Success Kid is an Internet meme featuring a baby clenching a fistful of sand with a determined facial expression.[1] It began in 2007 and eventually became known as "Success Kid". The popularity of the image led CNN to describe Sammy Griner, the boy depicted in the photo, as "likely the Internet's most famous baby".[2] In addition to popular use on social media, the image has been licensed for commercial use, and was used by the White House to promote immigration reform. In 2015 the Griner family used it to promote a GoFundMe campaign for money to pay for the father's kidney transplant.
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History[]
The meme originated in 2010, after Laney Griner uploaded to Flickr a photograph of her son Sammy trying to eat sand.[1]2] The meme gained initial popularity captioned "I Hate Sandcastles", suggesting that the boy had just destroyed another child's sandcastle. Eventually the interpretation of the image shifted, focusing on the boy's facial expression and
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clenched fist as a gesture of self-congratulation, adding captions that boasted of small personal victories and good fortune.[3] Laney Griner disliked the "I Hate Sandcastles" meme as she felt it made her son – who in fact loved sandcastles[3] – look like a bully, but she embraced the "Success Kid" concept.[1] She observed that her son gets laughed his association with the meme.[4]
After the meme became popular, Laney Griner licensed the picture to Getty Images, a stock photo agency,[5] but decided that there were too many contracts involved in the process, and began to license it herself instead.[5]
GoFundMe Campaign[]
Shortly before Sammy Griner's birth, his father Justin was diagnosed with kidney failure, for which he received dialysis for four hours per session, three days a week.[1] In April 2015, Laney Griner launched a GoFundMe campaign, hoping to raise $75,000 to help pay for his medical care and an eventual kidney transplant. She was initially reluctant to associate the campaign with the "Success Kid" meme, wishing for it to focus on her husband's medical need, but changed her mind, and in the first five days it received donations of nearly $9,000 from 300 people.[1] The campaign was linked to on the website Reddit, bringing the total to more than $83,000 in a few days.[10] The story was picked up by several news media outlets, including ABC News, CNN, BuzzFeed, and Time, The Huffington Post, and others.[1][2][11][12][13] In August 2015 ABC News reported that Justin had received a transplant, was doing well post surgery, and was recovering at home.[14]
References[]
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- Jump up^ "Dad of 'Success Kid' Gets Successful Kidney Transplant". ABC News. 2015-08-19. Retrieved 2016-09-02.