--- title: 7 Internet Memes That Are Better Than Advertising description: If any press is good press, then these brands really lucked out by association with memes that turned their products—or sales staff—into clickbait. authors: - name: Susie Poppick url: https://money.com/author/susie-poppick/ at_money_since: 2013 articles: 117 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://x.com/susiepoppick former_staff: true published: '2014-11-05T11:30:25.000Z' modified: '2024-05-07T08:58:13.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - alex from target - Chevrolet - Chipotle - coca-cola - consumer psychology - Madison Bumgarner - Mcdonald's - mentos - pbs - poland spring - Target word_count: 536 canonical: https://money.com/7-internet-memes-that-are-better-than-advertising/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![7 Internet Memes That Are Better Than Advertising](https://money.com/content.money.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/141104_em_alexfromtwitter1.jpg?crop=5px%2C161px%2C2092px%2C1176px&resize=1012%2C569&quality=85&strip&ssl=1) If there's any lesson to be learned from the [IKEA monkey](http://youtu.be/pZ80Zpi7N-E), it's that the Internet can make stars out of cute creatures in stores. And this past weekend proved it all over again, when "Alex from Target" [took over](https://time.com/3554572/alex-from-target/) the hearts and Twitter feeds of teenage girls worldwide: After this photo inspired countless [memes](http://www.buzzfeed.com/kristinharris/the-best-alex-from-target-memes), a rumor circulated that the whole thing was just a marketing stunt—though that theory was quickly [debunked](https://www.yahoo.com/tech/alex-from-target-may-actually-be-a-marketing-campaign-101799506799.html), with Target spokespeople stating they were "as surprised as anyone" by Alex's fame. But that didn't keep them, of course, from getting in on the action: Pleased with all the attention, the store [tweeted](https://twitter.com/Target/status/529298903896961025) an approving "We heart Alex, too!" Alex, who is [enjoying](https://twitter.com/acl163) his new-found fame (and perhaps waiting for his own [web game](http://www.ikeamonkeyshirt.com/game.html) to drop), is hardly the only example of the Internet giving a free gift to brand managers and advertisers. Here are 6 other brands that went viral. **1.** **Chevrolet** Last week, a Chevrolet regional zone manager named Rikk Wilde nervously [botched a televised speech](http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11791683/chevy-makes-best-exec-nervous-speech) while presenting World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner with a new Chevy truck. The company took ownership of the resulting viral video by turning Wilde's most embarrassing line — "It combines class-winning and leading, um, you know, technology and stuff" — into a hashtag. **2.** **Poland Spring** Florida Senator Marco Rubio unintentionally filmed a compelling bottled water ad when he got a dry mouth during the Republican response to the 2013 State of the Union address—and awkwardly grabbed and [gulped](http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/13/marco-rubios-gulpgate/) from a Poland Spring bottle placed off-camera. [Watch video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-V-So1NSXw) **3\. McDonald's** When Iowa science teacher John Cisna ate nothing but McDonald's food for 3 months (and—crucially—[exercised every day](http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/01/05/teacher-loses-37-pounds-after-three-month-mcdonalds-diet/)), he lost 37 pounds. His experiment, originally designed to teach his students the importance of making smart choices when presented with any menu, led to a supersized Twitter [following](https://twitter.com/johncisna), [book deal,](http://www.amazon.com/My-McDonalds-Diet-John-Cisna/dp/1632959844/ref=la_B00IYY6O1S_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415128401&sr=1-1) and [paid gig](http://www.kcci.com/news/Update-Teacher-loses-60-pounds-on-McDonald-s-diet/25087014) speaking to McDonald's franchisee and employee groups. Cisna even kept the experiment going past the 3-month mark: **4\. PBS** You might remember when then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney [raised hackles](http://entertainment.time.com/2012/10/05/why-is-mitt-romney-picking-a-fight-with-big-bird/) during a 2012 debate by saying to debate moderator Jim Lehrer: "I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you too. But I’m not going to — I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it." As a result, at least some public broadcast stations saw a [spike in donations](http://www.king5.com/videos/news/local/2014/08/03/13171424/), thanks to a "save Big Bird" [campaign](http://business.time.com/2012/10/04/save-big-bird-will-romneys-threats-wind-up-boosting-pbs-fundraising/). [Watch video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilv3VLIGJzE) **5\. Diet Coke** **and** **Mentos** A favorite of science teachers and YouTube [daredevils](http://youtu.be/-8r6P0HiPwU) alike, this famous viral challenge gives anyone who enjoys harmless explosions an incentive to buy Coke and Mentos. Though the reaction technically [doesn't require](http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/diet-coke-and-mentos-minimyth.htm) Diet Coke—just carbonated water—the aspartame in diet soda apparently makes the reaction most powerful. [Watch video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6u9WJ01Oxs) **6\. Chipotle** This video, featuring an adorable child professing love for the purveyor of pico de gallo, speaks for itself. So far, more than 2 million people have viewed it. [Watch video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KmtIHyCpf4) Now learn more about Alex from Target and check out some examples of videos that brand managers wish you had *never* seen: ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/7-internet-memes-that-are-better-than-advertising/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Influencers", "item": "https://money.com/influencers/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "7 Internet Memes That Are Better Than Advertising" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/7-internet-memes-that-are-better-than-advertising/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/7-internet-memes-that-are-better-than-advertising/", "name": "7 Internet Memes That Are Better Than Advertising", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2014-11-05T11:30:25.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/7-internet-memes-that-are-better-than-advertising/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/7-internet-memes-that-are-better-than-advertising/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-07T08:58:13.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "7 Internet Memes That Are Better Than Advertising", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2014/11/141104_em_alexfromtwitter1.jpg?quality=85", "width": 2100, "height": 2800 } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Susie Poppick", "url": "https://money.com/author/susie-poppick/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/susie-poppick/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/05/14-05-21_bio_author_poppick.jpg?quality=85&w=190&h=190&crop=1", "email": "susie_poppick@moneymail.com", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/susiepoppick" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2014-11-05T11:30:25.000Z", "description": "If any press is good press, then these brands really lucked out by association with memes that turned their products—or sales staff—into clickbait.", "abstract": "If any press is good press, then these brands really lucked out by association with memes that turned their products—or sales staff—into clickbait.", "@id": "https://money.com/7-internet-memes-that-are-better-than-advertising/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-05-07T08:58:13.000Z", "wordCount": 536, "keywords": [ "alex from target", "Chevrolet", "Chipotle", "coca-cola", "consumer psychology", "Madison Bumgarner", "Mcdonald's", "mentos", "pbs", "poland spring", "Target" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lifestyle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Influencer", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influencer" ] } ] } ] } ```