About

Lowkey Serving Saddam Hussein Hiding Spot is a trend based on the Saddam Hussein Hiding Place meme in which people record and share things that resemble the shape of the Saddam Hussein figure shown in a 2003 illustration of Hussein hiding in a spider hole, depicted as a red silhouette of a man laying flat. The trend was popularized on TikTok in September 2024 and spread to X / Twitter that month. The memetic trend is similar to other simulacrum image memes in which subjects shaped like notable memes are called out, such as Losslikes and things that look like crewmates.

Origin

On December 13th, 2003, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn by American military forces.^[1] The dictator was found hiding in a spider hole at one of two search sites in Ad-Dard, Iraq.

On December 14th, 2003, BBC^[2] reported on the capture of Hussein. In the English article and its translated versions, an illustration of the spider hole Hussein was hiding in, titled "Saddam's Hiding Place," was used (English version shown below). The image became the subject of memes beginning in 2015 in which the red figure representing Hussein is edited in a variety of ways.

On August 29th, 2024, TikToker^[3] @yeastinfected posted a video of a patch of missing pain on their wall, writing, "the missing paint in my room is kind of serving Saddam Hussein hiding spot," garnering over 1.2 million views in three weeks. This is the earliest known example of the meme.

Spread

The trend became increasingly popularized throughout September 2024. On September 1st, 2024, TikToker^[4] @marxistswiftist420 posted a video of a piece of ham resembling the Hussein figure, garnering over 2.3 million views in two weeks.

On September 5th, TikToker^[5] @hannahdislikepage posted a photo of a piece of toilet paper resembling the figure, garnering over 7.1 million views in 11 days. On September 6th, TikToker^[6] @younglilneener posted a slideshow showing off a Cheeto that resembles the figure, garnering over 4.5 million views in 10 days.

On September 8th, 2024, X^[7] user @allsewedupp posted a photo of a self-made cut that resembles the shape, writing, "whys my sh lwk serving saddam hussein hiding spot," garnering over 1,800 likes in a week. On September 9th, X^[8] user @ryrophilia posted an image of the album cover for My Chemical Romance's I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, circling a figure that resembles the Hussein figure, garnering over 3,500 likes in a week.

On September 10th, X^[9] user @frieeddtiramisu posted a version of the meme using an image from the game Class of '09, garnering over 2,100 likes in six days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References