It goes to show that the traditional influencer marketing strategy of brands courting influencers that “fit” their brand is on its way out. Like, do you know my brand? I've never been to a gym in my life." I actually got approached by an athletic brand, which is insane. Once I hit 30k, that's when the brands really started running. I never saw it, but I got paid so I don't care. It was a play on the You vs the girl he told you not to worry about meme. "A marketing executive approached me in a DM. So, how did Sebastian get his start in making memes for money? “The first meme I got money for was for a food company," he told VICE. While many devotees heralded the campaign as the grizzly death of meme culture, for marketing teams everywhere the campaign proved how the meme remains a largely untapped resource to cannibalize within our attention economy. Memes are treasure troves for social media engagement because they rely on just one human emotion that we all possess: humor.Įarlier this year, Gucci set the internet ablaze by launching its first meme-based Instagram campaign titled #TFWGucci. The alchemy is simple: pair the right culturally relevant image with a witty caption, and this curiously addictive visual trope will quickly evolve into a viral juggernaut.
We live in a day and age where you can literally make a living from making memes. And why not? The meme is charmingly moronic by its very architecture. According to Google Trends, memes have surpassed Christ in online popularity, and the meme’s cultural relevance doesn’t look to be waning anytime soon. Since 2016, the internet has cared more about memes than about Jesus.