10 Rules for Success From 2014’s Biggest Memes

Image via Complex Original

Rule: The more universal, the more viral.

“Relatable” is a word that gets thrown around the Internet an awful lot. Most often, you’ll see Twitter accounts with titles like “Men’s Humor” imploring you to “RT if this is relatable” when they say things like “That moment when you realize there’s no toilet paper left on the roll.” To be relatable is to share something in common with your audience’s point of view. The more broad and the more universal the point is, the more “relatable” it is. No meme in 2014 was as relatable as "Kermit Sipping the Tea."

The construct of the Kermit meme is simple. It is an updated version of the age-old schoolyard taunt and parental warning, “I told you so.” When someone seems destined for failure, or when someone is clearly lying, or when something just doesn’t seem quite right, we can deploy Kermit, who stands in as a digital eye roll as we tell the world, “But, that’s none of my business.”

We’ve all had that experience where we’re watching impending disaster, yet no one seems to see it coming but us. There is no use trying to tell the world how badly this is going to turn out. You won’t be listened to, and all you’ll get for your effort is Chicken Little accusations. All you can do is sit back and watch the world burn. This is the moment when Kermit can speak for you—when no one else will listen.

It seems that everyone can relate to this experience. Just as man needs water to drink and air to breathe, humans need to feel superior to those around them because they see that something is afoot before anyone else. This fundamental human desire has driven "Kermit Sipping the Tea" deep into culture, in forms as varied as marching bands and emojis. "Kermit Sipping the Tea" is so universal that it has been used on behalf of diametrically opposed political positions.

The meme has truly tapped into something that all of us feel. The meme, it could be said, is none of our business, and all of our business, simultaneously.

Rule: Call your shot.

It’s hard to imagine a world in which the Kim K. “Break the Internet Photo” wouldn’t have gotten huge traction. Maybe in an alternate universe would it be possible for the photo to slip across the Internet unnoticed. No, even then, this picture would probably have gotten some serious attention. Though this picture would have at least cracked the Internet no matter what, Paper made sure that the image would become a page-views behemoth by announcing that it was made to “Break the Internet.” The publication has followed up its proclaimed intention by amplifying any and all coverage surrounding the photo, further cementing the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Of course, Paper knew that a risqué photo of Kim would get attention. But, they also knew that claiming that the photo would “Break the Internet” would be the key to viral success. In the ensuing days after the photo shoot dropped, there was coverage affirming that the photos had, in fact, broken the Internet. More importantly, there were the obligatory think pieces from the Internet’s naysayers claiming that the photos had not broken the Internet at all.

The Internet assembled on either side of the did it/didn’t it break line. Partisans defended their side vehemently. Everyone with a Twitter account weighed in. Think pieces with absurd titles spewed from blog after blog. And then memes, videos, poems, paintings, sculptures, essays, and pretty much anything else that you can imagine were created.

If that doesn’t count as breaking the Internet, then what does?

Rule: Simplicity is a virtue.

Yes, Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” cover is sexy, but hundreds of sexy photos are published every year at Complex alone (shameless plug, I know). What makes the cover meme material is that it is iconic yet simple. There are a few images that achieve this level of memeability every single year. What do Miley from the “Wrecking Ball” video, unimpressed McKayla Maroney, and Nicki’s “Anaconda” cover have in common?

Again, each of these images is simple yet iconic. They can easily be isolated, removed from their original context, and inserted somewhere new. Immediately, we recognize the image and it breathes new life into whatever new background it has been slapped on. The image is “just” a from-behind shot of Nicki squatting, but it can be repurposed and recontextualized so easily that in a matter of days the image becomes iconic. Nicki’s hotness created the meme’s possibility, but the image’s simplicity made it so.

Rule: Keep it real.

In this jaded age, we crave something real. Too often, so-called “spontaneous wedding proposals” are carefully planned. “Surprise confrontations” are meticulously orchestrated. Even investigative reports and documentaries turn out to be total fabrications. There is an entire online industry dedicated to debunking and discrediting things that the Internet offers up to us. This might be why we love earnest videos of toddlers, whether it’s the Apparently Kid, Chloe the Girl unimpressed by Disneyland, or whatever child will capture our attention next month. In a world filled with lies retouched in Photoshop and edited with a reality TV flourish, these kids give us something real.

Apparently, that’s all we need to make our day a little bit brighter.

Rule: We love to watch the mighty #fail.

For as long as there have been celebrities, there has been a fascination with celebrities being caught in human moments. Sometimes this manifests itself in sordid tabloid tales. At other times, this impulse has given rise to shows like Punk’d. This same need to be reminded that people who seem to live on another plane are flesh and blood after all now impacts our memes. We love when celebrities make terrible fashion decisions. You could argue that Pharrell actually knew that this would gain him a massive amount of attention, but it is more likely that there are limits to Pharrell’s brilliance. Perhaps his golden touch when it comes to producing doesn’t translate to the fashion world. Odds are that he just wore a stupid hat.

We love it when celebrities are victims of fashion fails. More often than not, this fascination with style fails is focused on women. There are plenty of examples of this throughout history, from the Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction to pretty much any outfit that Cher ever wore in public. In the age of memes, men are finally getting a share of the criticism. Whether its Justin Timberlake’s fedoras, Johnny Depp’s bracelets, or Pharrell’s hat, we are ready to mock the missteps of Hollywood’s leading men as well as the ladies. We haven’t quite reached gender equality when it comes to celebrity fashion mockery, but memes like these give us hope that we’ll some day get there. Until then, we’ll have to fight the good fight, one enormous hat at a time.

