KYM Review: Top Exploitables Of 2021

They start off as an image macro, maybe a cartoon or YouTube thumbnail, one person then makes a meme out of it and a template is born. Someone else catches on, creating a variant by altering text or adding other elements. If they're lucky, the meme goes viral, and more and more iterations flood the market until it's saturated.

Meme creators start scraping the bottom, fiending and fighting for further use. It becomes a race to see who can subvert the format further — who can make that next, original change? Soon, they run out. There's nothing left to be exploited.

This is the typical lifecycle of an exploitable meme. Every year, new ones pop up and have their moment in the spotlight. Most don't make it past a week or two after their peak, meshing and melding with other templates.

In 2021, there were almost too many good exploitable formats for a top 10 list. Some honorable mentions include I Shoulda Never Smoke That Shit, which placed the anonymous stoner in absurd settings across cinematic universes. Gotta Be One Of My Favorite Genders let the internet express who they like more than everyone else. There was Beware Of The Pipeline and Who Need They Pussy Ate?, which both gave the limelight to femboys across the web. Chances are you were probably looking at so many exploitables this year that your partner was sitting on your lap asking, Baby, Can You Touch Me Already? No Baby, I'm too busy showing everyone that Divorce Leads Children To The Worst Places.

Here at Know Your Meme, we wonder how long these formats will last. Will they have ironic resurgences in years to come, or will they peter out, lost in antiquity, reserved for some "Meme Historian" to dig up and discover. The following list is the top 10 exploitables of 2021. If any of the templates from this year are to survive the test of time, these are most likely the chosen ones.

Trade Offer

A TikToker's proposal for "sloppy toppy" was screenshotted and used in memes across platforms.

• Duration: March – July 2021

• How It Started: Inspired by a TikTok trend of parody NBA trade offers, creator Bradeazy on the platform made his own version where he got dressed up in formal wear to propose the most devious offer.

• How It Unraveled: Screenshots of the pivotal moment began circulating iFunny and Reddit as meme creators replaced what "I receive" and what "you receive." Bradeazy's inquisitive face and touching fingertips were also replaced by other characters that recreated his body language.

Two Guys On A Bus

Men on a bus in a Brazilian cartoon become the subject of object labeling for happy and sad people.

• Duration: 2019 – December 2021

• How It Started: Although the original cartoon dates back to August 2013, it wasn't until 2019 that it saw use as a template in strictly Brazilian meme circles.

• How It Unraveled: On Reddit in November 2021, a specific meme talking about taking a poo before leaving the house related to many, circulating platforms like Twitter and causing the template to explode.

Saddam Hussein's Hiding Place

A textbook-esque illustration of the Iraqi dictator's hiding place was so absurd that everyone wanted to place his body in other orifices.

• Duration: 2015 – August 2021

• How It Started: The first internet user to exploit the image was a Tumblr girl in 2015, who saw themself in the image (being someone who wants to be underground).

• How It Unraveled: A viral spread of the template started in August 2020 on Twitter where users began captioning the image and adding more rooms to Hussein's man cave, like a "Gaming Room" for when he's bored. However, the image saw its most active use in memes in June this year when it saw its biggest spike. His red body was also put into other images and memes, like being the woman lying down in the hospital in Loss.

Think, Mark

Over all the other Invincible memes this year, Mark thinking hard got the most amount of remixes.

• Duration: April – August 2021

• How It Started: During a climactic moment between Omni-Man and Invincible, the father tells his son, "Think, Mark!" which soon became a snowclone on Twitter.

• How It Unraveled: Internet users started photoshopping other characters with their fingers on the temples, like G-Man from Half Life shouting at Gordon about going through a portal or else it'll all be for nothing — sparking perhaps the biggest redraw series of 2021.

Pondering My Orb

A wizard's quiet time between him and his orb vibrates everyone's subconscious energy in a perplexing display of mass relatability.

