About

What They're Doing Is Very Smart but Also Very Dangerous, also known as What He's Doing Is Very Smart but Also Very Dangerous, refers to a catchphrase and phrasal template used in a series of JuggTok memes showing cute animals doing something "very smart" but also "very dangerous." The trend could be described as JuggTok mixed with Soft Irony in the form of a parody nature documentary. The full phrasal template reads, "See this X. I knew this was going to happen. What they're doing is very smart. But also very dangerous," in which the X is replaced by the animal subject, among other subjects. The meme went viral on TikTok in April 2025.

Origin

On April 3rd, 2025, TikToker^[1] @sanchez321.2 posted a video of penguins with the caption, "See these penguins? I knew this was going to happen. What they're doing is very smart. But also very dangerous." The video's sound was the song "SaddestStory" by rapper 2slimey, which had a beat with overblown 808s. Over five days, the video received roughly 224,600 likes (shown below).

Also on April 3rd, TikToker^[2] @hystxric posted a similar video, using the same sound and the same phrasal template, instead regarding bears. The caption read, "Look at these two bears fight. I know what's going on. What they're doing is very smart. But also very dangerous." Over five days, the video received over 170,600 likes (shown below). It's unclear which TikToker shared their video first on the day.

Spread

The trend evolved over the following days and weeks. For instance, on April 5th, 2025, TikToker^[3] @.yslime shared an iteration about a cat swimming, gaining over 357,100 likes in three days (shown below).

The videos started to shift from animal subjects to famous viral videos and memes. For instance, on April 4th, TikToker^[5] @rizzreaperofficial shared an iteration about the Devious Reptilian Backshots video, gaining over 24,600 likes in four days.

On April 6th, 2025, TikToker^[4] @botjackpot shared one about the guy in the I Knew This Was Happening video, gaining over 143,400 likes in two days (shown below).

The phrasal template started to mutate as well. For instance, on April 6th, TikToker^[6] @gyrozeppeli.com shared an iteration with birds and wrote an anti-meme caption that said the opposite of the original phrase, reading, "Ignore them birds. I never knew this would happen. What they're doing is very dumb. But also completely safe." The video received over 99,800 likes in two days (shown below).

On April 7th, 2025, TikToker^[7] @streamslides shared an iteration about peacocks with a verbose version of the original phrasal template, gaining over 66,200 likes in a day (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References