Distracted boyfriend

The stock image was taken in the city of Girona in Catalonia, Spain, in mid-2015 by photographer Antonio Guillem from Barcelona.{{cite news |last=Belam |first=Martin |title=I didn't know what a meme was, says Distracted Boyfriend photographer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/aug/30/the-team-that-made-the-distracted-boyfriend-meme-have-split-up |accessdate=July 21, 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=August 30, 2017}} Guillem told Wired that he and the stock image models planned on having a session that would represent the concept of infidelity "in a playful and fun way".{{cite magazine |last1=Barrett |first1=Brian |title=The 'Distracted Boyfriend' Meme's Photographer Explains All |url=https://www.wired.com/story/distracted-boyfriend-meme-photographer-interview/ |magazine=Wired |date=August 28, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} The boyfriend and girlfriend in the photograph are known by their stage names "Mario" and "Laura". "Laura" later described the experience shooting the stock images, saying: "When people saw us simulate those scenes in the street, they stopped to look and laugh and, in my case that I had to have a more serious face, I had a hard time to keeping it".

The image was uploaded to Shutterstock with the caption: "Disloyal man walking with his girlfriend and looking amazed at another seductive girl".{{cite web |last=Molina |first=Brett |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/talkingtech/2017/08/25/disloyal-man-meme-explained/600822001/ |title=The 'disloyal man' meme, explained |work=USA Today |date=August 25, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} Regarding the copyright status of this image, Guillem has stated that his images "are subject to copyright laws and the license agreements of the microstock agencies. It's not allowed to use any image without purchasing the proper license in any possible way, so each one of the people that use the images without the license are doing it illegally. This is not the thing that really worries us, as they are just a group of people doing it in good faith, and we are not going to take any action, except for the extreme cases in which this good faith doesn't exist".{{cite web |last=Zhang |first=Michael |url=https://petapixel.com/2017/09/18/story-behind-viral-distracted-boyfriend-meme-photo/ |title=The Story Behind That Viral 'Distracted Boyfriend' Meme Photo |date=September 18, 2017 |work=PetaPixel |accessdate=July 21, 2018}}

The first known use of the stock image as an internet meme was posted to a Turkish progressive rock Facebook group in January 2017. The post labeled the man as Phil Collins, who is being distracted from progressive rock by pop music. This meme was reposted on an English-language progressive rock Facebook page the next day, and then on Twitter on February 2, 2017.{{cite web |last=Britton |first=David |url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/distracted-boyfriend-memes/ |title=The best Distracted Boyfriend memes |website=The Daily Dot |date=July 14, 2018 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} Later that month, the original stock photograph was shared on Instagram and got almost 30,000 likes.{{cite news |last=Wanshel |first=Elyse |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/distracted-boyfriend-disloyal-man-wandering-eyes-meme_us_59a05626e4b05710aa5bf381 |title=The Story Behind The Stock Photo That Launched A Thousand Jokes |date=August 25, 2017 |work=HuffPost |accessdate=July 21, 2018}}

The meme started going viral on August 19, 2017 after a Twitter user posted the photograph with the man labeled "the youth" being distracted from his girlfriend "capitalism" by "socialism". Another Twitter user copied this meme, getting retweeted more than 35,000 retweets and nearly 100,000 likes.{{cite web |last=Romano |first=Aja |url=https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/8/25/16200526/distracted-boyfriend-other-woman-stock-photo-meme |title=Why that "distracted boyfriend" stock photo meme is suddenly everywhere |work=Vox |date=August 25, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} The meme and its permutations went viral on Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook.{{cite web |last=Hathaway |first=Jay |url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/distracted-boyfriend-meme/ |title=The distracted boyfriend is everyone's favorite new meme |date=August 24, 2017 |work=The Daily Dot |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} The distracted-boyfriend meme is listed by Know Your Meme as an example of object labeling.{{cite web |last=Schwedel |first=Heather |url= https://slate.com/technology/2018/03/memes-are-object-labeled-now.html |title=Thanks to the Distracted Boyfriend, We're Living in a Golden Age of 'Object Labeling' Memes |work=Slate |date=March 22, 2018 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} The girlfriend in the meme generally came to represent something that one is supposed to do and the woman wearing red came to represent something more desirable or riskier.{{cite news |last=Tansill-Suddath |first=Callie |url=https://www.bustle.com/p/the-distracted-boyfriend-meme-has-18th-century-version-that-people-are-going-wild-for-on-twitter-8816055 |title=The 'Distracted Boyfriend' Meme Has An 18th Century Version That People Are Going Wild For On Twitter |work=Bustle |date=April 17, 2018 |accessdate=July 24, 2018}}

