Classic Meme 11 (Popeyes Kid)

The "Popeyes Kid" or "Terio at Popeyes" meme originated from a viral Vine video featuring Dieunerst Collin, a young boy at a Popeyes fast-food restaurant. In the video, Collin stands next to garbage bins and gives side-eyed glances at the camera as an older man jokes that he resembles the Vine celebrity Terio. This video became a popular reaction meme, often used to express judgment or skepticism. In January 2023, Collin, now a college football player, leveraged his viral fame to secure a Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal with Popeyes.

The original Vine video was posted on August 21, 2013, by user TheRealSnoopy. Titled "Terio At Popeyes," it garnered over 19 million loops, 670,000 likes, and 591,000 revines in under seven years. In the clip, a man humorously points out Collin, saying, "Yo, this nigga Terio at Popeyes," to which Collin responds with a series of side-eyed glances.

The video quickly became a meme. The day after its posting, Twitter user @Drummerboy_015 shared a two-frame image macro of the scene captioned "When I see my teacher at a store," which gained popularity. Redditor Y2Spade posted a GIF of the scene on June 5, 2014, on the /r/reactiongifs subreddit, further spreading its use as a reaction image. Another notable meme came from Instagram user @dallaswhatsgood on March 18, 2016, using the image with the caption, "When the Japanese heard the U.S. was testing nuclear bombs after attacking Pearl Harbor."

On December 5, 2021, Collin, a member of the East Orange High School football team, celebrated a state championship victory. Twitter user @Jerseystar973 shared a side-by-side image of the original meme and a photo of Collin with the championship cup, which received over 135,000 likes and 18,000 retweets in two days. Collin expressed that initially, he felt bullied by the meme but eventually grew to embrace it.

In January 2023, Collin took to social media, calling for Popeyes to sponsor him now that he was a college football player and eligible for NIL deals. His campaign gained significant support, and on January 11, 2023, Popeyes finalized an NIL deal with him. The partnership was widely celebrated, highlighting how a viral meme turned into a beneficial sponsorship. On January 13, 2023, Popeyes released a video featuring Collin titled "from memes to dreams," where he read a letter to his younger self. This video received over 11,800 likes in two weeks and was widely reported by media outlets.
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