By Ben Macintosh and John Ployer
2019 may not be over, but this year has already been blessed by a strong crop of memes. From memes that only lasted days to one that started as a viral event (you which one we’re talking about). Rather than doing our homework, we decided to tally up 2019’s best memes. Enjoy!
Area 51
One of the best memes of the year while it was hot, the Area 51 meme managed to grab the attention of almost everyone, including the mainstream media. Older generations could not figure out whether it was real or a joke. Thanks to the originality, popularity, and overall ridiculousness of the entire thing this meme was probably the meme of the year (Not our particular favourite but we cannot knock how well this meme did). It also spawned a lot of great follow up memes and who knows, after Sept. 20 this meme might come back to life.
Unsettled Tom
My personal favourite of the year, by a country mile. This meme was love-at-first-sight for me, every version from normie memes to the danker ones caught my attention, I was hooked. I admit, I am a sucker for Tom and Jerry memes, so many great formats from that classic show. Unsettled Tom may not have lasted very long as it was overused, but it is my favourite.
Me and the Boys
A very fun meme that managed to survive for quite awhile. The meme was simple but excelled at capturing relatable moments from our youth. This meme was restyled so many times and incorporated so many other concepts that it provided us with near endless entertainment during its run on the internet. Even those of us who had no friends growing up could relate to some of these!
Shocked Pikachu
Another solid meme, probably would have claimed the throne for meme of the year had Area 51 not been so hot. This meme was versatile and the internet loved it, especially users on twitter. This meme, from the beloved TV show Pokémon, is one of the best to emerge from the show. Your friends who are significantly “less-dank†probably still use this meme, showing how strong this meme was.
Well yes, but Actually no
A dynamic and thought provoking meme, Well yes, but actually no highlights the shallow, dishonest, and vapid undertones of modern mass-communication. Maybe not actually that deep in meaning, but we have all been in a situation that makes this relatable. This meme is actually a misquote from the movie So You Want to Be a Pirate!. Though it never made it to the top of the meme-hierarchy, this meme did provide our feeds with solid and relatable content.
Fancy Pooh Bear
This meme is a photoshopped shot from an animated Winnie the Pooh film. While it was hot, it was everywhere. Similar to the “expanding intellect†of previous years, Fancy Pooh Bear juxtaposes an increasing feeling of superiority with increasingly absurd statements. Truly a piece of art.
AirPods (Oh no he can’t hear us)
This meme was a lot of fun, uniting people to make fun of Apple consumers willing to pay the lucrative initial prices for AirPods. AirPods are a meme unto themselves, but the whole thing was significantly lifted by memes such as the above. “Oh no he can’t hear us†simultaneously allowed us to make fun of AirPods and gave Apple the publicity they wanted when they (probably) planted this meme into pop-culture. Good move Apple, good move.
Confused cat at table
This might be one of the most relatable memes I have seen in a long time. No picture or sentence has ever so accurately described the feeling of being yelled at for bizarre reason as this meme. I imagine most of us feel some sense of nostalgia (or some not so good memories) when viewing this meme.
Jason Mamoa sneaking up on Henry Cavill
Oh lawd he comin! In the great tradition of turning celebrities into memes, Jason Mamoa sneaking up on Henry Cavill creates a great blank canvas for meme-artists to work on. Classic, clean, and wholesome, this meme was a great opportunity for relatable content.
Old Captain America
Spoiler Alert: Avengers: Engame was a good movie, also it spawned this pretty solid meme. As a difficult person, this meme spoke to me. Being a fan of both superheroes and memes, the combination of those two subjects created one of my favourite memes of the summer.