You may not be familiar with the term “meme”, but you most likely already know what it is. An Internet meme is defined as a concept that spreads from person to person via the Internet. It could take the form of an image, video, hashtag, website, etc.
My favorite type of meme, is the parody meme which typically involves a legitimate image (or other type of media) that becomes popular and is then parodied and spread through social networks, forums, blogs, search engines, etc. Some of the more funny & popular memes even make it to the evening news!
I’ve collected, in my opinion, the funniest memes of 2012. Enjoy…
Texts from Hillary
A photo of Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton looking at her phone aboard a C-17 on her way to meet with rebel leaders in Tripoli, accompanied a serious article in Time Magazine back in late 2011.
Photo credit: Diana Walker for Time
In early 2012, sitting in a bar one night some friends worked a little Photoshop magic and this happened! In the spirit of humor, Hillary herself responded with this:
And then the Internet took over! Checkout a compilation of some of the best “Texts with Hillary” parodies on Tumblr.
Grumpy Cat
I’ll admit it; I’m pro-cat, so when “Grumpy Cat” went viral I was hooked. Meet Tardar Sauce, aka Grumpy Cat who got the nickname because of the frown shape her mouth makes.
This photo of Grumpy Cat was originally posted to Reddit in September 2012 and it didn’t take long for this little kitten to gain notoriety! According to KnowYourMeme.com, “The Reddit post was instantly met by Photoshopped parodies and image macros from others, reaching the front page with more than 25,300 up votes in the first 24 hours”.
One of the most popular Grumpy Cat memes was this little gem:
Many of the Grumpy Cat memes are adult in nature, so consider this a warning before you visit Tumblr and Reddit to view some of the more classic memes.
If you can’t get enough of Grumpy Cat, you can follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr, subscribe to her YouTube channel, connect with her on Google + or follow her official blog.
Ridiculously Photogenic Guy
Arguably at one time the most famous picture in the world, Zeddie Little became the Ridiculously Photogenic Guy in April 2012.
At the time, Zeddie was a 25-year-old New Yorker whose image went viral after he was photographed running a 10K in South Carolina.
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Photo credit: Will King
The Internet couldn’t get over how “exceptionally handsome” Zeddie looked while running in a 10K and the parodies took off like wildfire on social news website, Reddit.
Two of my favorites:
McKayla Is Not Impressed
This was probably the most viral meme of 2012, but for those not familiar, let me set the stage…
It was the London 2012 Summer Olympics and women’s gymnastics was a popular event to follow. It was expected that US gymnast, McKayla Maroney would clinch the gold medal in the vault competition; however, she fell during her vault and the gold medal went to Romania’s Sandra Raluca Izbasa.
Maroney told Yahoo! Sports “It was just a moment of complete shock. I remember wishing it had gone differently, and I had an expression on my face for two seconds.”
The image of the now infamous podium expression made headlines and went viral as a meme on Tumblr titled, “McKayla is Not Impressed”.
Two of my favorite “McKayla is Not Impressed” memes:
Do you have a favorite meme that didn’t make my list or maybe a viral video or picture from 2012 that you think was overly shared? Tell me in the comments…
