How Brands Can Succeed with Memes (Without Appearing Cringe)

Memes have also evolved from online jokes to complete cultural phenomenon that is shaping how individuals communicate, interact, and even perceive brands. Done correctly, memes can humanize a brand, generate viral engagement, and foster deep community connections. When brands fail at memes, however—be it due to tardiness, try-hardness, or being tone-deaf culturally—they risk appearing out of touch or cringeworthy, backfiring spectacularly.

In this in-depth guide, we’ll break down the first five essential strategies brands must follow to harness the power of memes without falling into the trap of irrelevance or awkwardness.

1. Why Memes Aren’t Just Funny—They Build Community
Essentially, memes are inside jokes on a massive scale. They are successful because they resonate with shared experiences, emotions, and social moments that people immediately recognize. For brands, this is a blessing in disguise—not just a chance to make people laugh but to make them feel like they're part of something bigger.

How Memes Build Brand Communities:
Shared Identity & Belonging: A brand that nails a meme is essentially communicating with its audience: "We get you." Think of Mailchimp's playful, surrealist meme aesthetic—it's exactly right for its small-business, creative audience, and makes its fans feel like they're part of the joke.

Relatability & Emotional Connection: Memes work because they hold up a mirror to daily frustrations, joys, and absurdities. Netflix's meme advertising, for example, turns iconic show moments into relatable, shareable content that strengthens fan loyalty.

Conversation Starters & Engagement Boosters: Memes, unlike typical advertisements, foster engagement. A well-timed meme can spark thousands of comments, shares, and even user-generated meme spin-offs, as with Wendy's Twitter roasts.

Real-World Example: Duolingo's Meme-Driven TikTok Fame
Duolingo's TikTok account went viral by adopting Gen Z's offbeat sense of humor. Their meme-heavy content—spotlighting the crazy Duo the Owl "threatening" folks to study Spanish—got a language app to go viral.

Key Takeaway: Memes aren't necessarily humorous—they're also about tribe-building. Brands that use them to connect, not promote, see more engagement and loyalty.

2. Know Your Audience: Cultural Relevance Over Random Jokes
One of the biggest meme marketing mishaps is assuming that all memes are created equal for all audiences. A meme that kills on Gen Z-dominated TikTok will tank on LinkedIn, where business folks appreciate dry, sarcastic memes. The difference? Deep audience knowledge.

How to Steer Clear of Meme Mistakes:
Demographic Awareness:

A B2B brand like HubSpot uses LinkedIn-suitable memes (i.e., "When the client says 'Make it pop'").

A gaming brand like Steam thrives on Reddit and Discord humor (absurdist, self-deprecating, meta).

Authenticity Over Force:

Gucci blends high fashion and meme culture effortlessly because it understands its young, fashion-conscious audience.

Microsoft's "How Do You Do, Fellow Kids?" meme attempt in 2017, on the other hand, was cringingly uncool.

Cultural Sensitivity & Context:

Burger King's "Women Belong in the Kitchen" tweet (meant to decry gender inequality in kitchen careers) backfired because it misjudged Twitter's hair-trigger outrage culture.

Success Story: Ryanair's Savage Twitter Memes
Ryanair's Twitter feed is a masterclass in audience-aware meme marketing. They roast customers, competitors, and even themselves—but it works because their budget-traveler customers appreciate the sarcasm.

Key Takeaway: Research your audience's humor, platforms, and cultural trends prior to jumping on a meme. What is humorous in one group of people might be a brand disaster in another.

3. Ride the Trend—but Be Quick and Authentic
The internet moves rapidly. Today's trending meme may be old (or even mocked) tomorrow. Brands that succeed at memes don't just post them—they act fast, stay authentic, and add their own twist to it.

Why Speed & Authenticity Matter:
Real-Time Beats Late Reactions:

Twitter users made jokes about "2020 being a cursed year," and brands such as Oreo and Burger King meme'd it quickly—gaining huge engagement.

Conversely, late adopters of the meme (such as brands still using "Distracted Boyfriend" in 2024) appear desperate and out of touch.

Sincerity Beats Logo Slapping:

It's not enough to simply slap a brand logo on a trending meme.

Denny's is unique in making memes weirdly on-brand (surreal, nostalgic, and slightly unhinged).

