THE BOOZE BIN
By, Rosalie Morton (@rosaliemo)
Meme 101
You might not think you know exactly what a meme (pron. MEEM) is… but if you’re reading this blog you do, promise. I think memes are best described through examples. So consider a few of my recent favorites:
- Angelina Jolie’s leg from the Oscar’s
- What my friends think I do (the PR one is priceless)
- And of course, Tebowing
If you still want to get formal, according to Wikipedia, a meme is:
- An idea that is propagated through the World Wide Web. The idea may take the form of a hyperlink, video, picture, website, hashtag or just a word or phrase. The meme may spread from person to person via social networks, blogs, direct email, news sources, or other web-based services. An Internet meme may stay the same or may evolve over time, by chance or through commentary, imitations, parody, or by incorporating news accounts about itself.
A good meme is any marketer’s dream. It means your product or campaign goes viral (win!) and tons of people are not only looking at it, but they are:
1) Interacting with your brand
2) Making your brand their own
3) And then… the clincher: they are sharing your brand with their friends.
(A bad meme could mean a crisis… but that’s a different post for another day.)
It’s textbook social media engagement, and it’s precisely why social media is more powerful than traditional media. As your customers interact with your brand, it becomes branded into their minds far deeper than it would through a TV commercial or a billboard.
Memes Behind the Bar
One thing is sure, people love their liquor, so it should come as no surprise that beverage brands and their supporters have had a LOT of fun with memes.
Here are two of my favorites:
The Most Interesting Man in the World – This is a marketer’s dream come true. The Dos Equis team created “The Most Interesting Man in the World” and not only did people love the commercial, it became a meme and went viral on its own. Kudos, Dos Equis. Kudos to you, indeed.
Bros Icing Bros - In my opinion, this is the best beverage meme to date. The game is simple. Hide a Smirnoff Ice 
somewhere for your friend to stumble upon – his sock drawer or say, the shower. When he finds it, he has to get on one knee and drink it, unless he is already in possession of a Smirnoff Ice. A website developed, bros posted pictures of their best ices. The game became a meme.
Like many memes, the mystery remains… was this a PR ploy by Smirnoff, or just 23-year old Joe’s mode of procrastination. According to a Huffington Post article, Smirnoff denies everything. Support a reckless under-aged drinking game? Of course not! Regardless of their involvement, the urban legend lives on… although brosicingbros.com sadly has been taken down.
The old Smirnoff in a Burrito. Classic!
And so, this morning I leave you with the famous Hitler Meme, hijacked by winos, The Downfall of a Cult California Winery
Share your favorite beverage memes, below!
Photos from: http://knowyourmeme.com/
BrosIcingBros.com
As a senior account executive, Rosalie CRT/tanaka clients’ traditional and social media relations initiatives and provides crisis counsel. She has successfully placed speakers at high-profile industry conferences, submitted winning award entries, planned events and media tours, managed social media campaigns, served as editor for client blogs and garnered placements in top-tier traditional and social media. She can often be seen on the third floor of the Richmond office, trying to find her dog, Petey, who has most likely snuck into someone else's office to beg for food.
Texts from Hillary is by far my favorite! http://textsfromhillaryclinton.tumblr.com/
I loovvvve texts from hilary too. And, that she participated makes it even better :-)
Memes have been around a lot longer than the web – its a concept related to how we learn or remember, the theme of it, or something like that. That said, love your article, fun.
Thanks Sondra – Yes! I totally agree with you. Memes started long before the internet, but the internet and social media has given them a forum to spread farther and faster than ever before.
This article was meant to focus on internet memes. I’ll make a few changes to be sure that’s clear.
Cheers!
Memes have been popping up everywhere on my Facebook, Pinterest and other social media sites. I have always thought they were funny, but never thought of it as a way to strategically market a brand. I wonder if there is a way for an organization to encourage these memes to be made with their brand in mind (would people just start seeing them as advertisements and stop paying attention?) or if they just have stay out of it and hope to get lucky like Dos Equis.