About

Does It Spark Joy? refers to the catchphrase of cleanliness guru Marie Kondo, popularized by her Netflix series, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. The phrase is part of Kondo's "Konmari Method," which aids people in cleaning their homes. People will hold an item and ask themselves "Does this spark joy?" If the answer is yes, then they should keep the item, and if no, it should be thrown away. The phrase was parodied in numerous ways, most popularly in Twitter parodies of the show and a Drakeposting parody that grew popular on Reddit.

Origin

The trailer for Tidying Up with Marie Kondo was posted on December 15th, 2018^[1] and the series debuted on Netflix on January 1st, 2019. The "spark joy" catchphrase saw some use in parody in those two weeks. User @libbuh^[2] tweeted that she removed her closet doors because they did not "spark joy." Author Darcie Wilder^[3] joked about the overuse of the phrase in the first episode (shown below, right).

Spread

Over the following months, the phrase was parodied widely on Twitter in jokes imagining humorous characters and situations utilizing the phrase. For example, user @jpbrammer^[5] tweeted a joke imagining Marie Kondo in Super Smash Brothers, gaining over 340 retweets and 2,000 likes (shown below, left). Users, @walses^[6] joked that the biblical story of Moses was simply him applying the Konmari method to the Earth, gaining over 1,300 retweets and 6,600 likes (shown below, right).

On Reddit, a Drakeposting parody using Marie Kondo began growing popular. On January 29th, user macabrephotographer^[7] posted a template for the parody, gaining over 1,200 points (shown below, left). On February 1st, user WilsonJ04^[8] posted a parody about how texting was preferred over a phone call, gaining over 18,000 points (shown below, right). The phrase was covered as a meme by Stayhipp on January 11th, 2019.^[4]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References