We've all done it. That tight-lipped, mirthless smile you flash at a coworker in the hallway or a stranger holding the door open.

No teeth. Minimal eye contact. It's a smile that's more "social contract fulfilled" than "warm and welcoming."

It's been dubbed the "Awkward White People Smile," and one kid's photo has become the online shorthand for such banal politeness.

The boy, seen staring into the camera lens with his school uniform buttoned to the very top, has become a stand-in for every awkward elevator ride and every disingenuous "heh" you’ve ever given.

But that boy has a name, and it's David "Vuj" Vujanić. While primarily well-known for the reaction image, Vuj's internet career is way more colorful than a 2015 Twitter meme. Let's dig into his backstory and where he's at now.

Where Did The 'Awkward White People Smile' Image Come From, And How Did It Spread?

The image that launched a thousand uncomfortable interactions started as a humble "Throwback Thursday" (TBT) post over a decade ago.

Back in 2014, London-based Serbian content creator David Vujanić, or Vuj for short, dug up an old childhood photo and posted it to Instagram.

At the time, Vuj was already semi-recognizable on U.K. YouTube, but he had no idea this unremarkable school portrait would go viral.

The earliest known meme of the image appeared in an October 2015 tweet by X / Twitter user @rashadpls, which read, "this how white people smile at you when you pass them on the street."

From there, the photo began ricocheting around Twitter, Reddit and Instagram. Between 2016 and 2018, it became a catch-all for awkward yet banal human interactions.

Vuj watched the image mutate in real time. "It hit Reddit, then Twitter, then WorldStar," he told us in a 2024 interview. He didn't post the photo to any of those places himself, but the internet did what it does.

The meme had resurgences, most recently in 2022, when, according to Vuj, it blew up in Italy. Unlike U.S. users who "just captioned it," Italians went all out with the meme absurdism, photoshopping his face directly onto bungling football players and politicians.

Among his favorites are captions like, "When you’re the cashier and you have to go run to get flour," and, "When you walk into the lift and you both press the same button."

Who Is David 'Vuj' Vujanić, And What Was His Career Like Before The Meme?

Before he was a meme, Vuj was already a known face in U.K. digital culture. Born and raised in East London, he grew up among a swirl of immigrant communities, Black, Caribbean, Eastern European, and brought that multicultural sensibility to his early YouTube work.

In 2010–11, he started making parody videos inspired by The Lonely Island, Borat and obscure U.K. YouTubers like Shadrack and the Mandem. "I loved their humor… just outlandish, veering on the controversial side," he said.

His most popular character was Bricka Bricka, a fictional builder-rapper hybrid who leaned into Eastern European stereotypes. One of Vuj's early viral hits was a "Gangnam Style" parody called "Eastern European Style," which racked up millions of views.

He also teamed up with YouTuber KSI in 2014 for "Boris Bike," a parody of the U.K. grime track "German Whip." It would be one of KSI’s last comedy collabs before pivoting to serious music and becoming one of the U.K.'s biggest YouTubers today.

It was in the midst of all this, juggling a YouTube channel and a burgeoning career in satirical content, that Vuj casually posted the infamous TBT photo. At the time, no one could have known that it would outlive his parody raps.

What's The Backstory Behind The Meme, And Does Anyone Ever Recognize Vuj From It?

Vuj estimates he was 8 or 9, in elementary school, and it was picture day. His mom picked out the shirt, made sure he looked tidy, and sent him off to school. When the photographer told him to smile, Vuj instinctively resisted. "I didn't like people telling me what to do," he explained.

After a brief battle of the wills with who he calls the "authoritarian school photographer," Vuj obliged him with his thin, tight-lipped smile. "My mum bought the photos, thought it was cute, whatever," he said, so perhaps all was well in the end.

Despite his long-running content career, many of Vuj's fans still don't always realize he's the kid in the meme. "It's funny because I post it all the time," Vuj said. "But people still get surprised." The same must be true now, with Vuj looking almost unrecognizable from his childhood photo with his long hair and beard.

Maybe that's why he was seen pulling his signature face while carrying around a phone with the photo for reference at a recent "Doge Day" in Japan, where he hung out with fellow meme legends Scumbag Steve (Blake Boston) and Bad Luck Brian (Kyle Craven).

Still, Vuj does remember the one time he was recognized as the Awkward Smile Guy by a fan, and an Italian fan at that. He didn't know Vuj from any of his YouTube videos or characters, and only knew him from the meme. "I was not expecting it at all," Vuj said, "It was quite cool."

What Has Vuj Been Up To Since His Meme Went Viral, And What's Next For Him?

In the years after his meme quietly took over the internet, David Vujanić carved out a more intentional presence online. He joined COPA90 and co-created "FIFA and Chill," a laid-back interview series (inspired by the Netflix and Chill meme) that coaxed big names in soccer/football into bathrobes and banter.

"We got players to relax," Vuj said. "Tried to make soccer players more human, more fun, more lighthearted."

The show did well, and Vuj spent nearly a decade traveling the world, interviewing athletes, and embedding himself in the global football scene.

That long sprint led to a post-COVID crash. "Bit of burnout," he admitted. "After 10 years of going and going hard at it."

In between that burnout and now, he made a cameo in the crypto world. He was invited to participate in Doge Day, a 2021 livestream event celebrating the meme coin's rise, and even launched a one-of-one NFT of the infamous awkward-smile photo.

Vuj took it easy on the internet for a while, but his biggest win in recent months was perhaps his team KSI x AboFlah winning a massive charity tournament called Match for Hope in Doha back in March 2025.

He played as a goalie for his team, beating iShowSpeed's team in a 5-6 victory that raised over $10 million for Education Above All.

It seems like Vuj has been taking the advice he offered in his KYM interview seriously: "Capitalize on your moments. Don’t be lazy. Expand and be creative with whatever’s presented to you and enjoy the ride."

"We are in a crazy world. Amazing, but at the same time, it can be so horrible," Vuj said. "So I think focus on the positive if you can. Be creative and enjoy if you can, because we’re lucky."

You can keep up with Vuj online on his YouTube channel @DavidVujanic and his Instagram page @dvujanic.

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For the full history of the Awkward White People Smile meme, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information. To see the rest of our "Where Are They Now" series, you can find them all here. Stay tuned for next week's editorial!

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