The Real People Behind Some of the Most Popular Memes Online Revealed

If you’re a social media user, you probably see dozens of memes a day in the form of photos, videos and gifs, but have you ever thought twice about the people who are actually in those frequently used reaction images?

Many people have had their lives completely changed when they woke up one day and realized that hundreds or thousands of people were sharing a photo of them! And some of their lives and journeys to meme history might just surprise you.

Kombucha Girl

The short form video of this woman trying the drink Kombucha for the first time went viral in August of 2019, and it lost Brittany Broski her job! At the time, Broski was working at a bank, but was fired because of the popularity of the video.

Since then she has become one of TikTok’s biggest stars and she won a Break the Internet award for TikToker of the Year in 2019.

Success Kid

The success kid meme started in 2007 after mother Laney Griner posted a photo of her son Sam on Flickr. The photo was originally captioned “I hate sandcastles,” but the internet soon turned the photo into a triumphant reaction image.

Sam is now 13 years old and in 2015, the family used their internet popularity to create a GoFundMe to help pay for Sam’s father’s medical care and a kidney transplant.

Good Luck Charlie

This reaction photo is a screenshot of the Disney Channel series “Good Luck Charlie,” in which actress Mia Talerico played Charlie, the youngest daughter in a growing family.

Is it common for series starring young children to cast a set of twins to play one character, but Mia Talerico was the only actress to play the role. She is currently twelve years old and she continues acting regularly.

Blinking White Guy

This reaction gif came into being during a livestream on the gaming site Giant Bomb. Drew Scanlon, who is in the meme, reacted to one of his teammates while playing the game Starbound. When his teammate Jeff said an out of the ordinary phrase, Scanlon blinked his eyes in disbelief.

He used his popularity to bring awareness to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society charity.