Where Did 'All I Wanted Was A Pepsi' Memes Originate? The '80s Thrash Band Lyric Turned Meme Explained

Pepsi Cola finds a way into memes time and time again, whether it's Flickr's Pepsi Dog or Kendall Jenner's infamous Pepsi Ad. But there's a meme about Pepsi that actually involved a hoax about a man named Mike being institutionalized after being denied a Pepsi-Cola.

Here's the story behind the All I Wanted Was A Pepsi meme, and how an 80s thrash band and their lead singer Mike Muir became the subject of a viral slacktivist campaign that jokingly suggested that the plot to his 1984 song "Institutionalised" was actually real.

Who Is Mike Muir, And Where Did The Phrase 'All I Wanted Was A Pepsi" Originate?

Mike Muir was the lead singer of the proto-metal thrash band Suicidal Tendencies, formed during the 1980s in Venice, California. In 1984, MTV aired the music video to one of their hit tracks, "Institutionalized," where Mike Muir's in-scene mother accuses him of being on drugs, denies him a Pepsi and then sends him to a mental institution.

Who Started The 'Free Mike' And "All I Wanted Was A Pepsi' Meme Campaign?

Suicidal Tendencies and their song "Institutionalized" became a big hit, and the line "All I Wanted Was A Pepsi" came to be referenced in everything from major headlines to art to eventually memes.

In the Spring of 2012, however, a new kind of meme about the band began to make the rounds. A black and white graphic showing a still of Mike Muir from his music video appeared on Tumblr in March 2012, alongside text that deplored the reader to pray for Mike's release from a mental institution and to share the graphic to raise awareness for him.

What Are Some More "All I Wanted Was A Pepsi" Memes?

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For the full history of "All I wanted was a Pepsi," be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.