Steer Clear of "Corporate Meme" Vibes:

Amazon's "Peccy" meme attempts felt forced because they lacked the rough, unpolished humor of real memes.

Case Study: Elon Musk's Meme-Driven Branding
Love him or hate him, Elon Musk understands meme culture. His tweets (Dogecoin, "Tesla Cybertruck vs. Ford"), as controversial as they are, move the needle because they feel raw and in-the-moment.

Key Takeaway: Monitor trends in real-time, act fast, and stay true to your brand voice. Memes are about interacting, not selling.

4. Case Study: Wendy's Twitter Roasts and Memes That Went Viral
No brand is better at meme marketing than Wendy's. Their roast-filled, unapologetically ruthless Twitter persona has gained them millions of dollars in free publicity.

Why Wendy's Meme Strategy Works:
Consistent Brand Voice: Wendy's doesn't just tweet memes—they clap back at competitors, dunk on McDonald's, and get into Twitter beefs—all while staying playfully aggressive.

Timely, Relatable Humor:

When a user tweeted "Wendy's got that 4 for $4 but I only got $3.99," Wendy's replied: "Sounds like a personal problem." Instant viral moment.

Encouraging Fan Participation:

Their #NuggsForCarter campaign (where a teen begged for free nuggs) turned into a meme-fueled movement, racking up 3.4M retweets.

Result:
Massive earned media coverage (Vogue, BuzzFeed, CNN).

A cult following that actively engages with their content.

Key Takeaway: Long-term meme persona consistency creates long-term brand love. Wendy's teaches us that being edgy, responsive, and interactive is worth it.

5. Case Study: Netflix's Smart Meme Strategy for Marketing Shows
Netflix doesn't just release shows—it turns them into meme factories. By designing scenes to be meme-able, Netflix prolongs cultural relevance.

How Netflix Does It:
Meme-Baiting in Shows:

Stranger Things' "Running Up That Hill" scene turned into a TikTok challenge.

Bridgerton's "I Burn For You" became thirst memes.

Facilitating Fan Memes:

Netflix social media accounts actively re-share fan memes, creating a positive feedback loop of engagement.

Multi-Platform Adaptation:

TikTok: Bite-sized, punchy memes.

Twitter: Quick, text-based wit.

Instagram: Aesthetic meme edits.

Result:

Longer show lifespans (people still meme The Office years after).

Organic, free promotion from fans.

Key Takeaway: Baking meme potential into your content. Netflix shows us meme-able moments = free, permanent marketing.

6. Massive Returns, Mini Budgets: The Potency of Low-Budget Meme Content
One of the strongest suits of meme marketing? You don't need a Hollywood budget to go viral. Unlike traditional ads (which require expensive production), memes thrive on raw, relatable, and often lo-fi content.

Why Memes Yield Maximum ROI:
Limited Production, Maximum Reach:

A single funny screenshot, reaction meme, or viral audio snippet can out-engagement a high-budget ad.

Example: Slim Jim's ridiculous memes (like their "Long Boi" tweets) gained millions of impressions with effectively zero production budget.

Algorithm-Friendly:

Platforms like TikTok and Instagram prefer shareable, engaging content—memes are this kind of content by nature.

Duolingo's TikTok grew exponentially by riding trends like "Oh No" songs and crazy green-screen edits.

UGC (User-Generated Content) Goldmine:

Memes encourage fans to recreate, remix, and distribute brand content.

Example: Chipotle's #GuacDance meme challenge led to 800K+ video creations—essentially free advertising.

Brands That Nailed It:
MoonPie's Twitter: Retro, surreal tweets (like "The moon is a planet") earned them cult-favorite meme account status.

Denny's Tumblr & Twitter: Their bizarre, nostalgic vibe (e.g.: "Pancakes so good they'll haunt your dreams") fostered a devoted meme fanbase.

Key Takeaway: Memes are the ultimate "cheap and cheerful" marketing hack. Brands that embrace lo-fi, trend-driven content can outperform big-budget campaigns.

7. Memes vs Branded Ads: Why Authenticity Wins Attention
Consumers today tune out shiny ads but engage with raw, relatable content. Memes win because they're human—not corporate.

Why Authentic Memes Beat Traditional Ads:
Ad Avoidance is Real:

90% of Gen Z skips ads—but they'll stop and share a meme.

