If you’ve been on the internet recently, you may have seen a slightly popular meme of the name “Gucci Morty.” This meme was particularly amusing to me as an avid Rick and Morty fan, but upon further inspection, I have an interesting theory.
I was discussing the rise of “Gucci Morty” with some friends, and we were thinking about how brands have been appealing to the brain rotted humor of Generations Z and Alpha. This looks like the Slim Jim brand posting silly things, brands posting text memes that are slightly funny, and even brands in comment sections trying to be funny. Brands are trying to be more and more relatable to consumers these days, and it’s succeeding.
We all have those friends that follow a bunch of branded accounts on Instagram for some reason, and that’s because they find the brand approachable. This could be because of what the brand has been posting, which is likely some form of ‘memeified’ marketing. We’ve seen the rise of the word ‘chic’ on the internet as well, so brands have latched onto it. An influx of marketing has begun using the word ‘chic’, like coffee shops posting photoshoots of drinks with the captions saying, “Kinda chic to get a matcha….” Or something similar.
This is only one example of brands latching onto language that has become popularized by the younger generations. Some brands use memes directly, the ‘67’ meme was a big one that appeared in some advertisements, and some accounts on TikTok like Pine-Sol and Nutter Butter exclusively post weird videos that appeal exclusively to younger audiences. These advertisements don’t make sense to older folks. There’s a generational gap in this marketing strategy, something that is risky, but pays off when the younger audiences engage.
As a society, we’re somewhat familiar with the concept of industry plants. This is the concept of an individual or an idea being pushed through an industry based on money and networking, not genuine interest in the individual or idea. Usually this takes place in the entertainment industry, but more recently has been seen in the common marketplace. This is sort of where marketing and Gucci Morty can come into play.
Rather than Gucci Morty being a fan-generated meme that gained popularity through genuine interest and engagement with fans, what if he was a meme planted by the brand Gucci to generate buzz around the brand name? This could be a more advanced, or secretive, play to gain engagement from the younger generation for this brand. As an avid Rick and Morty enjoyer, I’m online in Rick and Morty spaces and saw the first iterations of Gucci Morty. I didn’t expect him to gain so much traction, and seeing the meme go so viral made me wonder if some other force was behind this.
Furthermore, the virality of Gucci Morty led to other luxury brands being included with other members of the Smith family dressed in other clothing brands. Rick was dressed in a Vlone shirt, Jerry sporting Balenciaga shirt, summer matching Morty in Gucci, and Beth sporting a full Dolce & Gabbana outfit. This included these other brands in the virality of the meme – spreading those brand names to the masses. This was just another effect of the Gucci Morty meme; people began talking about these brands again, just because they were included in the meme-ified version of the Smith family.
I am obviously aware that Rick and Morty is a very popular show, and has gained millions of views, so the virality of the meme could be from genuine engagement and recreations from other fans. But seeing the rise of memes in brands trying to sell things online, and then the rapid rise of Gucci Morty made me think. Furthermore, they Especially since I hadn’t heard Gucci in a meme since like 2016. I wonder if we can expect more ‘Branded Memes’ like Gucci Morty in the future – and if we do, I wouldn’t be surprised.