Original subtitles

- [Narrator] Memes who doesn't love them?

From the dankes image macros, to your mom's Facebook memes.

There's something for everyone.

Yet what we tend to forget is that memes

are often real people with real lives.

So what's it like being a meme?

How does one become a meme?

And what happens after you've become a meme?

Let's find out,

as we take a look at some famous memes then and now.

(cheerful music)

Bad Luck Brian!

Let's take a trip back to 2012.

You were probably still poking around on Facebook,

while also being completely convinced

that the world's about to end.

It was probably about this time

when you first saw Kyle Craven's 2005 year book photo

or as it were Bad Luck Brian.

This was of course, the meme that shows a brace-faced teen

who according to the captions often finds himself

in hilariously humiliating situations.

Like throwing his own birthday party and not being invited.

Despite the memes central focus

experiencing some awful hypotheticals.

The real-life Kyle actually has a great sense of humor.

He was in on the joke from the start,

having posed with an intentionally goofy smile

for this yearbook photo.

Little did Kyle know however,

that his intentionally terrible portrait

would give birth to a little baby Brian,

who become one of the greatest memes ever.

Half a decade after the photo had been taken, it's 2012,

and Kyle's school-chum, Ian Davies makes a meme

from the photo and uploads it to Reddit.

Ian created the character of an unlucky guy,

hence the subsequent name, Bad Luck Brian.

Ian's original meme joked about getting a DUI

on a driving test,

but it wasn't until another Reddit user recaption the photo

with a trusty'ol poop joke that Bad Luck Brian began

to capture the internet's imagination,

with millions of people sharing jokes at Brian's expense.

Now, 16 years on and the man behind the meme,

Kyle Craven is all grown up.

From getting his braces off

to even having a wife and two kids,

it seems things aren't so bad after all.

After his school days, Kyle went on to graduate

in construction management,

which serves him well at his father's construction company.

What's more, his infamous yearbook photo really

has proven to be the money-shot,

as he's secured countless merchandising deals.

From board games and Walmart T-shirts

to even featuring and McDonald's online marketing.

It seems lady-luck really is on Brian's side now.

Success Kid!

A magnificent vintage meme, Success Kid.

Ranking among other dust-covered meme ancestors,

like Bad Luck Brian.

Success Kid is just one of those memes

that speaks to a bygone era of memology.

Yet it lives on as one of the founding fathers.

It began in 2007,

with a snapshot of 11-month-old Sammy Griner at the beach

with a fistful of sand and a faced full of pride,

the meme was hatched.

Sammy's mom, Lainey, uploaded the photo to Flickr

where it was initially perceived as a kid

who hates sandcastles.

However, the focus soon shifted to his proud faced

and pumped fist, which matched perfectly with text prompts

about small personal victories,

leading to the name Success Kid.

In 2012, the photo was licensed

and has since brought the family considerable revenue

through a range of merchandising deals.

Not only that, but the meme is so powerful

that it's even saved a life.

Yep, in 2015 Sammy's dad, Justin,

was in need of a kidney transplant.

And by the power of the meme,

the family raised over $100,000 for the surgery

on a GoFundMe page.

Now, that's what I call Success Kid.

Sammy is now 15 and looks a whole lot different.

And beside being Success Kid,

these days he's also cool kid, as he enjoys art, music,

and skateboarding.

No word on whether he still hates sandcastles, though.

Overly Attached Girlfriend.

Justin Bieber.

Isn't he so dreamy?

Oh, I mean lame.

So lame.

Anyway, did you know that he's kinda responsible

for one of the greatest memes ever?

Picture this, it's 2012.

Hormonal teens swoon in the masses

for Bieber they call themselves, Beliebers.

Where did you get that picture?

Anyway, J.B. held a competition where fans

could parody his hit song "Boyfriend,"

but from the perspective of the girlfriend.

This inspired then 21-year-old Laina Morris

to create an overly-attached girlfriend parody.

With wide-eyes and a wider, unnerving grin,

Laina's parody about obsessively stalking

and controlling her boyfriend rapidly became viral,

amassing more than 170,000 views in its first day.

And it wasn't long before screenshots

of Laina's face were characterized

to the Overly Attached Girlfriend memes we know today.

