History Main / ForcedMeme

* Lampshaded with ''VideoGame/SparkTheElectricJester'''s "[[https://steamtradingcards.fandom.com/wiki/Spark_the_Electric_Jester_-_Spurk Spurk]]"[[note]]a freeze-frame of Spark's face while riding on a rocket[[/note]], whose Steam card outright calls it "a forced(d) meme". There's also a [[https://steamtradingcards.fandom.com/wiki/Spark_the_Electric_Jester_-_CG_Spurk CG]] variant.

* Lampshaded with ''VideoGame/SparkTheElectricJester'''s "[[https://steamtradingcards.fandom.com/wiki/Spark_the_Electric_Jester_-_Spurk Spurk]]"[[note]]a freeze-frame of Spark's face while riding on a rocket[[/note]], whose Steam card outright calls "a forced(d) meme". There's also a [[https://steamtradingcards.fandom.com/wiki/Spark_the_Electric_Jester_-_CG_Spurk CG]] variant.

* Lampshaded with ''VideoGame/SparkTheElectricJester'''s "[[https://steamtradingcards.fandom.com/wiki/Spark_the_Electric_Jester_-_Spurk Spurk]]"[[note]]a freeze-frame of Spark's face while riding on a rocket[[/note]], whose Steam card outright calls "a forced(d) meme".

** The first act of "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS7E12IDreamOfJesus I Dream of Jesus]]" is about Peter forcing the song "Surfin' Bird" as a meme. It starts out funny, but then [[IntendedAudienceReaction intentionally drives any potential humor into the ground]] to inspire Brian and Stewie to break as many copies of the song as they can.

* In chapter 24 of the ''Manga/YuruYuri'' manga, [[GenkiGirl Kyouko]] annoys [[TheStraightMan Yui]] (for a change) by attempting to make the term "[[PerfectlyCromulentWord washargling]]" popular in reference to [[SeinfeldianConversation cold prevention]]. Her staring at the "camera" implies that she [[BreakingTheFourthWall wants the readers]] to use the term too.

* The Porcupine from WesternAnimation/ChickenLittle and his three lines: "Yo", "no", and "whoa".

* With the release of ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'', several attempts have been made to get something to catch on to be the next "The cake is a lie!". This has included "SPAAAAACE!", "I'm a potato!" and "combustible lemons". While they have caught on among ''Portal'' fans, none of them have manage to achieve the same widespread popularity. The most likely reason is simply because it couldn't possibly be just as unique and fresh as the original was - which was what amplified the popularity of those original memes.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Since ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has a lot of [[EnsembleDarkhorse Ensemble Darkhorses]] as it is, some fans picked a totally random Azurite soldier ("That Guy With a Halberd") and tried to elevate him to this status. It sort of worked---he gets brought up a lot when it's time to make [[CrackPairing Crack Pairings]], but still, he's no ''O-Chul.''

* [[http://marvel.toonzone.net/avengersemh/reviews/39spider/ This review]] of ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' episode "Along Came a Spider...", the first of three episodes in which the writers hired Creator/JoshKeaton to voice Franchise/SpiderMan, only for the producers to pay ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' star Creator/DrakeBell to dub over all of Keaton's lines, tried to encourage the spread of two Website/{{Twitter}} hashtags, [=#JoshKeatonIsSpiderMan=] and [=#DrakeBellIsNotSpiderMan=], to convince Marvel to include Keaton's lines on the ''EMH'' [=DVDs=]. They apparently didn't catch on, as the [=DVDs=] only include Bell's versions of the episodes. It might not have helped that Keaton himself thought the second hashtag sounded too mean.

* Bud Light's Advertising/{{Wazzup}} campaign is a classic example of a forced meme with surprising longevity, which demonstrates a good way to salvage a forced meme: let it [[DiscreditedMeme die peacefully]] and fade into a [[AnyoneRememberPogs goofy nostalgic reference]] that invokes more NarmCharm than eyerolls. But whether it works twice remains to be seen, as Bud Light is trying the same thing with "Dilly Dilly".

* Youtuber {{WebVideo/Jacksfilms}} tried his hardest to make "Me Me Big Boy" a thing. He event spent an entire video saying nothing but "Me Me Big Boy". It did caught on among his fanbase, but it was undeniably forced and desperate.

* ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'' season 6 contestant Laganja Estranja wanted to be like her [[DragQueen drag]] mentor, season 5's Alyssa Edwards, whose LargeHam personality made her popular with viewers and perhaps the most heavily-memed queen in the history of the show. Laganja tried invoking that for herself by spouting would-be catchphrases every five seconds, but this made her come off as fake and annoying instead, to the other contestants as well as the audience.

** The crew have caught on to the success of ''[=SpongeBob=]'' memes, down to merchandising them and referencing them in the show itself, and seems to be trying to force new ones. Mostly, this consists of characters screaming phrases repeatedly at the top of their lungs: "AMAZING!" in "No Pictures Please", "DON'T FEED THE CLOWNS!" in "[[TitleDrop Don't Feed the Clowns]]", "I WANT MY BIRTHDAY CAKE!" in "Krusty Katering", and "RESPECT YER ELDERS!" in "Senior Discount", clearly trying to be the next incarnation of the "chocolate" meme from "Chocolate with Nuts". None of these have caught on.

* On ''Series/{{Community}}'', Pierce keeps trying to force "streets ahead" to mean cool, hip, or trendy. He succeeded in the real world, if one counts the show's fanbase, although it was already a perfectly ordinary phrase in the UK, Australia and other Commonwealth countries.

* The Music/ScissorSisters seem to be trying to turn the title of their song "[[WordSaladTitle Let's Have a Kiki]]" into a meme.

* On the commentary for the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' Christmas special, it is said that they hoped the phrase "You, I'm ignoring" would become a popular thing. It seems like [[Memes/SpongeBobSquarePants everything]] ''but'' that became popular.

** Three memes relating to the Scarlet Devil Mansion CastHerd (Sakuya [[ACupAngst padding her bra]], Meiling [[LazyBum being lazy]]/[[{{Sleepyhead}} sleeping on the job]], and Sakuya [[DisproportionateRetribution punishing said laziness with her knives]]) ended up wearing out their welcome and are now generally considered forced by the fandom.
** Alice being a psychotic yandere/spineless loser/pissed off tsundere is slowly getting to the level of pad jokes.

** Aya/Sanae is a slut. Coined because of a sudden focus on both girls in the games (the former getting her spin-off games, the latter becoming a temporary main character alongside Reimu and Marisa), which people explained as them giving the creator of the games, ZUN, sexual favors. Nowadays utterly ''hated'' for being tired and unfunny, disrespectful to the characters[[note]]to say nothing of being disrespectful to ZUN and his family; part of the reason the meme died off was the birth of his son[[/note]], blatantly untrue (there is no hint of romance in the series' canon, let alone sexual intercourse) and no longer valid after both girls took a back seat. Especially despised by the fans of either girl and used only for trolling as of late.
*** The same label is lately used for Sakuya, because of her appearing in ''Double Dealing Character'' as the 3rd main character. The principles above apply too.

* ''Series/RupaulsDragRace'' season 6 contestant Laganja Estranja wanted to be like her [[DragQueen drag]] mentor, season 5's Alyssa Edwards, whose LargeHam personality made her popular with viewers and perhaps the most heavily-memed queen in the history of the show. Laganja tried invoking that for herself by spouting would-be catchphrases every five seconds, but this made her come off as fake and annoying instead, to the other contestants as well as the audience.

* At the turn of TheNineties, Music/MichaelJackson, jealous of the nicknames the media had given to other famous musicians (''e.g.'' [[Music/ElvisPresley "The King of Rock and Roll"]], [[Music/BruceSpringsteen "The Boss"]]), got his handlers to come up with one for himself: "The King of Pop, Rock, and Soul". It was first introduced to the public through the mouth of Creator/ElizabethTaylor at an award ceremony and soon afterward shortened to "The King of Pop". In the run-up to the release of ''Dangerous'' in 1991, Jackson's management urged Creator/{{MTV}} and Creator/{{Fox}} to refer to him as the King of Pop basically whenever they mentioned him.[[note]]Even back then, it was jarring enough that there was a persistent rumor that MTV was being forced to say the nickname constantly. MTV wouldn't admit this until the 2011 oral history ''I Want My MTV'' -- even though ''Rolling Stone'' saw the original memo in '91 and reported on it in a story about Jackson.[[/note]] The effort partially succeeded, as Jackson's fans embraced the nickname right away (and still insist Taylor came up with it herself). However, by the time most people found out about/correctly guessed its origins Jackson's career was in a downward spiral, and his publicity machine's continued insistence on the nickname led to the media calling him "the self-proclaimed King of Pop" in his later years. Even the announcement of his death called him "legendary King of Pop Michael Jackson". Creator/HowardStern's self-proclaimed status as "The King of All Media" in the early '90s was actually a parody of this.

