The Backstory Behind Some Of The Most Popular Internet Memes

You’ve heard the philosophical questions: Who am I? Where am I going? And where did that meme come from? Oh wait, that’s not right. But I bet you’re curious!

We use memes as a way to connect with others and to make someone laugh. But it’s interesting to find out where each one came from because, most likely, it was never intended to be a meme in the first place. Here are some of the most popular internet memes and their origin story. 

Distracted Boyfriend

If you haven’t seen a meme from this photo, then are you even on social media? This meme photo started out as a stock photo, taken by Barcelona photographer Antonio Guillem in 2015. The first known meme that came about of the picture was from a Turkish Facebook group. And once Twitter got a hold of it, it went viral from there. 

White Guy Blinking Meme

This meme really doesn’t need a caption, because it’s typically used as a reaction to something else, just like saying “Ummm, what?” or “Excuse me?”. This clip/meme originated in 2013, from the video game site Giant Bomb. It hosts a series called Unprofessional Fridays where they stream video games and discuss them. During one of their streams, a man named Drew Scanlon made this expression (not Cary Elwes from The Princess Bride. Shocking, I know), and the internet went crazy.

Disaster Girl

This photo was originally taken in 2005 by Dave Roth, the father of Zoe Roth, the girl in the photo. A local fire department was doing a live drill training a couple of blocks from their home in North Carolina. As they watched the drill together, Dave noticed his 4-year-old daughter smiling mischievously. He took the photo and submitted it to JPG Magazine in 2007 for an “Emotion Capture” competition. The photo was published in 2008 and eventually made its way to the internet, where it’s been photoshopped and turned into various memes. Zoe is now a college student and is paying off her school debt thanks to selling her picture for half a million dollars. 

Overly Attached Girlfriend

Laina Morris, now in her early 30s, went viral in 2012 after posting a video to YouTube. Morris entered a contest held by Justin Bieber, looking for someone to create a “Girlfriend” song to be a spinoff of the single “Boyfriend.” She submitted a three-minute parody video, portraying an overly jealous girlfriend. The video became popular not only because it was funny and relatable, but because Morris went the whole video without blinking and staring directly into the camera. 

Bad Luck Brian

Turns out Bad Luck Brian is actually a guy named Kyle Craven. The ridiculous photo was intentional, as Craven was always trying to get a laugh out of his classmates in school in 2012. He purchased the sweater vest specifically to wear for his school photo. The principal of the school made him retake the picture before it ever made it to the yearbook. Craven wanted the meme to go viral and encouraged people to make memes. He created a YouTube channel in 2013 where he would act out some of the popular versions of the meme. Along with this, he created Bad Luck Brian accounts on social media. 

Salt Bae

Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe has had some major success since he became the Salt Bae meme. A Twitter user took a video of him as he was sprinkling salt on the meat and shared it to her social media with the caption, “so this is saltbae.” Ever since then, the meme was born and has gone viral. Gökçe had two restaurants when the video was posted and has since opened 14 restaurants worldwide. 

Success Baby

This meme was started in 2007 by the baby’s mom, Laney Griner, who posted the photo of her 11-month-old baby, Samuel, on Flickr. After the meme started circulating pretty heavily, Griner copyrighted the image in 2012. The image is used to portray someone accomplishing something.   

Lady Screaming at the Cat

This meme seems random, right? It’s made up of two separate photos. The woman yelling is Taylor Armstrong from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in season 2. She was in a heated argument with another cast member, Camille Grammer, over some gossip that had just taken place. The cat is named Smudge, and he became popular on the internet when his picture with vegetables went viral on Tumblr. The cat now has his own Instagram account with over a million followers. The two photos were combined in May 2019, and the internet has never been the same. 

Closing Thoughts

It makes my day a little brighter when someone sends me a relatable meme. It’s wild to think that many of these people’s lives changed when they became the face of the meme. Some of them made money, boosted their career, or gained a following from it. Several of these memes originated in the early 2000s, so it's interesting that we still use them today. People love to laugh together! 

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