The “Distracted Boyfriend” meme has brightened up the Internet

Recent events portrayed by the media have been quite disheartening these past weeks; the Barcelona attacks, hurricane Harvey’s impact on Texas and news coming from North Korea about ballistic tests have shaped the coverage priorities for the upcoming weeks.

Amongst these current events, somewhere in the web, a stock photograph has made its way to become a series of hilarious memes to momentarily brighten up our social media newsfeeds flooded with such news after going viral back in August.

The “Distracted Boyfriend” meme is a variation of a picture taken by stock photographer Antonio Guillem from Barcelona. The picture was taken two years ago in the city of Gerona, about 100km northeast from the Catalonian capital.

After seeing dozens of these memes on social media I’ve become amazed by the clever adaptations and commentary by internet users on politics and social commentary.

“Regarding what I think about the photo has gone viral, I think the image was a good foundation to whoever had the great idea to turn it into a metaphor that works for almost everything.” – Guillen on Wired magazine.

A small silver lining for the Internet in troubling times.

I’ve collected a few of my favorite Distracted Boyfriend memes I’ve come across these past few days:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tumblr site Meme Documentation traces back the origin of the meme to early 2017.