It’s hard to believe we’re only halfway through 2018 and there’s already been so many epic memes. It seems like just yesterday it was 2017 and we were enjoying such memes as The Floor Is…, Salt Bae, and Mocking SpongeBob. Now it’s Not even July and viral memes seem to be happening every week.
Due to the daily onslaught of horrifying news, time has been a bit of a blur. So allow me to walk you through the best memes of 2018 so far, starting from the first of the year.
January
The Google Arts & Culture App
The Google Arts & Culture App face-matches your selfie with a famous painting. While some were quite accurate and flattering…
Some were, well, not so much.
The Kylo Ren Challenge
On December 14th 2017, Star Wars gave us The Last Jedi, but what it really gave us is Ben Swolo, which in turn gave us the Kylo Ren Challenge. This meme was EVERYWHERE for several days, and got so popular even celebrities started joining in.
And things only got more and more out of hand from there.
Tide Pods
Even though 2017 seemed like a 12 month train wreck and we all desperately needed a break, 2018 wasn’t about to take it’s hand off of the throttle. Our youth kicked off the year by making memes about eating highly poisonous Tide Pods.
Sure, most people were just enjoying the ridiculous joke, but this meme got so popular the US Consumer Product Safety Commission had to release this statement. What a time to be alive.
An Absolute Unit
An Absolute Unit doesn’t just refer to a cute animal, it can also be an person or even thing that is both large and showing tremendous poise. One of the few feel-good memes this year.
It all started with this tweet.
Meme makers adopted that caption and the rest is history.
February
Super Bowl Selfie Kid
There was no shortage of great moments from this year’s Super Bowl, but the most memeable moment came when Justin Timberlake took a selfie with an excited, yet slightly confused fan during his halftime performance. Truly some “left shark” caliber stuff.
Obama Portraits
Obama’s presidential portrait is beautiful, and probably would’ve gone unmemed if the Republicans didn’t make such a big, ridiculous deal about it. I guess part of me is glad they did.
Gym Kardashian
Not to be outdone by Ben Swolo, Gym Kardashian showed us that a simple photoshop job can be all it takes to go viral. I’ll go out on a limb and say Kanye probably wasn’t a fan of these.
Change My Mind
This is one of my favorites so far this year. Mostly because of the seemingly limitless ways to use it. I’m still seeing new ones pop up every day.
It’s started when conservative “comedian” Steven Crowder set up a table on a Christian University’s campus with a sign that read, “Male privilege is a myth. Change my mind.” The internet took it from there.
March
Savage Patrick
Move over Evil Kermit, Savage Patrick is the new meme to let out our inner darkness. People got pretty creative with these.
Gru’s Plan
Despicable Me‘s Gru was just trying to steal the moon, but the meme community had other plans. Another meme I still see new versions of on a daily basis.
American Chopper Argument
You don’t have to watch American Chopper to enjoy this meme. Just know that this father and son’s relationship is, well, volatile at best. Not great for family unity, but absolutely primed for memeing.
