Meme Assignment
Below are three memes related to the finance world that have become very popular in pop culture and social media. Let's explore them below...​
This meme is related to one of the most popular stories in the finance world today: ​the FTX cryptocurrency scandal. Pictured behind the mustache is a man named Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the cryptocurrency and digital assets platform FTX. A few weeks ago, FTX seemingly went bankrupt overnight and consumers lost almost all of their money as it was used to may back creditors like Alameda Research. The 'ideals' behind this chosen meme are the fact that Sam Bankman-Fried is not facing any punishment for the fraud that he pretty obviously committed so this 'mustached' version of him is who the news outlets are portraying as the "hacker" in this scandal. The 'behaviors' of this meme as mentioned on Know your Meme is the addition of a cartoon mustache on Sam Bankman-Fried's face. The 'manifestation' of this meme is simply the twitter user tweeting the meme out on his account. This manifestation appeals to my target audience of industry professionals and employers because twitter is a very common place to get market news and memes at times are just a less serious version of market news.
This meme format was extremely popular over the last couple years amid the reddit: WallStreetBets stock short squeezing era. The most widely covered example of this was with Gamestop about two years ago when reddit users in the WallStreetBets stream worked together to short squeeze Gamestop causing institutional investors to lose millions of dollars. In this particular version of the 'Stonks' meme the 'ideals' behind this chosen meme are the fact that Wolf of Wall Street, an extremely popular movie that portrays finance in a 'positive' light. The 'behaviors' of this meme as mentioned on Know your Meme is the stock tickers as the background, the addition of the mannequin in a suit as well as the word 'stonks' and an upwards arrow. The 'manifestation' of this meme is once again a twitter user tweeting the meme out on his account. As previously mentioned twitter is a very common place to get market news and memes at times are just a less serious version of market news.
This meme format sees a lot of play leading up to elections and seems to keep resurfacing. This meme comes from a Bernie Sanders campaign commercial when he announced he was running again. In this particular version of the 'financial support' meme the 'ideals' behind this chosen meme are the stereotype that kids go off to college and never talk to their parents that much, unless they need something from them. While I haven't personally experienced this stereotype, I know it is common for some. The 'behaviors' of this meme as mentioned on Know your Meme is the text header. The 'manifestation' of this meme is in the format of a social media post that can be posted on any website like instagram, snapchat, twitter, etc. This manifestation ties in the importance of the political undertones of what is happening in the macroeconomy to what is happening in financial markets.
FTX Meme - https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/ftx-crypto-crash
Stonks Meme - https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/stonks
Bernie Sanders Meme - https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-am-once-again-asking-for-your-financial-support
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