Look At Me Hector / Buff Gus

About

Look At Me Hector or Buff Gus refers to a series of ironic Breaking Bad memes that use a video of Brazilian muscle man Fabio França Araujo ripping off his shirt and popping his pecs to represent a ripped version of Gustavo Fring. The exact source of the clip is unknown but it was reposted on YouTube in October 2020 and was first used in a Breaking Bad meme in May 2021 on TikTok.

Origin

On October 10th, 2020, YouTuber^[1] Caio de Almeida posted a video titled, "man ripping shirt and moving his boobs," showing a video of Brazillian muscle man Fabio França Araujo ripping his shirt off and bouncing his pecs while smiling (age restricted). The video garnered over 15,900 views in two years. Araujo is well known for videos where he bounces his pecs like this, which have been re-uploaded online numerous times, including a February 2016 upload by YouTuber^[2] Fans of Fábio França and a 2020 upload to MyMuscleVideo^[3] by Crazybone. The shirt rip video was uploaded to /r/MakeMeSuffer^[4] on November 11th, 2020, garnering over 2,000 upvotes in two years (shown below).

On May 28th, 2021, TikToker^[5] @orange_dog2 posted a Breaking Bad meme using the clip, where Gus Fring introduces himself followed by a cut to the clip, garnering over 300,000 views in a year (shown below). This is the earliest known meme using the clip to represent Gus Fring.

Spread

The clip became increasingly popularized in ironic Breaking Bad edits throughout 2021 and 2022. On June 22nd, 2021, Instagram^[6] user _fujitive posted a version of the clip adding Gus' dialogue overtop, garnering over 113,000 views in a year. The video was reuploaded to YouTube^[7] on July 19th, garnering over 54,000 views in a year (shown below, left). On July 24th, YouTuber^[8] Bussy saka reposted a now-deleted meme from TikTok using the clip, garnering over 150,000 views in a year (shown below, right).

On April 24th, 2022, YouTuber^[9] Twatical posted a video using the clip, garnering over 740,000 views in four months (shown below). On April 27th, the meme by @_fujitive was reposted to iFunny,^[10] garnering over 300 smiles in four months.

On May 23rd, YouTuber^[11] Gusso posted a video titled "look at me hector" where the clip is edited into a scene in Breaking Bad where Gus Fring confronts Hector Salamanca, garnering over 2.7 million views in three months (shown below). On May 25th, Instagram^[12] user largetrap posted a version of the meme, garnering over 67,000 likes in three months. On August 26th, YouTuber^[13] Lessons In Meme Culture posted a video about the meme, garnering over 90,000 views in under a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References