Let's get one thing out of the way: this entire column is a sham. Memes are out of control. They're unfunny, tedious and so overdone that we need a stronger word than â┚¬Å”cliché.â┚¬Â Therefore, the very best meme is no meme, but I understand that in these matters of me vs. the rest of the internet that sometimes I have to make concessions. That means while people continue to clog our newsfeeds with this pointless, unoriginal crap, I concede to evaluate the quality of certain memes.
Nothing in recent history fueled the collective meme-creation juices quite like Chick-fil-A's head honcho going straight up and public with his anti-gay views. Earlier this month, CEO Dan Cathy told Baptist Press that he is “very much supportive of the familyâ┚¬â€Âthe biblical definition of the family unit.”
Those in the know were unsurprisedâ┚¬â€ÂI've boycotted Chick-fil-A for several years now. But something about this round of Cathy's anti-gay messaging struck a nerve, unleashing a flurry of memes from both sides praising or condemning the fast food chain's stand against marriage equality.
Key factors in meme effectiveness are truth, message and share-ability, that indefinable hook that makes memes irresistible to those who love to click that little blue â┚¬Å”shareâ┚¬Â link. There are too many to evaluate in this space so I'll grade three of the most popular Chick-fil-A memes.
Meme #1: The Muppet Lie
The CEO of the Jim Henson Company responded with an announcement that the company would no longer partner with Chick-fil-A to provide Muppet toys in kids' meals. There was some pro-Muppet love and that probably would have been the end of it had someone not snapped a photo of a sign on a Chick-fil-A counter stating that the toys were being recalled for a â┚¬Å”possible safety issue.â┚¬Â It claims some children got â┚¬Å”their fingers stuck in the holes of the puppet.â┚¬ÂÂ
This might be the best meme of the bunch. Chick-fil-A appears to be caught red-handed in a lie to cover up the reason why Muppets toys are no longer available. The share-ability factor is huge because people love nothing more than catching someone they disagree with in a lies. The meme's only weak spot is truth. The sign sure looks incriminatingâ┚¬â€Âit's posted on a typical fast food counter, dated 7/19/12 and bears the Chick-fil-A logo. But there is still no verification of where it was taken and it's possible the sign could be fabricated.
But was it?!
Tiffany Greenway, Corporate Public Relations for Chick-fil-A made a follow-up statement claiming a â┚¬Å”potential safety concernâ┚¬Â that is â┚¬Å”unrelated to the Jim Henson announcement,â┚¬Â so that looks like that's their official party line and they're sticking to it.
Bad idea. Clearly a lie, making this meme perfection with bonus points for breaking and spreading a story before the official talking heads could get their spin in.
5 OUT OF 5 WAFFLE FRIES
Meme #2: DIY Sandwich
This one precedes the Muppet controversy and is quite simply a video and recipe to making your own Chick-fil-A sandwich at home, without the guilt of spending money to finance anti-gay activism. Food blogger Hilah struck the jackpot with this post which quickly went viral.
Truth is undeterminedâ┚¬â€Âwhile I found many people sharing and promising to try the recipe as of press time, much Googling did not reveal a single successful report or criticism from home cooks who had tried it themselves. Message is on-point, obviously. Share-ability score is somewhere in the middleâ┚¬â€Âit's not that sexy to share on its own (although a number of Facebook users did so), but it gets extra points for being an excellent retort to the Chick-fil-A apologists claiming they love gays and all, but they simply cannot live without that sandwich.
3 OUT OF 5 WAFFLE FRIES
Meme #3: Abby Farle Fail
Here's the background: Chris [name blacked out] posted to Chick-fil-A's Facebook wall, â┚¬Å”Admit it, Chick-fil-A: you stopped carrying Jim Henson's puppets as kids meal toys because you got dumped for being bigots, not because some kids â┚¬Ëœgot their fingers stuck.â┚¬Â Two comments supportive of Chris followed and then came dimpled, redheaded teenager Abby Farle who claimed the toys were recalled weeks ago, dropped a little John 3:16 on the party and capped it off with: â┚¬Å”derr.â┚¬Â Another user observed that â┚¬Å”Abbyâ┚¬Â had only joined Facebook eight hours before then delivered the final blow: a Shutterstock image, watermarked, identical to â┚¬Å”Abby'sâ┚¬Â profile photo.
So busted.
A screenshot of the exchange was the meme, and its share-ability is through the roof, because as already stated, internet users with political opinions love nothing more than catching opposition in a lie. The message is also solidâ┚¬â€ÂAbby's clearly a fake and not only that, the profile was a sloppily done fake so the perpetrators are not only liars, but they look stupid, too. The problem is Robert's attribution of the profile to a â┚¬Å”Chick-fil-A PR guy.â┚¬Â So far, no evidence exists.
4 OUT OF 5 WAFFLE FRIES