The models "Mario" and "Laura" say they first learned about the memes based on their photograph when people started posting them to their social media accounts.{{cite web |last=Feldman |first=Brian |url=http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/08/disloyal-man-meme-models-laura-mario-antonio-guillem.html |title='Disloyal Man' Meme Models: 'People Have a Lot of Imagination!' |work=New York |date=August 29, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}}{{cite web |last=Shamsian |first=Jacob |date=August 29, 2017 |title=The spurned girlfriend from the 'distracted boyfriend' meme thinks everyone 'has been the girl in the red dress' |url=https://www.thisisinsider.com/distracted-boyfriend-meme-interview-with-couple-2017-8 |accessdate=July 21, 2018 |work=Insider |publisher=}} Guillem told The Guardian that "I didn't even know what a meme is until recently. The models discovered the meme on social media and they told me about it. None of us could imagine the media repercussion that it has reached right now".

Some brands started using the meme when it started going viral.{{cite web |last=Bradley |first=Diana |url=https://www.prweek.com/article/1443244/5-brands-insert-themselves-viral-distracted-boyfriend-stock-picture |title=5 brands insert themselves into the viral 'distracted boyfriend' stock picture |work=PRWeek |date=August 30, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} In early January 2018, a version of the meme referencing the biblical story of Lot's wife turning into a pillar of salt went viral on Twitter.{{cite news |last1=Britton |first1=David |title=The 'Distracted Boyfriend' meme gets a biblical makeover |url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/distracted-boyfriend-meme-biblical/ |accessdate=July 21, 2018 |work=The Daily Dot |date=January 5, 2018}} The meme was used in a sign for the "Enough! National School Walkout" gun violence protest in March 2018.{{cite news |last=Reinstein |first=Julia |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/juliareinstein/apush-2050 |title=Teens Brought Their Meme Brilliance To The National School Walkout |work=BuzzFeed News |date=March 15, 2018 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}}{{cite web |last=Alemoru |first=Text Kemi |url= http://www.dazeddigital.com/politics/article/39406/1/memes-protest-signs-national-walkout-day-teens-gun-control |title=How memes became an agent of protest in 2018 |date=March 16, 2018 |work=Dazed |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} On June 25, 2018, Twitter user Ernie Smith noted other stock images in which the girlfriend from the original meme is surprised looking at screens.{{cite news |last=Amatulll |first=Jenna |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/woman-in-distracted-boyfriend-meme-is-perpetually-shocked-in-other-stock-photos_us_5b325024e4b0b5e692f19424 |title=Woman In Distracted Boyfriend Meme Is Perpetually Shocked In Other Stock Photos |date=June 26, 2018 |work=HuffPost |accessdate=July 21, 2018}}

In November 2020, it was used in a commercial for Jules, a French clothing company.{{Citation |title=Jules - Men In Progress (November 2020) | date=November 2, 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kV9NbAu76Y |access-date=2023-04-20 |language=en}}

The New York Times published the meme in its Business section on May 29, 2019, referencing the proposed merger of Renault and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. The boyfriend is labeled as "Renault", who is being distracted by "Fiat Chrysler" with his girlfriend "Nissan".{{cite web |last=Kircher |first=Madison Malone |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/05/hip-new-york-times-publishes-2017s-hottest-meme.html |title=New York Times: Hello, Fellow Kids |date=May 29, 2019 |work=New York Magazine |accessdate=May 29, 2019}}