But where is Laina now?

Locking men up in her basement?

Not quite, the now 30-year-old has hung up the old wide-eyes

and murder you in your sleep smile.

For eight years, she rode the wave of YouTube success,

but in a video titled Breaking Up with You...

Tube, uploaded July, 2019,

she said farewell, revealing the toll content creating

had taken on her mental health.

But the hustle wasn't over, cashing in on her meme,

Laina managed to sell the macro image

as an NFT in April, 2021 for $411,000.

And if you're wondering, what is an NFT?

It's essentially a digital signature or token

that the creator can assign to their intellectual property,

officially certifying it as the original.

Although, how meaningful paying to own the original copy

of a meme that can be downloaded online for free is well

that's up to you to decide.

NFTs aside, Laina is still very much active on Instagram,

and aside from short comedy skits,

she blesses the world with regular picks of her dogs,

Gilly and Biscuit.

And I have to say, being an Overly Attached Dog Mom seems

a much healthier option than the meme

that made her famous.

Disaster Girl.

If you've ever wondered

what happens if you don't buy cookies from the girl scouts

who knock on your door, then look no further.

Jokes aside, the girl pictured

in this classic disaster girl meme

is actually 5-year-old Zoe Roth, who to my knowledge

is neither a girl scout nor firestarter.

In a Buzzfeed interview,

the now 22-year-old revealed the true origins

of the hilariously sinister-looking image.

She explained that someone

in her neighborhood wanted to clear their land.

So they donated their house to the fire brigade

for a test burn.

Zoe's dad, an amateur photographer,

saw this as a perfect photo-op,

and asked Zoe to pose in front of the house.

Fast forward to 2008, and his photo won a competition

in the JPG photography magazine.

Having gained attention from this,

it began to circulate the internet

with humorous fake context added by text overlays.

Before the Roths knew it, the photo had gone viral.

Going by the memes, you might assume Zoe now resides

in a Women's House of Detention.

But she's actually a graduate

of the University of North Carolina,

after ironically studying peace, war, and defense.

Not only that, but she's even managed

to strike a $486,716 fortune after selling her meme

as an NFT back in April, 2021.

Seems like a lot to pay, sure,

but would you dare to say no to that fiery gaze?

I think not!

Side-Eyeing Chloe!

Disgusted, confusion, anger.

That's exactly how you want your kid to react

when you surprise them with a Disneyland trip, right?

Well, back in 2013, 2-year-old Chloe Clem

became a viral meme

due to her relatable side-eye expression.

After being told the news that she was going to Disneyland,

Chloe glared into the soul of the internet

in a video that now boasts over 20 million views.

Now, while it's more likely, Chloe was just startled

rather than angered by the revelation.

Her reaction still made for great meme material

and was made into a GIF by Tumblr users.

This was brought to wider attention soon after

in a Buzzfeed article,

and thus the side-eyeing Chloe meme was born.

But has Chloe managed to turn that frown upside-down?

Well, the now 11-year-old is doing regular things

for her age, like making slime,

with updates occasionally being shared

on the YouTube channel run by her mom.

Then speaking of Chloe's mom,

going by this recreation of her daughter's famous photo,

you can see where Chloe gets it from.

What's more, the pair of hatched a cunning plan

to capitalize on Chloe's signature side-eye.

They plan to take their meme to the NFT market

with bids starting at $15,000.

And while mom wants to use the money

to put Chloe through college,

Chloe says she'd like to use the money to buy a pony

and ironically build her own Disney World,

which just goes to show,

even someone with a reaction as bitterly disgusted

as side-eye Chloe can have a change of heart over time.

Nyan Cat.

In early 2011, our meme-cestors were yet

to imagine a flying, rainbow-farting, Pop-Tart cat.

But for the greater good of mankind,

that was all about to change.

2011's very own Michelangelo, Chris Torres

has since explained how it began with a charity fundraiser.

He was taking part in a drawing livestream

where viewers could make requests.

As they hurled different words towards him,

he decided to make an amalgamation of them all,

which resulted in a rainbow-farting Pop-Tart cat.

The doodle was great, but as he slept that night,

Chris literally had dreams of taking it to the next level.

He claims as soon as he woke up,

he began creating the 8-bit animation we now know

as Nyan Cat.

