The internet had an absolute field day in 2025. From oddly specific catchphrases to baby hippos that broke the internet, this year delivered meme after meme that captured our collective absurdity. Some made us laugh, some made us think, and some just made us question everything. Here’s a look back at the memes that defined the year.
Very Demure, Very Mindful: Jools Lebron’s Unexpected Empire
It started with a simple TikTok video. Jools Lebron, a content creator from Chicago, posted a clip explaining how she does her makeup for work in a way that’s “very demure, very mindful.” The delivery was deadpan perfection. The words caught fire faster than anyone could have predicted.
Within days, “very demure, very mindful” was everywhere. People were applying it to everything — their lunch choices, their outfits, their emotional breakdowns. Brands jumped on it immediately, with companies from Netflix to Verizon creating their own demure content. Lebron went from a few thousand followers to millions practically overnight.
What made this meme special was Lebron’s response to the fame. She trademarked the phrase, secured brand deals, and turned a viral moment into a sustainable career. In an internet culture that often exploits creators, Lebron’s story became an example of how to capitalize on virality with intelligence and grace. Very demure of her, honestly.
Brat Summer: How Charli XCX Changed the Aesthetic
Charli XCX released her album Brat in June 2025, and the internet immediately adopted “brat summer” as a lifestyle. The album’s neon green cover became one of the most recognizable images of the year, spawning countless memes, parodies, and even political campaign references.
The brat aesthetic was anti-perfectionism. It was messy eyeliner, dancing on tables, and owning your chaos. It stood in direct opposition to the “clean girl” aesthetic that had dominated social media. Suddenly, everyone wanted to be a little unhinged, a little messy, a little brat.
Even Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign got the brat treatment, with Charli XCX posting “kamala IS brat” on social media, which immediately became one of the most shared political memes of the election cycle. The crossover between pop music and politics was bizarre, hilarious, and extremely 2025.
The Willy Wonka Experience Disaster Was Comedy Gold
In early 2025, a company in Glasgow, Scotland advertised an immersive Willy Wonka experience that promised a magical chocolate wonderland. What attendees actually got was a nearly empty warehouse with a few sad decorations, an AI-generated script that made no sense, and actors who looked like they wanted to disappear into the floor.
Photos from the event went viral instantly. A lone Oompa Loompa standing in front of a chemistry set. A child crying next to a deflated bouncy castle. A backdrop that looked like it was printed at a gas station. The contrast between the glossy promotional images and the grim reality was comedy perfection.
The Unknown, a mysterious villain character created for the event using ChatGPT, became a meme in its own right. “Who is the Unknown?” became a rhetorical question applied to any situation involving unnecessary confusion. The whole debacle spawned documentary coverage, think pieces about AI-generated marketing, and endless TikTok recreations.
Hawk Tuah: The Interview That Launched a Thousand Memes
Sometimes the internet decides to make someone famous for the most random reason possible. Enter the “hawk tuah” girl. A street interview clip went viral when a young woman from Nashville gave a memorably colorful response to a question about dating. The specific phrase “hawk tuah” accompanied by a gesture became instantly iconic.
Hailey Welch, as the internet soon identified her, went from anonymous bar-goer to cultural phenomenon within 48 hours. She appeared on podcasts, landed sponsorship deals, and even launched her own merchandise line. The meme transcended its original context and became a general expression of confidence and audacity.
The hawk tuah phenomenon also sparked debates about internet fame, consent in street interviews, and how quickly someone’s life can change because of a single viral clip. It was funny, it was weird, and it was peak internet culture.
Why Did a Baby Hippo Become the Internet’s Emotional Support Animal?
Moo Deng, a baby pygmy hippopotamus born at Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo, became the most unlikely internet celebrity of 2025. This chunky little hippo captured hearts worldwide with her wobbly walks, dramatic splashing, and facial expressions that seemed to convey pure, unfiltered sass.
Moo Deng’s popularity was staggering. The zoo reported a 500% increase in visitors after she went viral. Merchandise featuring her face sold out repeatedly. Fan art flooded social media. People were genuinely emotionally invested in a baby hippo they’d never met.
Her appeal was simple — in a year full of chaos, stress, and existential dread, Moo Deng was pure joy. She didn’t have opinions about politics, she didn’t post hot takes, and she didn’t try to sell anyone anything. She just existed, splashed around in water, and looked adorable. Sometimes that’s exactly what the internet needs.
Apple Vision Pro and ChatGPT Memes Hit Different
When Apple released the Vision Pro headset, the internet immediately produced gold. Videos of people wearing the bulky headset while walking down streets, riding the subway, and trying to interact with the real world became an instant meme format. The disconnect between Apple’s sleek marketing and the reality of looking like a character from a sci-fi movie was too good to ignore.
ChatGPT memes also evolved throughout 2025 as AI became more embedded in daily life. The “ChatGPT writing my” format — where people joked about using AI for everything from breakup texts to wedding vows — stayed relevant all year. AI-generated images with extra fingers and nonsensical text continued to provide unintentional comedy.
Together, these tech memes reflected a year where humanity was simultaneously amazed by and deeply skeptical of technology. We laughed because it was easier than processing the existential implications of AI replacing human creativity.
2025 was a masterclass in internet culture. The memes were weird, wonderful, and deeply human even when they were about hippos and headsets. Here’s to whatever unhinged content 2026 has in store.
Which 2025 meme was your absolute favorite? Tell us in the comments — bonus points if you include the meme!