Ice Cube and his son O’Shea Jackson, Jr – who played him in Straight Outta Compton – at the film’s premiere in August 2015. Photo via Tinseltown/Shutterstock
All it takes for a good meme to go bad is inappropriate usage by a government Twitter account.
In the lead up to the August release of Straight Outta Compton, the NWA biopic, promotion for the film included a meme of its own creation.
Launching the Straight Outta Somewhere meme generator, the film’s logo could be adapted for anyone to represent their city of origin, whether you were coming straight outta Compton, Dublin or… Albuquerque?
The readymade images were then easily shared online using the hashtag #StraightOutta, and a genius marketing campaign was born.
"Straight Outta Compton" is the story of the "world's most dangerous group," but I think I know a more dangerous one: pic.twitter.com/mf55Z7jgAO
— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) August 10, 2015
Celebrities were quick to take up the trend – some in much cuter ways than others.
The #StraightOutta hashtag is killin me. A photo posted by Questlove Gomez (@questlove) on
It also became a popular meme for superheroes, what with their famous origin stories and all.
#StraightOutta #StraightOuttaSomewhere #StraightOuttaBrooklyn #Spiderman #MilesMorales #DiferentVersions A photo posted by Assertive_Ambition (@assertive_ambition) on
Nothing to see here… @VancityReynolds #Deadpool #StraightOutta pic.twitter.com/VAX3efkP4D
— 22th Century Fox (@22thcenturyfox) August 6, 2015
It was only a matter of time before gamers jumped on the trend.
And horror films became a surprisingly common theme.
Pretty soon, all of pop culture was getting a hip-hop backstory.
? #pokemon A photo posted by Haley ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ (@xhaleey) on
@WiCnet #MotherOfDragons pic.twitter.com/zAPJsYESuM
— Tom Chaney (@Mekbots) August 11, 2015
Even the classics weren’t safe.
And, of course, plenty of animals got swept up in the thug life (or, should I say, pug life?).
#StraightOutta bed and already back to sleep. #napalldaysleepallnight A photo posted by @ginny_jrt on
Then the mash-ups began.
In the world of mixed martial arts, the meme became a way for Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino to coax Ronda Rousey into a fight.
And, as things escalated, Straight Outta Somewhere started to get real.
Might as well get in on this #StraightOutta #streetcredachievementunlocked. pic.twitter.com/hxWzSGMaVZ
— Tig Notaro (@TigNotaro) August 7, 2015
#StraightOuttaCompton this meme killed it. ? pic.twitter.com/kMcbZZKMgo
— ValerieTurntnelli (@valerie_nikole) August 7, 2015
Because we had to. #StraightOutta pic.twitter.com/f9YKKtWqoh
— Anthony's Coal Fired (@AnthonysCFPizza) August 8, 2015
Somewhere along the line, things got political.
And the White House Administration effectively wrecked the buzz with this clunker.
.@BuzzFeed And thanks to the #IranDeal, Iran will be … pic.twitter.com/zEHN1EpEX7
— The Iran Deal (@TheIranDeal) August 13, 2015
Way to ruin the fun, guys.
Keep watching Siliconrepublic.com as we look back on the greatest memes of 2015. Let us know your favourite at @siliconrepublic on Twitter.
Main image of Ice Cube and O’Shea Jackson, Jr by Tinseltown via Shutterstock
