By: Emily Zhang
It started as a book meme series for children in 1971. Now, a half-century later, social media has been “popping” off with this “Little Miss [ Blank ]” comedy trend this summer. What makes this meme so popular?
British author and illustrator Roger Hargreaves started his Mr. Men children’s book series when one of his sons asked about a tickle’s appearance. This became the orange and loppy-armed “Mr. Tickle”, the first book in the series of blobby and accessorized characters based on their personality or name, selling over a million copies in the span of just three years. One thing led to another, and the kids’ characters became an internet meme.
Much like the American Doll meme, this comedic trend has taken over Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. In fact, the Little Miss hashtag has over 140 million views on TikTok. One Instagram account (@LittleMissNotesApp) has gained two million followers by posting Hargreaves’s friendly and blobby characters. Under the inspiration of the captions such as “Little Miss Weed Psychosis”, “Little Miss Aggressive Drunk”, and “Mr. What’s The Wi-Fi”, people began creating their own Little Miss or Mr. Men characters.
The viral meme is so infectious because when people make their own characters, they put in their own feelings and creative emotions into the art. Nicole Gagliardi, age 22, types in an email, “I think people resonate with this meme for the same reason they like knowing their personality type or zodiac sign: they like seeing something that they can identify with, and there’s something for everyone.” In other words, the purpose of the meme is to let people online share a sort of personal description of themselves in a cute imagery way.
Yet, taking a turn on the circumstances, the trend has been spreading to commercial ads and taking over almost every platform. This might not seem bad, but Jamie Cohen has a different view. “I do think the corporate trajectory of this meme takes away from its initial pureness,” he says. It did dull his whole enthusiasm on the trend.
But as long as the Little Miss viral meme doesn’t go too far, the media should be okay. Enjoy this warm-hearted trend while it still lasts!
Sources:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/comics/2022/07/30/little-miss-meme/