Success Kid
Where it came from
A 2007 photo of baby Sammy Griner at a beach in Florida, scrunching a fistful of sand with a determined look on his face. His mom posted it to Flickr, 4chan found it, and by 2008 it was everywhere.
A baby on a beach clenches a fistful of sand, jaw set, eyes on some distant horizon. He looks like he just got away with something and he's quietly celebrating. You caption it with a small victory — the kind of thing that shouldn't feel great but absolutely does. "Found a parking spot right by the entrance. Yes." "Replied all without crying. Yes."
The power is in the tiny scale. Success Kid isn't for life-defining wins. He's for the moment you put a pizza in the oven and remember to set a timer. The baby's face is the perfect match for that feeling of private, inexplicably huge satisfaction over something that doesn't matter.
Mostly faded from active use, but in 2015 Sammy's family used the meme's recognizability to crowdfund a kidney transplant for his dad, and it worked. That's probably the best thing any meme has ever done for anyone.
Search interest, over time
↳ data courtesy of google trends
