The Summer of Memes

Internet memes come and go so quickly that sometimes they’re old news just as you’re hearing about them (Sad Keanu Reeves I miss you). At any given moment there are several memes floating around. This summer has seen great blending of brands and quirky fads.

Sweeping college campuses this spring, Bros Icing Bros blends Smirnoff ICE with an impromptu drinking game. The game involves giving someone a hot Smirnoff ICE and upon receiving the bottle, the person must drop to one knee and chug it. Some of the best have included plastic-wrapped inside a toilet and  wrapped around a friends pet. The site is now defunct but that doesn’t mean that the concept is dead. Blending the red hot campaign of the Old Spice ad with Bros Icing Bros comes Bros Spicing Bros. If you’re sick of the Old Spice guy, it's another fun use of the brand and expands its exposure is way up. The brand is seeing a resurgence and sales are way up.

Thanks to I Can Haz Cheeseburger, cats have been internet meme fodder for quite some time. Cats are everywhere these days. The meme tracking site, urlesque.com, created a fight bracket that pits one furry internet meme against another. Around 40,000 people voted and Maru emerged victorious. The feline sensation has over 55 million page views on it’s YouTube channel and over 150 videos. It’s hard to be cuter than that.

No summer internet meme list would be complete without the inclusion of the meme of the moment, Antoine Dodson. After stopping a man from attacking his sister, the local North Alabama NBC affiliate interviewed Antoine Dodson. He became an overnight Internet sensation. Antoine is rather colorful in his interview and The Gregory Brothers remixed the interview and created an amazing dance track.

It’s so catchy that YouTube commentator, DeStorm TV, decided to do his own version of the song.

Facebook works it’s way into the meme world. Not because the mega-site has done anything interesting but because of the movie, The Social Network, about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.  Here is the original trailer.

And of course, cats come back into play, with a parody of the making of LOLCats.

While Internet memes come and go quickly, they can be a brands best friend. In the case of "The Social Network", the more parody videos that are created, the more people will seek out the original trailer, increasing hype and exposure. Antoine has created a cottage industry selling copies of the song on iTunes along with other merchandise, and Old Spice is on a roll that doesn't look to end any time soon. Internet memes and viral campaigns are only going to become more popular. If your brand isn't looking to branching out into online video, now is the time to start.

What are your favorite memes?

Stefan Halley is the Digital Project Leader for The Duffy Agency. He loves to talk about social media. 

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