At this point, "How do you do, fellow kids?" has been a meme for so long that it's easy to take for granted. The image of visibly-not-teenage actor Steve Buscemi in garb akin to a high schooler asking "How do you do, fellow kids?" is a classic. But because the show it came from has been off the air for many years, it's possible that newer meme enjoyers might not know the history of the meme history icon.

Where Does 'How Do You Do Fellow Kids' Come From?

Kids, in the 2000s, there was a show on television called 30 Rock, and it was very funny.

The scene comes from the February 16th, 2012 30 Rock episode "The Tuxedo Begins" (season six, episode 8). In the show, actor Steve Buscemi plays Lenny Wosniak, a private detective hired as a strike buster.

In a scene where Wosniak is describing his prior investigations, he flashes back to a scene where he believes he successfully masqueraded as a high school student, parodying the TV show 21 Jump Street. Buscemi, a 55-year-old at the time the episode aired, approaches a group of high school teens dressed as "one of them." As he approaches, he says, "How do you do, fellow kids?" The catchphrase has since come to represent all egregious attempts at appealing to subcultures.

How Has 'How Do You Do Fellow Kids' Remained A Meme For So Long?

Though the scene aired in 2024, it's remained relevant due to politicians, corporations and general cringey adults continuously attempting to appeal to youths by adopting their slang or using their memes (think Hillary Clinton saying "Pokémon GO to the polls"). The meme inspired a subreddit, /r/fellowkids, which is devoted to such cringey moments in advertising to kids and teens. In ten years, the subreddit gained over 1.3 million subscribers.

Buscemi himself has nodded to the meme multiple times, wearing it as a Halloween costume and at the 2020 SAG Awards.

With over a decade of life, "How do you do, fellow kids?" has longevity other memes can only dream of, and so long as there are cringe attempts at appealing to young people, it won't go away anytime soon.

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For the full history of How do you do, fellow kids?, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.