* BBC Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills started a campaign on October 30, 2006 to get the song "Chacarron Macarron" (infamously featured in many Website/YouTube videos, Website/{{YTMND}} pages and VideoGame/GMod montages) to #1 in the UK singles chart, presumably due to its unusual lyrics and musical style. A link was put up on the BBC website to the video on [=YouTube=]. Although the song did not reach the top, the campaign pushed the song all the way up to #20, which became its peak.

* John Lemon was a minor meme based on a pun on Lennon's name, that lasted for before dying off mostly unknown. But now, there has been a big push to make it a new meme, with r/DankMemes declaring it the meme of the year. Not everyone has been happy about it, decrying it as forced. [[https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/john-lemon-meme/ This article]] discusses it.

* In May 2017, a mixture of trolls and right-wing types on Website/{{Twitter}} and other social media platforms (who were tired of seeing younger left-wing users compare current global politics to ''Literature/HarryPotter'') tried to parody the phenomenon by popularizing [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/orcposting "Orc Posting"]]: screencaps from ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' with captions mocking multiculturalism and globalism (and left-wing politics in general) by drawing comparisons between Middle-earth orcs and refugees from the Islamic world. It briefly trended on Twitter and Website/FourChan for a while before fading into obscurity.

* ''WebVideo/BrowsHeldHigh'' parodied this in the review of ''Film/TwilightOfTheIceNymphs'', ending with Kyle announcing his intent to turn a bizarre monologue about trees, from the film, into a meme.

* Wrestling/ChrisJericho has been trying his damnedest to get "fruit" turned into a synonym for "cool" or "sweet", under the logic of "someone had to be the first guy to say something was 'cool'". Has not been working out for him.

* Once upon a time, leftist Twitter and Tumblr (the line is blurred because the responsible individuals frequented both web sites) decided they were tired of Denny's co-opting every "hot new meme" to appear "relatable". So they decided to force "John C. Miller, CEO and President of the Denny's Corporation, is a capitalist running dog and his wealth must be seized and redistributed to the people" as a meme, to see what happened. [[http://blog.dennys.com/post/159991129938/tumblr-we-are-a-capitalist-running-dog Denny's found a way to co-opt it.]]
* Rodimusprime of ''Podcast/TheBlackGuyWhoTips'' tried to generate a stereotype for white people equivalent to "Black people love fried chicken/watermelon." At least among his audience, "White people love cheese/mayonnaise" seems to have stuck.

* In May 2017, right-wing users of Website/{{Twitter}} and other social media platforms (who were tired of seeing younger left-wing users compare current global politics to ''Literature/HarryPotter'') tried to popularize [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/orcposting "Orc Posting"]]: screencaps from ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' with captions mocking multiculturalism and globalism (and left-wing politics in general) by depicting orcs as Muslim refugees. It briefly trended on Twitter and Website/FourChan for one day before fading into obscurity.

* Ironically enough, "Advice Dog", the meme responsible for the "meme format" we know now (an image with a top and bottom string of text in Impact font) was forced. And look at where we are now.

* The writers hoped that one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "Homer Defined" would introduce the phrase to "pull a Homer" ([[AchievementsInIgnorance to succeed despite idiocy]]) into the English language. It didn't. Now, the dozens of times they ''didn't'' try to pull off a meme... [[Memes/TheSimpsons most of those worked]].

