Grade B8 sourcesHIS-01023
Bad Luck Brian
Meme & format · 2012 · Niche
A yearbook-photo meme brought its subject an estimated $15,000 to $20,000 in licensing.
Spread Score
How it worksNumbers
- Seed to milestone
- 8 weeks
- Jan 23 ’12 to Mar 19 ’12
- Platforms
- 4
- Started on Reddit
- Origin
- Organic
- Culture (no sector)
Mechanics
How it spread
Trace the originA friend posted Kyle Craven's school portrait on Reddit. Captions spread to 9gag and Pinterest, while Craven later appeared in interviews and advertising based on the character.
Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak.
7 more events on this chart
Join free to see themTimeline (10)
January 2012
Ian Davies seed · Jan 23 ’12
Ian Davies posted Craven's school portrait with a driving-test joke.[1]
Twenty Something platform jump · Jan 29 ’12
Twenty Something collected examples of Bad Luck Brian captions.[1]
March 2012
Very_Juicy owner response · Mar 12 ’12
A Reddit post reused the portrait with a classroom joke.[1]
Changelogupdated Oct 16 ’26
- Added: 10 events, 5 sources · Score 21
Spread the same way
New cases, every week
How the next thing spread, the week it does.