File:The Man between Vice and Virtue.jpg]]

Early variations of the distracted meme used other photos from Guillem's photo shoot of the three stock characters to create a story. In late January 2018, some social media users noted similarities between the meme and a Mission: Impossible – Fallout teaser image featuring Henry Cavill and Angela Bassett.{{cite web |last=Bastidas |first=Jose |date=January 27, 2018 |url=http://popculture.com/trending/2018/01/28/mission-impossible-6-fallout-teaser-tom-cruise-henry-cavill-distracted-boyfriend-meme/ |title='Mission: Impossible 6' Teaser Resembles 'Distracted Boyfriend' Meme |website=PopCulture.com |publisher=Entertainment Tonight |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} On April 16, 2018, a Twitter user called the Joshua Reynolds 1761 painting David Garrick Between Tragedy and Comedy the "18th-century equivalent" of the distracted boyfriend meme;{{cite web |last=Kelly |first=Tiffany |url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/18th-century-distracted-boyfriend-meme/ |title=This 18th-century painting looks like the Distracted Boyfriend meme |work=The Daily Dot |date=April 17, 2018 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} the painting itself would then become popular as a similar meme with historic references.

In May 2018, a Twitter user posted an image pairing a coin commemorating the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with one of the characters from the meme.{{cite web |last=Reitz |first=Collette |url=https://www.elitedaily.com/p/this-meme-with-meghan-markle-prince-harrys-coin-will-be-your-new-favorite-8979700 |title=Meghan Markle & Prince Harry's Coin Just Got Turned Into The Funniest Meme |work=Elite Daily |date=May 4, 2018 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} In June 2018, film writer Peter Goldberg posted on his Twitter account a scene from Charlie Chaplin's 1922 short film Pay Day with a format similar to the distracted-boyfriend meme.{{cite web|last=Evon|first=Dan|url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/distracted-boyfriend-meme-come-real-movie/|title=Did the 'Distracted Boyfriend' Meme Come From a 1920's Silent Film?|work=Snopes|date=June 11, 2018}}{{cite news |last=Novak |first=Matt |url=https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/did-charlie-chaplin-invent-the-distracted-boyfriend-mem-1826726244 |title=Did Charlie Chaplin Invent the Distracted Boyfriend Meme? |work=Paleofuture |publisher=Gizmodo Media Group |date=June 11, 2018 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=evU2Hbs9JJM|title=Charlie Chaplin - The Original Distracted Boyfriend (Clip from "Pay Day")|work=YouTube|date=June 12, 2018}} In July 2018, a photograph of a woman eating ice cream with a man and a woman holding hands in Venice went viral because of its similarities to the distracted boyfriend meme.{{cite news |last=Drascott |first=Edd |url=https://www.independent.ie/world-news/and-finally/this-photobomber-recreated-the-distracted-boyfriend-meme-by-fluke-37093705.html |title=This photobomber recreated the Distracted Boyfriend meme by fluke |work=Irish Independent |publisher=Press Association |date=July 8, 2018 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} A version of the meme featuring a distracted groom went viral on Twitter in October 2018.{{cite magazine |last=Bruner |first=Raisa |url=https://time.com/5412058/distracted-groom-meme/ |title=Distracted Groom Meme Is a Step Up From Distracted Boyfriend |magazine=Time |date=October 1, 2018 |access-date=October 2, 2018}}

In Hungary, another stock photo of the same two models was used in a government campaign to promote child birth, prompting ridicule.{{cite web |last=Walker |first=Shaun |date=March 13, 2019 |title=Orbán's family values ads mocked for using 'distracted boyfriend' models |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/13/viktor-orban-family-values-ads-mocked-for-using-infidelity-image-distracted-boyfriend |website=The Guardian}}

