Claire and Erica on the internet
Hello friends! Welcome back to our lovely corner of The Exonian where we talk about the internet and such. This week we’ll be talking about how memes find success, focusing on “Damn Daniel,” the meme that is currently taking the internet world by storm.
Originating on the twitter account @josholzz, “Damn Daniel” is a compilation of Snapchat videos featuring a young man named Daniel Lara (@daniel_laraa) and his friend Josh, who in the background repeats the phrase, “Damn Daniel” and “Damn Daniel, back at it again with the white Vans.” Since Feb. 15, the original clip has been retweeted over 177,000 times and liked over 280,000; both numbers rapidly climbing as the video soars in popularity.
The original video has already spurred a meme. People will tweet pictures of themselves wearing white vans with the caption “DAMN DANIEL.” Other memes have also been combined with “Damn Daniel,” such as the “Damn Daniel Starter Pack,” which consists of a T-shirt, jeans, a backpack and, of course, white Vans.
A meme called “Damn Daniel First Words” also originated from the video. It features a baby saying “Damn Daniel, back at it again with the white vans.” Brands such as Clorox have issued tweets building off the “Damn Daniel” meme and musical, and dance remixes are available online.
Why has a simple, repetitive video gained so much popularity? “Damn Daniel” is admittedly a stupid meme. It spread to Facebook, Tumblr and many other social media networks over the past two weeks.
Compared to some of last year’s iconic memes such as “Rare Pepe,” mainstream media has picked up on th trend more.
“Damn Daniel” is a simple, memorable phrase that has inspired teenagers everywhere. No effort is necessary to recreate this meme.
Unlike the “If a Dog Wore Pants” meme of January, no photoshop skill is required either. All it takes is a video of a random person while some repeats the phrase, “Damn Daniel, back at it again with the white vans.”
Memes were never intended to be a part of anything outside of the internet. As corporations discover the influence of memes on younger generations, they often begin to exploit them. For example, take Hillary Clinton: her own attempt to relate to teenagers has been transformed into a meme itself. This phenomenon, which we will call “meme-ception,” is a rare occurrence that we cannot waste. Although it’s a pity that Clinton’s legitimate campaign has been reduced to a composition of memes, her effort and contributions are appreciated by meme farmers everywhere.
The success of “Damn Daniel” could possibly lead to “meme-ception.” With all the upcoming mainstream attention on memes, we wouldn’t be surprised if people tried to incorporate Daniel into everyday life.
We are also anticipating that one of the presidential candidates (probably Hillary as she is trying hard to reach out to us youngins) will be screaming “Damn Daniel” at the next debate.
What will be next? If Daniel wore pants? If white vans wore pants? If Daniel wore Vans in the forest and no one was around to say “Damn Daniel,” was he really wearing white Vans?
The possibilities are endless; there’s probably already a “Damn Daniel” meme generator out there. We will be waiting eagerly to see how “Damn Daniel” folds out.
See you all next week in Claire and Erica on the Internet. Special thanks to lower Lara Galligani. If she married Damn Daniel, her name would be Lara Lara and she would be a meme too. (However, we don’t condone exploiting people to up your meme-ability).