Rule: Make the meme a game.

A meme, by its definition, is meant to be reiterated in different forms as it spirals through the Internet consciousness. Sometimes this means that a new line is placed above a phrase like “But that’s none of my business.” Sometimes this means inserting Nicki Minaj’s butt into various works of art. With memes like “This Could Be Us But You Playin’,” the meme becomes a game. Whoever can come up with the best use will be RT’d into Twitter Valhalla. When a meme can become competitive, that meme has the to potential explode across the Twittersphere, leaving favs and RTs in its wake.

For those unfamiliar with the meme, users tweet (or ’gram, or Facebook) a picture with the caption “This Could Be Us But You Playin’.” The image is supposed to show a loving, passionate relationship that you and your theoretical bae could have had, if he or she wasn’t “playing” (being unfaithful or non-committal). The image, or course, is posted to comic effect.

Rule: Cultural cache matters.

#TrueDetectiveSeason2 operates very similarly to “This Could Be Us But You Playin’.” Instead of posting a symbol of your ideal relationship, you post an image of your “ideal” True Detective season two duo. Both memes operate as a game in which the player tries to find the funniest image for the hashtag. #TrueDetectiveSeason2 has something that “This Could Be Us” lacks however: cultural cache. Every year a few pop culture items separate themselves as go-to symbols of being “in the know.” Last year, it was Breaking Bad. In 2014, it was True Detective and Serial. It is a very powerful thing when a piece of pop culture can rise to the level of becoming a symbol of bohemian elitism. Though Hannibal, Fargo, Transparent, and a number of other shows achieved the same level of critical acclaim as True Detective, only the HBO crime drama rose to the level of essential bohemian water-cooler conversation. In the age of the Internet, if the cultural forces break the right way, something niche can not only become mainstream, but it can dominate the discourse.

Rule: The Internet loves absurdity.

The Internet is a haven for weirdness. That’s part of the deal in a space where you have every twisted thought from around the world at your fingertips. In the early days of the web we had things like Homestar Runner and YTMND, and things have only gotten weirder since. The Internet is an incredibly absurd place, and when we find something that is weird by the Internet’s standards, people notice. This is one explanation for the massive popularity of Too Many Cooks, a short film that premiered in the wee hours of the morning on Cartoon Network and exploded on the Internet several days later. Too Many Cooks is a 1980s television fever dream, in which the endless credits of ’80s sitcoms take on a life of their own, gaining strength and even sentience as they weave their way through cheap crime dramas, outlandish sci-fi, and other tropes of ’80s television. To be honest, that attempt at description still doesn’t quite get at what the short does, which you have to see to believe, and see numerous time to begin to try to understand. In a digital world where weirdness has become something commonplace, true absurdity still stands out, and sometimes it gets a chance to shine.

Rule: Activism matters.

For a long time, the knock on the millennial generation has been that we aren’t capable of social protest. Many (including Aaron Sorkin and your hippie uncle) saw the tepid attendance of Occupy Wall Street as a sign that we could never live up to the protest standards set by the children of the Vietnam era. History will settle that comparison, but 2014 proved that millennials can be moved by social causes. This video spurred an international dialogue about street harassment, and it emboldened many women to share their experiences. Of course, the video also drew critics (most notably, Hanna Rosin from Slate and her essay “The Problem With That Catcalling Video”) and parodists (I won’t link any because they are all awful), but nonetheless, the video started a dialogue.

Of course, this video wasn’t the only activist meme that went viral in 2014. Numerous memes have arisen out of Ferguson and New York following the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, including “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” and “I Can’t Breathe.” As you’ll remember from its takeover of Facebook a few months back, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge swept suburbia in the same way that the catcalling conversation and the discourse around policing in black communities have dominated the conversation in urban environments over the last year.

It remains to be seen how Internet activism and the awareness it generates can translate into action. We have seen that online calls can generate protests and demonstrations; the next question will be whether or not this awareness can translate into legislation. Hopefully we’ll get that answer sooner rather than later.

Rule: New forms need new champions.

The Internet has given rise to new forms of media. Today, blogs, GIFs, listicles, and podcasts have become essential parts of the culture, whereas, a decade ago, they were blips on the pop culture radar. When a new form comes of age, we seek out a defining example for it. I won’t go as far as to say that Serial is the Citizen Kane of podcasts, but I will say that Serial is the first podcast that has truly “crossed over.” Only Marc Maron’s WTF has been met with such widespread popularity, but even that show never captured the popular imagination that Serial has over the last several months. Every Thursday our Twitter feeds runneth over with Serial jokes. We have been treated to Serial parodies and commentaries. Perhaps most importantly, Serial is the first podcast I can remember that has had podcasts created about it—and it isn’t just one. It seems that every pop culture outlet worth its salt has to be covering Serial on a weekly basis.

With its sudden pop culture saturation, Serial has become the first podcast-as-meme. The fact that podcasts are being created about this podcast (and almost certainly, an ironic podcast about a podcast about Serial) means that Serial has ushered podcasts into the Internet life cycle that we are accustomed to for TV shows, films, books, and the rest of our favorite cultural artifacts. For years, music has been remixed, remastered, and chopped and screwed. With the arrival and dominance of Serial, the podcast has crossed over into that vital cultural space where things are critiqued, think-pieced, remixed, and remade.