Trigg

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Virility hinges on the ability to adapt and mutate, and by virtue of that, the folks who are trying to create “viral” marketing campaigns that stay on-message are undertaking the impossible.

Astrotruf-- because a meme should be legit grassroots by definition?

So if a marketing campaign legitimately went viral, it could gain meme status? And what happens when it is eventually exposed (take your own SPARTA example)-- would it survive based on the strength of content alone, despite being bogus? Can you think of a marketing campaign that gained as much momentum as the dancing baby (without intervention from an outside source, like that Aqua Teen stunt where the guys got arrested because the police thought they had a bomb).

Yes, trolling can be an exception. There are exceptions. But how many LOLcats have you seen that are created with the shaping of markets in mind? I don’t think that the majority of memes are meant to persuade. Thoughts?

Hmmm… or are internet memes the anti-marketing? Marketing is the practice of shaping public attitudes with media and information to the benefit of the marketer. Memes are postmodern entertainment for entertainment’s sake, usually without attitude shaping intention. Are there any really good examples of a marketing or advertising campaign being appropriated and becoming a meme that actually damaged the original marketer/advertiser?

So-- hold on. Back up. So then a “forced meme” is better defined as content forced into the tubes with the intention of creating a meme; only when said content gains momentum of its own does it go from being forced content to being a forced meme?