Ah… The internet and its wonderful treasures, a.k.a. memes. Korea and its wonderful treasures, a.k.a. TWICE. These two powerful elements combined end up being the cause of some of our smiles, laughs and happy moments!
Now, we all love a good meme. But have you ever wondered: what makes a good meme, good? No, I’m joking. But we do love good memes! Especially the ones we know and understand the original reference.
But I’ve always thought that memes regarding specific celebrities are some sort of inside joke between the artist and the fandom, and I consider that a very special, invisible bond that they have. This bond is something, I think, that every artist has, and that every good artist knows how to make it work better, how to make it stronger, grow with it, etc.
The K-Pop industry is one that has known how to use that bond in order to create a more intimate relationship between the public and the artists.
Most K-Pop groups are walking and talking memes, and we all know that. TWICE are, of course, no exception to this. They are one of those groups that know how to stay in touch with the public, keeping them entertained with their dorky personalities and the interactions they have between themselves and the fandom.
Those interactions are, in my opinion, both cute and hilarious.
They have grown a particular kind of family, a very close friendship. The best friendships, for me, are the ones you can say something without any sense or understandable context, but the other person would know exactly what you mean.
I like celebrity memes because of that. You could almost feel like part of a select group of people, a group where they speak your language, understand your humor. But there are, as well, some memes that are fully capable of explaining themselves without needing any additional context. Such as memes regarding a facial expression, followed by a very relatable comment that may be exaggerated. Or not.
And here’s where the stars of the post come to shine once again! TWICE has, certainly, a very wide range of facial expressions, relatable facial expressions, which make them the perfect target to base the memes off. And, although the point of a meme is entertainment purposes, sometimes by shaming others that is both a good way to gain new fans and to promote yourself.
TWICE’s way to express themselves has turned their dorky, cute faces into meme faces, making them easier to bond with their fans through jokes (made mostly by them) and to promote themselves as the fresh, young group that they are.
I’d like to finish off by asking you guys, what do you think about the meme usage when you’re a celebrity? Do you think it’s only for entertaining the public or do you think there could also be some marketing involved behind that? Let me know by leaving a comment!
As we look at how TWICE as a whole work as a meme team, let’s look in-depth at one particular meme-ber: Momo Hirai!
