Meme review
The Weekly Meme Roundup: Malfoid, Ronaldo Day, Hotel Lobby AI And More
The Laughing Cow may not be laughing anymore, but you can by reading the Weekly Meme Roundup, where we catch you up on five of the biggest memes from the past week.
This week in memes, IShowSpeed's 'Ronaldo Day' clip became the latest brainrot meme, Quavo's "Hotel Lobby" was run through the AI ringer, Discord's mascot Wumpus was tortured and Malfoid took over X / Twitter.
Here are five memes that you need to know about from this past week.
Malfoid
First up, we have the "Malfoid" meme, a gender-swapping fan art trend in which artists depict Harry Potter antagonist Draco Malfoy as a woman.
The Malfoid meme went viral on X over the past week and was almost unavoidable on the site. It's a simple trend: artists are imagining what Draco Malfoy would look like as a woman.
Most of the examples depict her in an anime style, and some show her making bratty remarks towards Harry Potter, as Malfoy is known to do in the movies.
It's a simple but popular fan art trend, and now it's spreading from X to sites like Reddit, where users are even using some examples of the fan art as image macro memes.
Examples
Wumpus Torture
Next up we have the "Wumpus Torture" meme, which is all about depicting the Discord mascot Wumpus getting tortured in a variety of ways.
So, why are we putting Wumpus through so much pain? It's because Discord, a popular chat and community app, has decided to go all-in on age verification on its platform. What's worse, the company's age assurance update is full of bugs that are just straight-up making Discord unusable for a lot of people.
Many are not exactly eager to prove their age in the first place, and they've decided that the best way to show their growing frustrations is by harming the app's lovable mascot.
Some of the memes and fan art examples are truly brutal, with many referencing other popular videos and memes related to torture.
It's a pretty wild format, but it's all over the place and acts as a good representation of just how angry some people are about the growing popularity of age verification online.
Examples
@n.c.mentis Discord deserves it Based on a comic by @basil_mage Animation and voicework by me #fypシ #comic #creatorsearchinsights #voiceover #voicework #discord #voiceacting #animation #meme #discordwumpus #wumpus #funny #artistsontiktok #artistsoftiktok #digitalart blank" title="♬ original sound – N.C. Mentis" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-NC-Mentis-7691514281091386143?refer=embed">♬ original sound – N.C. Mentis
@emoshredphish Wumpus paying sins of his father #fyp #emoshredphish #discord #viral #trend ♬ Chopin Nocturne No. 2 Piano Playing – moshimo sound design
The Not Laughing Cow
The Laughing Cow has now become "The Not Laughing Cow," as Babybel changed the mascot of its popular cheese brand, a red, laughing cow, to a serious, frowning red cow.
@thelaughingcowus We finally know why she stopped laughing. Let’s come together and make her laugh again.
This came as a shock to many, who seem to feel a sort of kinship towards The Laughing Cow. We've grown to love her for her laughter and positive attitude, so it's a bit shocking to see her like this.
Not only that, but the company did not immediately reveal why The Laughing Cow stopped laughing, causing a lot of concern among cheese lovers everywhere.
The Not Laughing Cow became a big meme as people imagined the reasons that she may have stopped laughing. Now, The Laughing Cow has finally revealed why she stopped laughing: It's because everyone is taking everything too seriously and fighting dumb fights.
Basically, The Laughing Cow wants us to stop fighting over so-called "wedge issues," which is funny because The Laughing Cow cheese comes in a wedge shape.
The message is appreciated, but good luck getting the internet to stop arguing over dumb stuff. That's about 90 percent of what happens on social media these days.
Examples
"Hotel Lobby" AI Edits
A 2022 video of rappers Quavo and Takeoff performing "Hotel Lobby" became a big meme this week as users decided to turn it into an AI slop trend.
@glorify_studio I used Glorify.dev for this video, link in bio. Quavo & Takeoff – HOTEL LOBBY, except it’s not them anymore. Same scene, same energy, now it’s Walter and Jesse from the Breaking Bad carrying it.
The original video was posted by the COLORS YouTube channel back in 2022. In the video, which boasts over 120 million views, the rappers perform into a microphone hanging from the ceiling over an orange background.
Recently, the Glorify Studio TikTok page, a page dedicated to AI videos, started posting AI edits of the performance that replace Quavo and Takeoff with other celebrities and characters. Examples include everyone from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce to a pair of very cool cats.
The videos are surprisingly high-quality, to the point where it's hard to argue against how impressive they are. It's also hard not to feel just a little scared about just how far AI video technology has come. Bring us back to the "Will Smith Spaghetti" days, please.
Examples
@afaraj23 Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce because why not too cute not to try the hotel lobby trend 🙈😂 #ai #taylorswift #traviskelce #hotellobby ♬ original sound – Amy
@therealmeowfia The best duo for this trend 😸🔥 #catsoftiktok #hotellobby #aiviral #catlover ♬ original sound – TheRealMeowfia
@viral.capcut.temp1 Try this template ⬆️ #CapCut #hotellobby #dynamicduo #capcutpioneer #pioneertemplate ♬ original sound – Alexis ひ
@otnashi Hotel Lobby – Quavo & Offset by Spiderman and Green Goblin ft Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe #spiderman #greengoblin #tobeymaguire #willemdafoe #aiart ♬ original sound – otnashi
Ronaldo Day
Finally, streamer IShowSpeed has inspired yet another meme with the viral "Ronaldo Day" clip, in which he gets slammed into the wall of a skating rink by NHL player Cole Caulfield.
@ironaldox "Happy Day Ronaldo Day" 😭💔 #ishowspeed #sad #edits ♬ original sound – IRONALDOX
The clip comes from a 2024 IShowSpeed YouTube video in which the streamer learns hockey from NHL player Cole Caulfield.
In one scene, Speed is happily skating along, singing, "Happy day, Ronaldo day," a reference to soccer player "Cristiano Ronaldo," when Caulfield violently checks him into the wall. Speed proceeds to cry and complain while sitting on the ice, defeated.
This clip recently went viral as a brainrot meme on TikTok. As a brainrot meme, the clip is edited in elaborate and weird ways to make it as absurd as possible.
One of the most popular edits adds a clip of Speed in the hospital after he gets checked, humorously making it look like Speed got brutally injured.
The Ronaldo Day meme stands as just another in an ever-growing pile of memes based on IShowSpeed clips, proving just how memeable the man has become.
Examples
@senyedit09 #ishowspeed #ronaldoday ♬ original sound – ray
@praisepraezee happy day ronaldo day original
@thewindreall Happy Day Ronaldo Day funk animation AUDIO MADE BY: @Car Window Window #ronaldo #day #speed #funk #fyp ♬ original sound – The Wind
@hoopervalley8 Do you find "Happy Ronaldo Day" funny? #hoopervalley #h00pify #happyronaldoday #ronaldoday ♬ original sound – hoopervalley
We'll be back next Friday with another edition of our Weekly Meme Roundup series, so stay tuned!