And the best part is, barring its Pop-Tart body

and flying abilities, the cat was inspired

by Chris' own Russian Blue, Marty.

The good news is that Chris also recently sold the meme

as an NFT, raking in a whopping $587,000.

The bad news, however, is that in November, 2012, Marty,

the muse for Nyan Cat, sadly passed away.

Though I'd like to think

that he's somewhere up there still flying high.

Charlie Bit My Finger.

These days, YouTube is overflowing with content.

Heck, it's what keeps me in a job.

Yet in the olden days of YouTube,

watching a baby bite his older brother's finger

was enough to keep us entertained for hours.

In May, 2007, British father, Howard Davies-Carr,

uploaded a video of his two sons, Harry and Charlie,

as a way to keep in touch with their godfather

who lived in America.

The hilarious video,

which centers around Harry getting his finger bitten

by Charlie quickly caught more

than just their Godfather's attention.

As it gained 92 million views in its first two years.

It became the platform's most viewed video in 2009

with 130 million views.

As of mid-2021,

the video had snapped up a mind-blowing 886 million views.

But what are things like for the Davies-Carr family now?

Well, the boys are all grown up.

Charlie the finger chopper is now 14

and Harry the finger chompee 17.

Neither have delved into a career of cannibalism.

They're still at school,

so we're yet to see what they'll pursue.

Though Charlie has enjoyed his taste of internet fame

and plans to become a vlogger,

while Harry likes the idea of becoming an engineer.

In May, 2021, the family sold the video as an NFT

for a staggering $760,999.

Coincidentally to the same guy who also bought Disaster Girl

and Overly Attached Girlfriend,

removing it from YouTube as part of the process.

And while memes may seem like a dumb purchase,

like precious artworks,

they're predicted by some to hold their value

and become more valuable over time.

Though if you ask me,

that's a mighty fine Picasso collection you have

will always sound slightly more impressive than, "Damm son,

then some tasty memes."

Have You Ever Had A Dream?

If memes were poetry, then this next entry,

one of my personal favorites

would be the work of Shakespeare.

But I'll let the video do the talking.

- Have you ever had a dreams that you had, you'll,

you would, you could, you'll do,

you would, you want, you, you could do so.

You, you do, you could, you want him to do, you so much,

you could do anything?

- [Narrator] Couldn't have put it better myself.

This means origins began in 1999 when an HBO production

for a video adaptation of the children's book

"Goodnight Moon" visited a little lad named

Joe Cirkiel's school to audition kids.

Joe was keen to audition,

but when interviewed things took a turn.

When asked about dreams, Joe attempted to reference a line

from one of his favorite movies, "Hercules."

- Haven't you ever had a dream,

something you wanted so bad, you do anything?

- Though Joe's interpretation was hardly Oscar-worthy.

After being invited to the screening,

Joe was surprised to see that his audition

had been used as a blooper.

The audience erupted into laughter,

but Joe was left woefully embarrassed.

12 years later in 2011,

YouTuber, lololark uploaded the clip,

and since then it has been reposted

and gained over 78 million views.

But what's this little dreamer doing now?

According to his LinkedIn profile,

Joe is now founder for his own company, Far East Coast LLC,

where he successfully works generating

and signal boosting social media content,

which goes to show, if you ever have a dream

that, that you, you had, you, you what, you, you...

I gave up.

Blinking White Guy.

If you looked up the expression what the heck,

you'd probably be presented

with a picture of Drew Scanlon's face,

or rather Blinking White Guy.

It is after all the most accurate display

of bafflement humanity has produced to date.

But as memes often are,

it was a string of unrelated events

that led to the inception of this classic meme.

It's 2013 and Drew makes his routine appearance

on the YouTube channel, GiantBomb.

While playing the game, Starbound,

one of the players commentates,

"I've been doing some farming with my hoe."

It was this double-entendre that prompted Drew

to perform his iconic blinks.

The meme is first thought to have been used in 2015

in a comment on NeoGAF, a video game discussion forum.

It wasn't until 2017 that the meme spiked in popularity

when it began being repurposed

for various reactions on Twitter.

These days, almost a decade since the original video aired,

Drew looks a little different with grown out hair and beard,

plus of course, a little bit of age,

Drew doesn't get recognized very often.

