Top Ten Advice Animals of 2012

Top Ten Advice Animals of 2012

Editor's Note: This article is part of Know Your Meme's Top 10 Review… looking back at some of the most memorable and popular memes, events and people that defined the Internet culture in 2012 as we know it. And brace yourselves, the grand finale list Best Memes of 2012 is coming soon!



As 2012 comes to a close, Know Your Meme's staff have looked back on the notable advice animals of the past year and narrowed down 10 exceptional examples, which were selected based on site analytics and Quickmeme submissions. There were many notable series that didn't quite make the cut, including Almost Politically Correct Redneck, Inappropriate Timing Bill Clinton, Skeptical Baby, Relatable Romney and I Should Buy a Boat Cat.

#10: Bad Joke Eel

The Bad Joke Eel series features a photograph of a Moray eel taken by scuba diver Jeffrey Jeffords, with captions with unfunny puns and jokes, similar to the Lame Pun Coon and Chemistry Cat advice animals that came before.

  • Site: Quickmeme
  • Launch Date: 12th, January
  • Total Submissions: 11,401
  • Average Submissions Per Day: 34

Notable Examples


CAN FEBRUARY MARCH? NO. BUT APRILMA HOW DO YOU MAKE HOLY WATER? BOIL THE HELL OUTOFIT WHY CAN'T A BICYCLE STAND ON ITS OWN? BECAUSE IT'S TWO-TIRED Copyright 9e

#9: Annoyed Picard

Annoyed Picard is an advice animal featuring a screen capture of the character Jean-Luc Picard from the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The exasperated picture was taken from a scene in which Picard recites lines from sonnets by the English poet and playwright William Shakespeare and is typically accompanied by frustrated or incredulous reactions.

  • Site: Quickmeme Quickmeme 2
  • Launch Date: 23rd, January
  • Total Submissions: 30,192
  • Average Submissions Per Day: 93

Notable Examples


OHCOMEON! YOU DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT A uickmeme.com ADMIT IT, WHEN YOU LOOK AT ME DOING THIS EVEN YOU GO "AYYYY uickmeme.com WHYON EARTH DO PEOPLE THINK[ HAVE SUCH A PROFANE TONGUE

#8: Overly Manly Man

An old black-and-white photograph of the 1800s boxer Mike Conley became canvas of the Overly Manly Man advice animal, which features captions portraying the man as an exceptionally masculine alpha male with homophobic and misogynistic attitudes.

  • Site: Quickmeme
  • Launch Date: 24th, September
  • Total Submissions:16,380
  • Average Submissions Per Day: 210

Notable Examples


ATEA BOWL OF NAILS FOR BREAKFASL WITHOUT ANY MILK quickmeme.com GUARD MY FACE? THE HELL DO YOU THINK THE MUSTACHE IS FOR quickmeme.com

#7: Matrix Morpheus

The Matrix Morpheus advice animals uses a screen capture of the fictional character Morpheus from the science fiction film The Matrix, which is used to patronize a petty behavior or ignorant belief or reveal a little-known fact. The image macros typically start with the caption "What if I told you," which was never spoken by Morpheus in any of The Matrix movies, but is believed to be a paraphrased sentence of Morpheus' informing the character Neo that he has been living in a simulation.

  • Site: Quickmeme
  • Launch Date: 18, March
  • Total Submissions: 30,005
  • Average Submissions Per Day: 111

Notable Examples


WHAT IF I TOLD YOU THE SIDE WITH THE USB SYMBOL WILL ALWAYS BE THE TOP SIDE WHATIFI TOLD YOU IDON'T CARE" IS NOT A RESTAURANT quickmeine.co WHATIFI TOLD YOU I HAVE NEVER SAID THE LINE"WHAT IFI TOLD YOU" IN ANY MATRIX MOVIEP quickmeine.co

#6: Super Cool Ski Instructor

Super Cool Ski Instructor features a screen capture of the ski instructor Thumper from the animated sitcom South Park with captions advising readers to avoid risky or impulsive behaviors with the warning "you're gonna have a bad time."

  • Site: Quickmeme
  • Launch Date: 14th, February
  • Total Submissions: 34,053
  • Average Submissions Per Day: 113

Notable Examples


FYOUEXPECTTHEMOVIETOBE EXACTLY LIKE THE BOOK EXACTLY LIKE THE BOOK NSTRUCTC YOURE GONNA HAVEABAD TIME FYOUTRYTOSIMPLYWALKINTO MORDOR NSTRUCTC YOURE GONNA HAVEABAD TIME FYOUCHOSE YOURCOLLEGEJUST TO STAY WITH YOUR GIRLFRIEND NSTRUCTC YOURE GONNA HAVEABAD TIME

#5: Confession Bear

A photograph of a melancholy-looking Malayan sun bear inspired the Confession Bear image macro series, in which people divulge some of their more humorous and disturbing secrets. The meme has often been used on Reddit to confess an unpopular opinion that does not conform to the site's hive mind, such as taste in music, religious beliefs and political views.

