#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:
The #StraightOutta hashtag is killin me.
A photo posted by Questlove Gomez (@questlove) on
Even the boss is about it. S/O to @Oprah. #StraightOutta pic.twitter.com/MsgRmEh6j1
— Beats By Dre (@beatsbydre) August 10, 2015
#StraightOutta BROOKLYN!! @beatsbydre https://t.co/HOYDLNVFgh pic.twitter.com/eMD8hN8GD6
— Lil’ Kim (@LilKim) August 8, 2015
Obviously brands couldn’t resist:
Cruisin down the street, with my Slim 4 #StraightOutta pic.twitter.com/rwdim4dbky
— Jimmy John’s (@jimmyjohns) August 7, 2015
Hedgehog Life. #StraightOutta pic.twitter.com/wlrGsQREE0
— Sonic the Hedgehog (@sonic_hedgehog) August 7, 2015
That moment when… #StraightOutta pic.twitter.com/7mRF7URxXc
— SNICKERS® (@SNICKERS) August 10, 2015
Started from the bottom now we’re here! #StraightOutta pic.twitter.com/d5KXq82Zsc
— Whataburger® (@Whataburger) August 7, 2015
One person managed to find a way to include the Drake vs. Meek Mill beef…
I’m Done #StraightOutta pic.twitter.com/LuGXDR0E8E
— Prodigy (@SeeMyJays_) August 9, 2015
…or shade Bill Cosby.
Who did this? #straightoutta pic.twitter.com/RTwKZAhKXD
— Captain Pajamas (@CaptainPajamas) August 7, 2015
But the best mic drop of all was probably this one:
This might be the best #StraightOutta that I’ve seen .. Smh, definitely outta patience … pic.twitter.com/tbWIdMe4zo
— NOAH .. (@DetroitChe) August 8, 2015
More in Marketing
‘Worried about getting caught out’: Sir Martin Sorrell on why CMOs are not ready to pay for outcome-based agencies
A steady economy is emerging as the quiet counterweight to AI’s much-hyped reinvention of the agency holdco model.
‘More focused on advertising than ever before’: Nearly all of X’s top 100 advertisers returned, ads boss claims
Claim comes as X is embroiled in latest scandal that involves it’s AI chatbot Grok creating sexualized images of women and minors.
CES 2026: Agentic AI hype vs. media buyers’ pragmatism
CES 2026 was all about agentic AI, but Digiday’s Seb Joseph shares why media buyers are approaching the hype around autonomous media buying with pragmatism over urgency.