• Duration: October 2021 – Current Day

• How It Started: The image of the wizard is much older than even the existence of memes, dating back to a Lord of the Rings role-playing book cover from 1988. In October 2021, a user on Twitter captioned it nonchalantly with, "pondering my orb."

• How It Unraveled: Going into November, the wizard flooded social media, with lots of people resonating with the vibes emitted by the warlock. The orb was soon replaced with other objects worth pondering, like an anime girl or someone's timeline, filled with "orb memes."

Two Soyjaks Pointing

Why did they take this cringy picture in the first place? Didn't they know they'd become wojaks immediately?

• Duration: February 2020 – September 2021

• How It Started: The drawing above was traced from an image of animal protection activists posing in front of a KFC "Beyond Fried Chicken" sign, appearing overly hyped about the fast-food promotion.

• How It Unraveled: A Facebook user immortalized the duo as a soyjak drawing, proving to be contagiously reusable. Other objects and settings were placed in the background by meme creators to showcase other things to be ironically stoked about.

Couple Texting In Bed

This wholesome couple smiling at each other's texts extended the lore already started by Boy and Girl Texting.

• Duration: May 2021 – Current Day

• How It Started: A Redditor crafted up this four-panel heart-crusher in May 2021 in /r/teenagers, appealing to that crowd with an accurate display of young, modern love.

• How It Unraveled: The lack of a specified text convo within the original image allowed meme creators to have a field day imagining what they could be sending to each other paired with their humble reaction faces. These imagined texts became increasingly absurd across Twitter and Instagram most specifically.

Living in 1984

A political cartoon with a conspiracy-driven sentiment strikes a chord with internet users who want to make fun of its sincerity.

• Duration: January – July 2021

• How It Started: A cartoon that might as well be Ben Garrison's made an illustrated point about Donald Trump's Twitter being deleted, referencing George Orwell's dystopian novel, 1984.

• How It Unraveled: Ten days later, the woman's speech bubble, as well as what's written on the calendar, started being replaced on Reddit and Facebook. In general, the further, ironic iterations stayed close to the sentiments of cringy Boomer imagery.

For The Better, Right?

Anakin and Padmé have a back and forth in this four-panel meme that circulated social media like the Rebel Army.

• Duration: April – September 2021

• How It Started: The actual Star Wars scene featuring the characters is from 2002, but it didn't become an exploitable template until April 2021 when a Twitter user first used it.

• How It Unraveled: The format's popularity was evident in how fast it spread and was remixed. The universality of Anakin's poise in the face of Padmé's questioning allowed meme creators to insert their own questionable takes going into the remainder of the year.

Bernie Sanders Wearing Mittens Sitting In A Chair

It might surprise you, but according to Google Trends, Bernie's mittens were the most searched meme of 2021.

• Duration: January – February 2021

• How It Started: During the Inauguration of Joe Biden, a photo of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders stole the show, mostly because of drama surrounding his 2020 presidential campaign embodied by his body language during the ceremony.

• How It Unraveled: That day on Twitter, Sanders was photoshopped into every setting imaginable. His mittens were referenced in their own memes too, being placed on hands in movie scenes and video games. Overall, the trend bridged a gap between the internet and politics which was highly relevant at the beginning of the year.

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Looking for more of this year's best viral phenomena and memes? Be sure to check out our other 2021 meme roundups below:

• The Top 10 Memes Of 2021
• KYM Staff Picks Of 2021
• The Top Gaming Memes Of 2021
• The Slang Of 2021
• The Most 2021 Stories Of 2021
• Top 10 Streamer Moments Of 2021
• Breakthrough Meme Formats Of The Year
• 10 Best TikToks Of 2021
• Top 10 Lewd Memes Of The Year
• Trolls, Rumors And Hoaxes Of The Year
• Top Exploitables Of 2021
• Top Meme Creators Of 2021
• Top Meme Revivals Of 2021
• Best Gimmick Twitter Accounts Of 2021