Case Study

By: Andrew Waite

(Refer to the assignment sheet for the type of information that goes in these sections)

Description & History

Description

Name: I hate Sandcastles / Success Kid

Purpose: Entertainment, Advice Animal, Bragging

Production value: Amateur

Summary / Description: I hate Sandcastles / Success Kid is an 'advice animal' meme with a small boy clutching sand in his fist and a tough look on his face. It was originally just a fun image, but has mutated into a meme all it's own. Success Kid memes are denoted by the first line being an action, while the second line says something lucky about it. I.E. "Got Drunk, Didn't text my ex"

History

Date discovered: The photo was taken on August 26, 2007 and uploaded to flickr sometime right after. 

Peak popularity: It's peak popularity was in February 2012 when the image was put on a billboard for Virgin Media. It's most popular in the United States, but has a following in Canada and the UK as well. 

Original Site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sammyjammy/sets/72157620597747933/

Remixes / Parodies / Responses:

The first remix was I HATE SANDCASTLES. 

The image became popular in early 2008 and then in early 2009 Success Kid went viral.

3rd World Success Kid

Appeal and Audience

The meme is appealing because Sammy is a cute kid doing a funny thing. The advice animal meme is thriving because it gives people the opportunity to share their lucky or successful moments and brag about it in a socially acceptable way. The audience is mainly college age people. Sites like reddit constantly post Success Kid memes. 

Social and Cultural Factors

As said before in it's appeal, the reason this image is viral is because it allows people to share something good/an achievement and brag about it in a culturally acceptable and unique way. It has it's own form of exclusivity to it and people can relate to many of the images. Social conditions, trends, attitudes, laws, etc. that intersect to lead to the creation and circulation of this viral structure?

Resources / Further Information