He even says most folks don't realize he's the guy

from the famous meme.

But with great meme comes great responsibility.

And Drew used his meme gained fame to raise over $78,000

for the national Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Proving that everything can change in a blink.

Distracted Boyfriend.

If you type famous memes into Google,

one of the first ones you'll see

is none other than Distracted Boyfriend.

A true masterpiece gifted to us by stock photography.

Created by stock photographer and Antonio Guillem,

the photo was taken in 2015.

In an interview with Wired,

Guillem said he planned to create a series

of stock photos exploring in fidelity,

but in a playful and fun way.

Fast forward to 2017 and the Shutterstock image was posted

to a Turkish progressive rock Facebook group.

The meme centered around Phil Collins favoring pop music

over progressive rock.

And it was from there that Distracted Boyfriend came

to symbolize preference for something you want,

over something you already have.

Upon discovering they'd been meme-ed,

the models and Guillem were astonished by its virality.

With Guillem even claiming to not know what a meme was.

Little is known about where the models are now,

but when they are is an entirely different question.

Allow me to explain.

In a weird glitch of the matrix,

people have discovered a vintage edition

of Distracted Boyfriend.

The shot comes from Charlie Chaplin's 1922 film, "Pay Day,"

and the resemblance is uncanny.

Time traveler not,

it's clear to see no matter the time or place,

human beings never quite seem satisfied

with what they already have.

Hide the Pain Harold.

In the land of the memes,

stock photography really is the gift that keeps on giving.

And if you ask me, András Arató's series of stock photos

or should I say, Hide the Pain Harold

is the eighth wonder of the world.

While on holiday, Andras uploaded a few selfies

to social media,

which caught the attention of a stock photographer

who was clearly after a someone

is pointing a gun at me, kinda smile.

After tracking Andras down,

they produced hundreds of stock photos,

which showed Andras in a variety of situations

and occupations.

Andras later explained how he became tired

of having to smile during the shoots,

which is why his smile looks

like it's causing him grave pain.

While the first use of these images

can be traced back to 2011.

The fictional character Harold

is thought to have been born in 2014.

In a 4chan thread that year, users created a narrative

about an unhappy and silently hateful man,

who is working as a stock-photography model,

spawning the nickname Hide the Pain Harold.

When Andras initially discovered people

were taking his photos out of context

and adding funny text,

he wasn't best pleased stating, "I'm not a funny guy."

Though upon reflection,

Andras now takes it in his stride

and embraces his memes status.

He says that he sees the joy he brings to people's lives

and how happy they are when they spot him in public.

And with a smile that infectious, it's no surprise.

Please kill me.

Doge.

The story of Doge is truly one of rags to riches.

After being born at a Japanese puppy farm

that was eventually shutdown by the authorities,

this Shiba Inu was sent to the animal shelter.

It was there that she would be adopted

and named Kabosu by her new mom, Atsuko Satō.

In 2010, Atsuko uploaded photos of Kabosu

to her personal blog, though there was one particular shot

that grabbed people's attention.

The name Doge was first assigned to the cute pooch in 2010,

after a Reddit user reposted the photo

with the intentional misspelling,

to a small, but positive response.

Then in 2012, more photos of Kabosu were posted

to the Tumblr blog Shiba Confessions

where they were overlayed with broken English phrases

in Comic Sans, such as wow, and so scare.

These phrases seem to fit the inner mind

of a dog bizarrely well,

and the meme's popularity began to increase.

It was in August, 2013 though,

when for some reason a group of 4chan users rated

the tongue-in-cheek patriotic subreddit r/Murica

with dozens of images of Doge

that things began to really take off.

And unlike previous clashes between Reddit and 4chan,

there was little opposition, the meme instead being embraced

and spreading across the web like wildfire.

Since her rise to fame,

Doge has not only entered the hearts of millions,

but the cryptocurrency market.

In case you've been living under a rock, Bitcoin,

the original cryptocurrency

is essentially a digital currency that can be exchanged

for traditional money.

And in 2013 software engineers, Billy Markus

and Jackson Palmer created their own cryptocurrency

with Dogecoin.

Yep, Doge is basically royalty, her face plastered

on her own virtual penny.

