- [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)
