#StraightOutta the Internet: From brands to celebs, the NWA meme takes over the Web

Internet, meet your new inescapable meme.

As a way to promote the upcoming biographical movie about N.W.A., called “Straight Outta Compton,” advertising firm North Kingdom, together with Beats by Dre, created a template that lets users replace the California city with a city of their choosing and a background picture.

From there, the picture can be easily uploaded to Facebook or Twitter creating an infectious viral meme that slyly serves as a promotional tool. The meme has also infiltrated Instagram, but the sharing process is less seamless since they have to take a screenshot then upload it to the photo-sharing app.

The template, which mimics a Snapchat sponsored filter, is also adorned with a Beats by Dre logo as Dr. Dre is a producer on the film releasing Friday. While it works both on mobile and desktop, emojis sadly aren’t compatible.

Since its inception last week, the #StraightOutta hashtag exploded with 7,000 tweets over the weekend. It blew up on Instagram, with 141,000 total pictures with the hashtag with most of them using the template.

Some used the meme seriously while others made it into a joke. Let’s review who used it, starting with celebrities:

#StraightOutta #TheBronx #FBF #BronxBarbie

A photo posted by Jennifer Lopez (@jlo) on

The #StraightOutta hashtag is killin me.

A photo posted by Questlove Gomez (@questlove) on

Obviously brands couldn’t resist:

One person managed to find a way to include the Drake vs. Meek Mill beef…

…or shade Bill Cosby.

But the best mic drop of all was probably this one:

https://digiday.com/?p=130385

More in Marketing

Tariff saga creates a meme war on social media, making it difficult for brands to ‘control the message’

As the trade war escalates, social media narratives about how goods are made is pressuring brands to increase transparency.

How Hyundai’s CMO is navigating upfront marketplace uncertainty and rapid-response tariff ads

Hyundai’s CMO explains how the automaker put its latest tariff-tinged ad on the road in just a week.

When it comes to ads, Apple isn’t playing coy anymore

Apple’s rebrand of its search ads business is the latest in a string of changes that suggest the tech company is gearing up for a more concerted move for ad dollars.