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Library/Meme & format/Harambe meme
Grade B23 sourcesHIS-01658

Harambe meme

Meme & format · 2016 · Notable

53Editable slideCertificate

Harambe ranked No. 1 in Google’s US trending meme searches.

Yahweh

@jayy_teeeeee · May 29, 2016

The picture @CNN don't want you to see

13.1K57
Original · @jayy_teeeeee
Clip · PABLO TORRE FINDS OUT on YouTube
Harambe lives: Killed zoo gorilla gets a second life online
Associated Press via CBS News
The picture @CNN don't want you to see
@jayy_teeeeee on X
Months after Harambe’s death, he returns in memes - The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
Controversy Rages After Shooting Death Of Endangered Gorilla At Cincinnati Zoo
TIME

Spread Score

How it works
ReachNo data yetContagion65Breadth70Velocity13Longevity5253

Numbers

Peak proxy date
Week of Aug 22, 2016
May 29 ’16 to Week of Aug 22, 2016
Platforms
9
Started on X
Origin
Organic
Culture (no sector)

Mechanics

  • Response chainPrimary
  • Platform jump
  • Press loop
  • Controversy

How it spread

Trace the origin

After the shooting, users turned Harambe into tribute collages, song lyrics and a catchphrase. Jokes reached Vine and merchandise. Cincinnati Zoo deactivated Twitter in August, then returned in October.

Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.

Google searchesJan ’16MayJulSepNovJun ’17May ’19Apr ’21Mar ’23Feb ’25Aug ’26Peak proxyXInstagramOpen webTVRetailPressAudioRedditYouTube
XInstagramOpen webTVRetailPressAudioRedditYouTube

12 more events on this chart

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Timeline (15)

  1. May 2016

    @jayy_teeeeee seed · May 29 ’16

    @jayy_teeeeee posted a gorilla in a graduation cap with a joke caption about CNN.[1]

    The picture @CNN don't want you to see
    Open the first post ↗

  2. June 2016

    @thefiltr platform jump · Jun 1 ’16

    @thefiltr posted a Harambe joke about racial disparities in public mourning.[2]

  3. July 2016

    Brandon Wardell and Danny Trejo platform jump · Jul 6 ’16

    Wardell posted a Vine of himself and Danny Trejo saying the Harambe catchphrase.[3][4]

  1. platform jump · Jul 21 ’16

  2. commercial · Aug 11 ’16

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Why it worked

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  1. 1
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  3. 3

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Origin
Organic
Sector
Culture (no sector)
Region
US
Reported figure
—
Evidence
Grade B

Spread the same way

Meme & format · X · 201865

Big Dick Energy

A phrase counted in 129,184 original tweets became shirts, songs and dictionary entries.

129.2K derivatives

1 / 8

  • Big Dick Energy
  • Moo Deng
  • Game of Thrones coffee cup
  • Storm Area 51
  • Raygun at the Paris Olympics
  • Cats vs. Cucumbers
  • 100 men vs one gorilla
  • Hampster Dance

New cases, every week

How the next thing spread, the week it does.