About

Tonnin Seteli is a Finnish meme that originates from the sketch comedy show Kummeli. The line "tonnin seteli" translates to "1000-mark bill" and stems from a sketch in which a man receives the incorrect change for a "tonnin seteli" from a cashier, who only gives him a blank, stone-faced expression. The actor who played the cashier died in December 2024, prompting renewed interest in the meme.

Origin

The Finnish sketch comedy show Kummeli aired between 1991 and 1995, with actor Heikki Silvennoinen appearing in a sketch now known as "Tonnin Seteli" during this original run.

The sketch depicts a customer receiving incorrect change after paying with a large 1000-denomination bill, but the cashier played Silvennoinen stonewalls his customer with a blank expression. The absurd video became a classic Finnish meme in the 2000s and 2010s.

YouTuber CamuV posted one of the earliest videos of the sketch to YouTube^[1] on December 26th, 2007, gathering over 700,000 views in 16 years.

Edits of Silvennoinen's face on Finnish currency can be traced as far back as July 14th, 2010, when an unknown user posted the meme to the Finnish messageboard Riemurasia.^[5]

Spread

On April 19th, 2017, YouTuber^[2] Cadiac posted a version of the meme where the cashier was made to smile instead of stare blankly, gathering over 25,000 views in seven years.

On March 17th, 2018, Tumblr^[7] user homunculus-argument made a post about the meme that gathered over 17,000 notes in six years.

On May 14th, 2024, YouTuber^[3] Rallimopo posted a compilation of Finnish memes, including the Tonnin Seteli sketch with English subtitles.

On December 10th, 2024, TikToker^[4] @rennypoutanen posted a video presenting someone with a "Tonnin Seteli" note, gathering over 40,000 plays and 2,000 likes in ten days.

Heikki Silvennoinen, the actor who plays the cashier in the meme, passed away on December 18th, 2024, prompting renewed interest in the meme.^[6]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References