In November, 2021, the O.G. Doge, Kabosu, turned 16

as she celebrated with her 375,000 Instagram followers.

Wow, so fame, such like, Doge big star.

Gavin.

2013, a simpler time back when Vine still existed.

And for all you Gen-Z-ers,

Vine was essentially the TikTok of my day.

Many stars rose on the platform,

but none more meme worthy than Gavin Thomas.

Making his debut in 2013, when he was just two and a half.

Gavin found fame through his uncle, Nick Mastodon's Vines.

His cameos on Nick's Vine account were extremely popular,

thanks to his hilariously expressive facial expressions

and the occasional seemingly fake smile

that could rival Hide the Pain Harold's at times.

Naturally, people in their droves began turning screenshots

of Gavin into memes, usually with the text mentioning

some uncomfortable situation

that matched Gavin's expressions.

Gavin's mom, Kate, later explained

how she never expected any of the extensive popularity,

but that it was great to see so many people show love

for her son.

These days, Gavin is looking a little more mature.

A now 9-year-old boy, we can assume he's grown out

of those adorable Ninja Turtles pyjamies.

He's also acquired an astonishing 1.6 million followers

on his own Instagram, where he keeps his fans happy

with regular Gavin content, often co-starring his chickens.

The great thing is,

now that he's approaching his teenage years,

when Gavin inevitably experiences

all those cringeworthy teen moments everyone goes through

in high school, he'll be able to use his own baby photos

for the perfect reaction gifts.

Roll Safe.

Like Gavin, Kayode Ewumi is another meme legend

who found fame using Vine.

Kayode created the character Reece Smith,

who due to his initials

had given himself the nickname Roll Safe.

With his lisp and various shenanigans,

he was presented as a lovable idiot,

and unintentionally became a meme.

Kayode's Vine character was such a hit

that he accepted an offer to develop Roll Safe

in the form of an online mockumentary series,

produced by BBC.

Yet there was one meme-able moment in particular

that stuck out.

First screenshotted and utilized as a text reaction shot

by the FootyHumor Twitter account in 2016,

a simple, yet impactful grin and tap on the head

is all it would take to blast Roll Safe into meme royalty.

The meme soon spread, being used to express clever thinking,

either as a gesture of outsmarting someone

or sarcastically, when jokingly presenting

an obvious dumb idea as smart.

By 2017, the meme had rolled safe to success,

but in 2022, what's Kayode doing now?

Well, much to fans disappointment Kayode never continued

the Role Safe character,

even after reportedly being offered big-bucks to do so.

Kayode's explained in interviews how, in his view,

leaving fans wanting more would maintain the value

of the character.

Not only this, but his clear comedic ability also left him

in high demand, leading to other projects,

such as the BBC TV sitcom Enterprise,

which Kayode wrote and starred in.

And nothing says Roll Safe like the kind of outsmarting

that elevates someone from a meme to a TV star.

Feel Old Yet?

Ironically, the very topic of this video,

memes then and now has itself become a meme.

Therefore, I'd be remiss not to delve into it a little.

Often with the caption Feel Old Yet?

This variety of memes shows both memes-stars

and celebrities jokingly paired with an older look-alike.

The results, while completely fictional

can be pretty convincing.

Though most of the time, they're just hilarious.

That being said, I have to admit,

I'm still not convinced some of these aren't the real deal.

I mean, you're telling me that Sid from Toy Story

and actor Will Poulter aren't the same person,

just existing in alternate universes?

And whatever happened to that peanut-butter baby

that took Vine by storm?

Well, what if I told you he grew up

into YouTuber Rhett McLaughlin, of Rhett and Link?

I'd be lying, of course,

but the resemblance is uncanny.

As for John Cena, he's so committed to the whole,

you can't see me bit.

He's now turned fully invisible.

And Draco Malfoy?

Now I know this one's a stretch,

but if hypothetically,

Harry Potter and Draco were to have a rap-battle,

let's just say I know who I'd put my money on.

I'd just like to clarify

that Malfoy isn't the real Slim-Shady.

Although if he is, he should probably stand up.

(upbeat music)

So which meme origin story surprised you the most?

Let me know down in the comments

and as always, thanks for watching!

(upbeat music)