Why Is 'Nice Try Diddy' Getting Spammed Under Instagram Ads? The Comment Meme Explained

If you've scrolled through Instagram much over the past few weeks and happened to open an ad — for any product — you may have come across a peculiar phenomenon: a horde of commenters, all replying "Nice Try Diddy."

This is frankly a bewildering meme that seemingly hundreds of people have joined in on with no provocation. While the joke behind the meme is still unconfirmed, there are some probable theories going around that may explain this bizarre trend.

How Did "Nice Try Diddy" Comment Spam Begin?

Rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs has been the center of massive controversies in the past few months, stemming from allegations of sex trafficking and abuse, grooming and blackmail. On May 17th, footage of Diddy violently beating then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura was leaked to the press, essentially eliminating any doubt about Diddy's character in the public eye.

The "Nice Try Diddy" spam likely started just before the Cassie video hit the public. On May 14th, Twitter user @raccoon2u2 posted that they'd discovered all the comments on an Instagram ad for Newsbreak's "Safety Map," which marks the location of nearby sex offenders, were "Nice Try Diddy." The user speculated that the "Nice try Diddy" spam was due to the service the app provided and the nature of the allegations against Diddy.

Why Are People On Instagram Commenting "Nice Try Diddy"?

While in the above instance, the line between the comment spam and the ad's content is clear, the spam continued under seemingly random Instagram ads. On June 8th, 2024, Twitter user @takefivecinco noted that the spam appeared under an ad for LEGO Pharrell Williams Movie (shown below, top). On June 10th, Redditor 2deep4myowngood posted an example of the spam to /r/OutOfTheLoop, showing it appearing on an ad for Call of Duty (shown below, bottom).

In an /r/OutOfTheLoop thread, a Redditor suggested the meme is "a joke about P. Diddy trying to be involved in everything, following raids on his homes. It's a silly internet joke implying he's trying to sneak into unrelated situations."

However, another commenter followed up and added that it's being used as a replacement for "Nice try, feds," which was indeed a meme that was used similarly prior to the spread of "Nice try Diddy." The user suggested this was because Kanye West accused Diddy of doing a deal with law enforcement that would keep him out of jail if he provided information on others' criminal activity to law enforcement.

This seems to be a plausible explanation for the meme, though at this point it is unconfirmed why the meme is so widespread on Instagram ads.

For the full history of Nice Try Diddy, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.