.doi:10.25969/mediarep/22318.
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