15 spots left to join us for the Digiday Publishing Summit

Join us Sept. 14-18 in Miami to connect with top publishing leaders

SECURE YOUR SEAT

Brands have discovered the ‘Damn Daniel’ meme

It’s hard to keep up, but there’s a new teenager the Internet is obsessing over.

His name is Daniel Lara, a high school student from California, who’s the center of the latest viral video called “Damn Daniel.”

Admittedly, it’s easier to watch than explain, but turn the volume down.

Here it is:

The clip, which are several Snapchat videos stitched together, was tweeted by his friend Joshua Holz, who playfully harasses his friend with the phrase as a way to troll his friends’ outfit and white Vans. “Damn, Daniel,” Josh screams. “Back at it again with the white Vans!” 

Since being uploaded on Feb. 15, the original tweet has racked up 263,000 retweets and 330,000 likes.

Not surprisingly, now brands are glomming on to Daniel and his Vans because the Internet won’t let us have nice things. Axe, Zappos, Clorox and even a British football team have all deployed the phrase:

Vans also took notice and posted an inexplicable poll that’s garnered 145,000 votes:

The company hasn’t yet returned a request for comment.

More in Marketing

OpenAI is coming for SMB advertisers

The company is going after smaller advertisers. Its job listings prove it.

Zoom relies on creators to boost AI search results

As AI changes how brands are discovered, Zoom is leaning on creators and journalists to shape its reputation.

Your favorite beauty brands are now also entertainment brands

Many of today’s beauty brands are asking if entertainment and advertising can be one and the same.