  • Site: Quickmeme
  • Launch Date: 21st, June
  • Total Submissions: 49,613
  • Average Submissions Per Day: 286

Notable Examples


STOLE THE PIC-I-NIC BASKET quickmeme.com ACTUALLY KINDA LIKE NICKELBACK quickmeme.com ILET THE DOGS OUT quickmeme.com

#4: Bad Luck Brian

A school photograph of a blonde teenager wearing a plaid sweater vest and braces became the back drop of the Bad Luck Brian advice animal, featuring captions that described embarrassing or horrific occurrences. While the series initially centered around Brian's apparent incontinence, it became a popular medium for commenting on current events involving natural disasters and other tragedies.

  • Site: Quickmeme
  • Launch Date: 23rd, January
  • Total Submissions: 266,109
  • Average Submissions Per Day: 823

Notable Examples


OPENS A POTTERY SHOP、 HYRULE PARENTS SURPRISE HIM WITH CONCERT TICKETS NICKELBACK UUMPS TO0 CLOSE TO CEILING FAN vememe.com

#3: Overly Attached Girlfriend

Laina Morris' parody video of the pop song "Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber turned her into the Internet celebrity known as Overly Attached Girlfriend nearly overnight, accumulating 1.35 YouTube views within the first 48 hours. Soon after, Redditors began editing a screen capture from the video with captions portraying Morris as an overprotective and clingy girlfriend. Morris has since gone on to create more videos and is attempting to use her Internet fame to raise money for charity.

  • Site: Quickmeme
  • Launch Date: 7th, June
  • Status: Active / Inactive
  • Total Submissions: 37,870
  • Average Submissions Per Day: 202

Notable Examples


IWAS LOOKING THROUGH -YOU RIEKTS EARLIER WHO'S MOM? quickmeme.co LIKES YOURSTATUS FROM6MONTHS AGO OSEWED MY NAME ON YOURSHIRTS IN CASE YOU FORGET YOU'RE TAKEN

#2: Ermahgerd

A photograph of a young girl posing with several Goosebumps novels with her mouth agape exposing a row of braces inspired the creation of a phonetically written advice animal known as Ermahgerd, Berks. The captions were written to sound like a lisp caused by an orthodontic retainer, playing off a trope that had been portrayed previously by characters like Stan's sister Shelly in the animated television series South Park. The series spawned several animal variations featuring photographs of dogs and cats wearing awkward expressions. By the end of the year, the original "Berks" Quickmeme page had accumulated nearly 7,000 submissions.

  • Site: Quickmeme
  • Launch Date: 14, March
  • Total Submissions: 6993
  • Average Submissions Per Day: 25

Notable Examples


AINT HERD WERNUjHAVA LERBERYCURD ERMAHGERD GERMPER KERT "SPITS OUT RETAINER DO SAY,THESE GOOSEBUMPS NOVELLAS ARE QUITE EXEMPLARY.QUITE EXEMPLARY INDEED

#1: Ridiculously Photogenic Guy

The Internet fell in love with Zeddie Little's handsome mug after his photograph was taken while running in the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston, South Carolina. In the photo, Little is shown smiling at the camera in mid-run with sun-kissed hair and stubble on his face, which inspired the nickname "Ridiculously Photogenic Guy". Soon after, people began captioning the photo with hyperbolic jokes about his extreme handsomeness, leading to over 13,000 Quickmeme submissions by the end of the year. The series also inspired the creation of several derivative memes, including Ridiculously Photogenic Surgery Girl, Ridiculously Photogenic Metal Head and Ridiculously Photogenic Syrian Rebel.

  • Site: Quickmeme
  • Launch Date: 3rd, April
  • Total Submissions: 13,369
  • Average Submissions Per Day: 53

Notable Examples


ENTERS A STRAIGHT BAR B5917 LEAVES GAY BAR GOESTO DISNEYWORLD CHARACTERS STAND IN LINE TO TAKE PHOTO WITH HIM ADMIT T YOUADJUST AND THETEXT SIZE POSITIONING WITHTHE 、PRECISION OF AMASTER SURGEON, PLAY WITH THE ORIENTATION AND PLACEMENT OF THE TEXT BOXES LIKE A WORLD CLASS ARCHITECT, AND EDIT THE CAPTION DOZENS OF TIMESAS THOUGH YOU WERE SHAKESPEARE HIMSELF IJUST SONONE OF IT WOULD COVER HIS FACE ANDSMILE ITS HOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF



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