About

Anti-Memes are image macros which are typically captioned with anti-jokes and meta humor mocking a variety of internet memes, bearing many similarities to Wholesome Memes and Reverse Memes.

Origin

On January 30th, 2009, the web comic Big Fat Whale^[1] published a comic titled "Internet Anti-Memes & Non-Sensations," featuring illustrations of various absurd and unlikely internet phenomena (shown below).

Spread

On February 8th, 2012, the /r/antimeme^[5] subreddit was launched. On September 25th, 2016, the @memearchive Twitter feed posted an image macro combining the memes Bae Come Over, The Barber, Nut Button and Doggo (shown below).

On November 6th, 2016, Imgur^[2] user TheRealOle uploaded a gallery image macros titled "A little bit of anti-memes." On November 21st, Redditor JarJarsMyHero submitted a post titled "Anti Memes are Skyrocketing! Buy Now!" to /r/memeeconomy,^[6] where it received upwards of 4,600 points (92% upvoted) in one month. The following day, Redditor jayjenks submitted an MS Paint-style Evil Kermit comic, captioned with a meta joke about the image macro series (shown below). Within two months, the image gained over 3,200 points (87% upvoted) on /r/me_irl.^[8]

On November 30th, Redditor Dr-Dangerous posted an edited This Is Fine comic in which the dog says "This is a cup of coffee" to /r/me_irl^[9] (shown below).

On December 2nd, Imgur^[4] user DanWest124 posted a similar gallery of anti-memes. On January 3rd, 2017, BuzzFeed published a listicle of "19 Anti-Memes For People Who Have Evolved Past Memes." ^[3] The following day, Redditor mfkdso submitted a post titled "BuzzFeed has picked up Anti-Memes. Sell!" to /r/MemeEconomy,^[7] gathering more than 3,500 points (95% upvoted) and 100 comments within 24 hours.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References