# Hide the Pain Harold

> A stock-photo smile became a meme in 2011 and later carried its model into public talks.

- Owner: András Arató
- Kind: Meme & format
- Sector: Culture (no sector)
- Seed date: 2011-09-13
- Peak date: 2019-06-25
- Spread Score: 28 (Niche), v1.2
- Mechanics: Platform jump, Press loop

## Summary

Stock photographs of András Arató circulated through forums and Facebook. He later revealed his identity, appeared in interviews and gave a TEDx talk about his experience.

## Timeline

- 2011-09-13 — Greenen72 (Open web) — Opened a Photoshop thread with stock images; replies shared edits, discussed source files and promised more remixes.
- 2011-10-23 — Facebook users (Facebook) — A Facebook page for Hide the Pain Harold was created.
- 2014-05-05 — 4chan users (Open web) — A 4chan thread created a fictional story around the stock photographs.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/hide-the-pain-harold

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Hide the Pain Harold.” Case HIS-01041. Spread Score v1.2: 28/100. Updated 2026-10-17. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01041