Example: Gucci's meme-generated campaigns (like their "Gucci Memes" Instagram) made luxury fun and attainable.

The "Unfiltered" Appeal:

Brands like Wendy's and Ryanair succeed because they don't sound like PR-approved robots—they sound like your sloppy friend.

Corporate speak ("We're excited to announce…") = ignored.

Meme speak ("When you realize the McDonald's ice cream machine is 'broken' again") = viral.

Blurring the Line Between Brand & Fan Content:

Netflix doesn't just post ads—it posts fan-made memes, making fans feel like co-creators.

Case Study: Liquid Death's Meme-Driven Rise
The "Death to Plastic" water brand built a $700M valuation largely through meme-driven marketing, including:
✅ Absurdist TikTok skits (like "Murder Your Thirst").
✅ Heavy metal-style memes (appealing to their anti-corporate fanbase).
✅ User-generated memes (fans love to parody their over-the-top branding).

Key Takeaway: People don't hate ads—they hate boring, sales-y ads. Memes work because they don't even feel like ads.

8. Don't Just Post—Join Communities and Co-Create Memes
The biggest mistake brands make? Treating memes like a one-way broadcast. The real power is in joining the conversation and letting fans co-create the content.

How to Engage Instead of Just Posting:
Join Niche Spaces:

Reddit, Discord, and TikTok comment sections are where memes are born and spread.

Example: Bethesda's "It Just Works" meme (from a cringey interview) became a gaming community in-joke—and they embraced it instead of ignoring it.

Encourage Fan Memes:

Duolingo's "Duo the Owl Threatens You" meme format was started by fans—then the brand officially co-opted it.

Star Wars' "Hello There" Obi-Wan meme was fan-created, but Disney commercialized it.

Run Meme Challenges:

Chipotle's #GuacDance

NASA's #SpaceCream (turning astronauts into meme templates).

Brands Doing It Right:
Steam's Meme-clusive Sales: Their "Crazy? I Was Crazy Once." meme-style game descriptions went viral on Reddit.

Spirit Airlines' Untamed Twitter: They tweet back to followers with absurd memes, making their page a go-to for entertainment.

Key Takeaway: Memes are a dialogue, not a monologue. Brands that join communities and let fans be in charge gain loyalty and organic traction.

9. Quality Control: Avoid Meme Misfires and Backlashes
For each brand meme win, there's a tone-deaf loss. Memes require cultural sensitivity and awareness—otherwise, brands sound clueless or worse, offensive.

Classic Meme Marketing Fails:
❌ Burger King's "Women Belong in the Kitchen" Tweet (intended to decry gender inequality, but awfully backfired).
❌ H&M's "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle" Hoodie (had a Black child model wearing it—outrage followed).
❌ Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner Protest Ad (tone-deaf attempt at social justice memes).

How to Avoid Meme Backlash:
✅ Research the Meme’s Origin (some have dark or offensive roots).
✅ Avoid Forced Trends (don’t jump on serious topics like politics just for clout).
✅ Test Internally First (run memes by a diverse team before posting).

Brands That Recovered Gracefully:
McDonald’s “Dead Dad” Meme Misstep: They apologized quickly and moved on.

Netflix's "Bird Box" Challenge: When fans started taking dangerous stunts, Netflix issued warnings instead of ignoring it.

Key Takeaway: Not every trend is for your brand. If in doubt, opt out.

10. Scale Smart: From Single Meme Posts to Campaign Ecosystems
The best brands don't just make one-off memes—they build entire meme ecosystems.

How to Scale Memes Into Full Campaigns:
Develop a Meme Persona (like Wendy's sassy roasts or Duolingo's deranged owl).

Turn Memes Into Merch (Slim Jim's "Long Boi" meme became a real product, for instance).

Cross-Platform Adaptation (TikTok memes → Instagram Reels → Twitter threads).

Brands That Scaled Memes Masterfully:
Duolingo's TikTok → Super Bowl Ad: Their meme-y humor traveled from phones to TV.

Slim Jim's "Long Boi" Saga: They created an entire character out of a random tweet.

Key Takeaway: Memes shouldn't be arbitrary—they should be part of an overarching brand narrative.

Final Thoughts
Memes are powerful, yet perilous. Brands that understand their audience, move fast, stay true to themselves, and engage (don't just post) will win.

What's your favorite brand meme? Tell us in the comments below! ????