** During the weeks leading up to the release of ''Franchise/StarWars'': ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' in 2015, Creator/MarkHamill, who guest-starred in "Mayored To The Mob", urged fans to not "pull a Homer" (i.e. give away spoilers), in reference to the episode "I Married Marge", which showed Homer inadvertently giving away the big plot twist of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' in a flashback to 1980.

* ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'': In his review for ''Film/DoubleTeam'', the title character [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1kLfi-yFoA openly demanded]] for "Frying the Coke" to be turned into a meme. It... didn't work. It didn't help that he tried to compare "Frying the Coke" to JumpingTheShark, which is a trope, and Nuking the Fridge, which was meant to be the Jumping the Shark trope [[Administrivia/TheSameButMoreSpecific applied to film]]. He later clarified "Frying the Coke" to mean an instance where somebody does something so stupid that you can't help but find it awesome. Earlier, he had succeeded far more with turning WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick's BigLippedAlligatorMoment into a trope, probably in part because it was something we didn't really have a term for yet. Out of character as the Critic, Doug Walker has said that it always amazes him which of his quotes become memes and which don't. One success that particularly surprised him was the phrase ''Fuckin' bubbles'', which he never planned to become a meme in the first place. Of course, one that did succeed: "[[Film/SuburbanCommando I was frozen today!]]"

* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' where the characters met their "evil" counterparts from another dimension, Cartman kept using the word "hella" as an adverb meaning "very" or "extremely." It never caught on among anyone else, and Kyle kept (unsuccessfully) telling Cartman to stop using it.

** The episode "The Poor Kid" featured a DepartmentOfChildDisservices worker who enjoyed awkwardly shoehorning jokes about the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_State_child_sex_abuse_scandal Penn State child sex abuse scandal]]. Cartman called him out on how unfunny and uncreative the jokes were: "All you’re doing is taking something topical and revamping old [[PedophilePriest Catholic]] jokes!"
** Trey and Matt really hoped "Muff Cabbage" would catch on but admitted in the commentary it never did.

* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', the first act of "I Dream of Jesus" is about Peter forcing the song "Surfin' Bird" as a meme. It starts out funny, but then [[IntendedAudienceReaction intentionally drives any potential humor into the ground]] to inspire Brian and Stewie to break as many copies of the song as they can.
** Of course, in real life this worked to send the 50-year-old song to the top of the UK singles charts the week that episode aired.
** In "Seahorse Seashell Party", Stewie says a zinger followed by a group of singers saying "Stewie Just Said That". Later, Stewie finds that people are already posting the phrase on Twitter, both in-universe and during the first broadcast in real life.

* In Season 6 of ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'', in order to rescue Mr. Peanutbutter's career after his cheating on Pickles became public knowledge, Princess Carolyn attempts to engineer an internet meme of Mr. Peanutbutter being sad with the goal to make him the "Sad Dog" meme. After she "accidentally" knocks him into the path of an oncoming car, prompting everyone to react with horror that he would want to commit suicide like that, she not-so-subtly loduly continues to call him "a really SAD DOG guys!" and somehow, it catches on (before snowballing until he becomes the national face of depression).

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' is an interesting variant - while the creator tends to be hands-off when it comes to fandom, [[Memes/{{Touhou}} a wide-ranging fanbase ranging from artists, fangame makers, writers, and hangers-on make their own memes.]] Some of them catch, but others are rejected before they can get off the ground. Still others (Cirno's "[[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns Atai]] = Eye" translation, for example) keep getting flogged, [[DiscreditedMeme despite most of fanon ignoring the meme's existence]].

* When ''Series/TheMandalorian'' star Creator/PedroPascal posted the season two [[https://twitter.com/pedropascal1/status/1305882070330355719?s=21 poster]] and [[https://twitter.com/pedropascal1/status/1305883292810567681?s=21 trailer]] on Twitter, he accompanied both with an extended version of the Mandalorian's CatchPhrase: "Baby don't play. This is the way." When he asked his fans, "Can we make that a thing?", they eagerly agreed to help.

* One ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'' strip has Rat come up with a phrase he hopes sweeps the nation, and the creator Stephan Pastis admitted he always attempts to get the phrase to catch on. See the strip [[http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2011/04/27 here]].
* One strip of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' has Calvin come up with own personal rallying cry, and settles on "So what?!".