About

Hard Work vs. NSFW Art is a webcomic in which an artist who worked hard on their piece fails to get any social media traction but gets showered with comments, likes and retweets once they spice up their work with NSFW content. The comic was parodied online in early January 2023, becoming an exploitable meme format in the following weeks.

Origin

On January 3rd, 2023, artist @tringacuber tweeted^[1] a four-panel comic in which an artist pours hard work into their art, with the artwork failing to get any traction despite their efforts. The artist then adds a pinch of NSFW to their art, with the work immediately gaining many likes, retweets and comments (shown below). The comic gained over 2,800 retweets, 2,900 quote tweets and 23,500 likes in one week.

Spread

Starting on January 4th, 2023, the comic was parodied online as users altered its panels for humorous effect, often to mock its original message. For example, on January 4th, Twitter^[2] user @hlalyxcool posted an edit that gained over 180 retweets and 3,700 likes in five days (shown below, left). Later that day, Twitter^[3] user @CloudeeToonz posted a version that received over 750 retweets and 4,200 likes in five days (shown below, right).

In early January 2023, multiple versions of the meme went viral on social media. For example, on January 5th, artist Beetle Moses tweeted^[4] a Peter Griffin version of the meme that gained over 3,000 retweets and 44,000 likes in four days (shown below, left). That same day, artist @vanishlily posted^[5] an edit that gained over 4,600 retweets and 65,400 likes in three days (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

External References