Memes are a great bit of craic, and 2015 has delivered new ones in droves. Animals, celebrities, news reporters, science guys – no one was safe from the year’s best comic moments online.
There was a time when all you could squeeze out of memes were repetitive, static image macros, but times have changed. We have Vines now. And plenty of people have mastered Photoshop and moved on to video editing software. Memes are harder, better, faster and stronger – and here are the 15 absolute best of 2015.
15. Rihanna’s Met Gala Dress
Many an internet comment was passed on the gúnas from Met Gala 2015, but none satisfied the internet’s hunger for fun quite like Rihanna’s egg-cellent choice of red-carpet attire.
Receita de omelete a La Rihanna #MetGala pic.twitter.com/CAirTPmOrV
— Renata Lins (@renahlins) May 5, 2015
14. Ikea’s Shelf Help Guru
Clearly, Ikea Singapore’s social media team has a great sense of humour and a penchant for puns, as evidenced by the introduction of the Shelf Help Guru.
13. Google DeepDream
Google’s DeepDream code unleashed a disturbing photo trend on the internet this summer. When it became publicly available, what started out as fascinating, trippy, and at times quite beautiful, got very weird very fast, giving those of us following this meme a regret-filled hangover.
Don't eat before bed. #spaghetti #deepdream pic.twitter.com/FCyrXUDrN8
— Thorne Brandt (@thornebrandt) July 4, 2015
12. Perplexed Bill Nye
A press shot of Bill Nye (you know, the science guy) for the show Explorer: Bill Nye’s Global Meltdown had meme-makers convincing us the end is Nye.
11. Left Shark
The half-time show at Super Bowl 50 has a lot to live up to as, this year, Katy Perry’s performance spawned a meme so loved that it took months for it to be usurped. And all it took was a Left Shark poorly dancing its way into our hearts.
Image via Mentalfloss.com
10. Straight Outta Somewhere
Promoters of Straight Outta Compton had a genius marketing campaign in their hands with this one, until the White House got involved and ruined everything with one wildly inappropriate addition.
9. Pizza Rat
Who knew the sight of a rat lugging a slice of pizza, likely weighing more than itself, down a flight of subway steps would inspire a wave of internet love?
8. Shabani the Gorilla
Where other memes have multitudinous variations, Shabani the handsome gorilla does not; just photo after photo of his photogenic self. But let’s be honest – with looks like these, who needs variety?
Shabani! #SHABANI A photo posted by masaomi_hirata (@masaomi_hirata) on
7. Kocoum
Whether you hate smelling leaves or just can’t get enough of ’em, Kocoum has the right reaction GIF for you. He may have lost the girl, but the Imgur community crowned Kocoum “the new Javert”.
GIF via Phillster Killster/Tumblr
6. WeaselPecker
There’s only one way the internet could possibly react to an extraordinary photo of a weasel riding on the back of a green woodpecker – through memes.
Watch out, #Putin-on-a-weasel-on-a-woodpecker – there's a Stormtrooper behind you! (via @msteeman) #WeaselPecker pic.twitter.com/dU5WSM9wpt
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) March 3, 2015
5. Prattkeeping
This summer, the Jurassic Park franchise was revived with a fourth instalment, and a new meme was born, as keepers of the world’s captive animals turned to social media to prove the power of Prattkeeping.
4. Teresa Mannion
How could we have a list of the year’s greatest memes without a shout-out to the brave Teresa Mannion? The Irish audience’s instant response to Mannion’s valiant efforts reporting Storm Desmond was almost as impressive as her own, incredible professionalism.
Most productive 5 minutes I've spent all year #stormdesmond #teresamannion https://t.co/soBT2dWePa
— Ciara Judge (@CiaraFudgyJudgy) December 9, 2015
3. Netflix and Chill
‘Binge-watch’ may have been word of the year, but 2015 will go down in internet history as the year another streaming-related phrase slipped into our vocabulary.
2. Confused Travolta
A scene from John Travolta’s past is putting the actor back in the spotlight, with New York magazine dubbing Confused Travolta memes as his best role in years.
1. Hotline Bling
The No 1 spot is a familiar one for rapper Drake and Hotline Bling takes top honours for providing so much more meme fodder than most. There were parodies, sure, but there were also Vines, videos and GIFs of Drake’s deadly dancing, plus the continuation of the ‘always on beat’ phenomenon. Drake himself even knew what he was at with this music video, reportedly telling choreographer Tanisha Scott, “I already know I’m going to get so many memes from this.”
How right you were, Drake. How right you were.
GIF via Thestealthyfatcat/Imgur
Drake dances to the Frasier theme quite nicely. pic.twitter.com/GK0X6iTlsz
— Mark (@tole_cover) October 20, 2015
Main 2015 image via Shutterstock
