About

Desmond Benjamin refers to a little boy who became the subject of memes and fan edits on TikTok and Instagram in late 2023, following a viral video posted by TikToker and Instagram user Brandon Sloane (@brandon.sloane / @brandonsloanex) in which he bought Benjamin rainbow magnets at Target after telling him, "Don't talk in the mic and I'll buy you whatever you want." After the video's virality on both TikTok and Instagram Reels, Desmond Benjamin gained a cult fanbase online, aided by another viral video of Benjamin posted by Sloane later in September 2023.

Origin

On September 4th, 2023, TikToker^[1] @brandon.sloane posted a video in which he interviewed a little boy with his mom at Target, telling him, "Don't talk in the mic and I'll buy you whatever you want." However, when Sloane asked him, "What's your name?" the boy failed the prompt and responded, "Desmond Benjamin." In turn, Sloane gave him a second chance and ended up buying Benjamin rainbow magnets. Over the course of 11 days, the video received roughly 24.8 million plays and 3.9 million likes (shown below). On the same day, Sloane also posted the video to his Instagram^[2] @brandonsloanex, where it received roughly 11.5 million plays and 1.5 million likes.

Spread

On the next day, September 5th, 2023, TikToker^[3] @.cfc.prodz_ posted a fan edit and meme with the video of Desmond Benjamin, gaining roughly 3.7 million plays and 547,900 likes in 10 days (shown below, left). On September 6th, 2023, TikToker^[4] @lenvik posted a meme using Desmond Benjamin, gaining roughly 906,300 plays and 128,300 likes in nine days (shown below, right).

Later in the month, on September 14th, 2023, TikToker^[5] @brandon.sloane posted another video with Desmond Benjamin at Target, gaining roughly 2.5 million plays and 407,900 likes in one day (shown below, left). Again, he cross-posted the video to his Instagram^[6] where it received similar engagement. In turn, meme creators made edits with the new video, such as TikToker^[7] @justusjunge on September 14th, garnering roughly 2 million plays and 352,600 likes in one day (shown below, right).

During the same timeframe, Desmond Benjamin's mom started posting videos of her son to her own TikTok^[8] account @mrs100bills. For instance, on September 13th, 2023, she posted a TikTok^[9] showing Benjamin at home with his rainbow magnets, gaining roughly 271,200 plays and 14,800 likes in two days (shown below).

By September 15th, 2023, the hashtag #desmondbenjamin had amassed over 16.4 million views on TikTok.^[10]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References