Nathan Heller of The New Yorker wrote that "the delight of the Distracted Boyfriend meme was not unlike the perverse pleasure taken by Distracted Boyfriend himself: it allowed America to turn its attention away from much more important commitments".{{cite magazine |last=Heller |first=Nathan |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/likes/the-distracted-boyfriend-memes-perverse-pleasure-in-2017 |title=The Distracted Boyfriend Meme's Perverse Pleasure in 2017 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=December 11, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} Tiffany Kelly of The Daily Dot wrote that "the distracted boyfriend meme's range, unintentionally created by Guillem's portfolio, set it apart from other popular internet content [in 2017]".{{cite web |last=Kelly |first=Tiffany |title=Distracted Boyfriend Is the Meme of the Year |url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/distracted-boyfriend-meme-2017/ |work=The Daily Dot |date=December 25, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} Clair Valentine of Paper listed the meme as one that defined the year 2017, writing that "They say that often, the most specific stories are in fact the most universal, and this meme's absurd popularity proves that point beyond a shadow of a doubt".{{cite web |last=Valentine |first=Claire |url=http://www.papermag.com/10-memes-that-defined-20171-2519639924.html |title=The 10 Memes That Defined 2017 |date=December 30, 2017 |work=Paper |accessdate=July 21, 2018}}

The meme made various lists of the top memes of 2017, including NDTV{{cite news |url=https://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/features/from-salt-bae-to-distracted-boyfriend-10-memes-we-loved-in-2017-1792048 |title=From Salt Bae to Distracted Boyfriend, 10 Memes We Loved in 2017 |work=Gadgets360 |publisher=NDTV |date=December 25, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} The Next Web,{{cite news |last=Kaser |first=Rachel |url=https://thenextweb.com/creative/2017/12/25/2017-memes-best-best/ |title=2017 in Memes: The best of the best |date=December 25, 2017 |work=The Next Web |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} PC Magazine,{{cite web |last=Moscaritolo |first=Angela |url=https://www.pcmag.com/feature/358023/distracted-boyfriend-to-salt-bae-2017-s-best-memes |title=Distracted Boyfriend to Salt Bae: 2017's Best Memes |work=PC Magazine |date=December 20, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} The Ringer,{{cite web |url=https://www.theringer.com/tech/2017/12/21/16802254/best-memes-2017 |title=The Best Memes of 2017 |work=The Ringer |date=December 21, 2018 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} and Narcity.{{cite web |url=https://www.narcity.com/entertainment/here-are-the-top-memes-of-2017 |title=Here Are The Top Memes Of 2017 |work=Narcity |publisher=Narcity Media |date=December 19, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} The Washington Post listed the meme on its "Meme Hall of Fame of 2017", calling it "the ultimate stock photo meme with endless permutations".{{cite news |last=Podnar |first=Rachel |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2017/12/28/trending-meme-hall-of-fame-of-2107/ |title=Trending: Meme Hall of Fame of 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 28, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} The Reddit moderators of the /r/MemeEconomy subreddit told Inverse that they thought it was one of the best memes of 2017.{{cite web |last=Paoletta |first=Rae |url=https://www.inverse.com/article/39732-reddit-moderators-best-and-worst-memes-2017 |title=Reddit Moderators Reveal The Best Memes of 2017, And The Ones That Must Die |work=Inverse |date=December 26, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} In April 2018, the meme won the Best Meme of 2017 category at the 10th Annual Shorty Awards.{{cite web |url=https://cheezburger.com/5351173/its-official-the-shorty-awards-have-declared-distracted-boyfriend-the-best-meme-of-2017 |title=It's Official: The Shorty Awards Have Declared 'Distracted Boyfriend' The Best Meme Of 2017 |work=Memebase |publisher=Cheezburger |date=April 16, 2018 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}}

Joe McCarthy of Global Citizen wrote that the original photograph depicts "sexual harassment", and criticized most uses of the meme for failing "to transcend the image's inherent, toxic sexism".{{cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Joe |url=https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/disloyal-man-meme/ |title=The Best 'Disloyal Man' Meme Shows Why It's Problematic |work=Global Citizen |publisher=Global Poverty Project |date=August 24, 2017 |accessdate=July 21, 2018}} In September 2018, Sweden's advertising ombudsman determined the internet service provider Bahnhof had broken rules against gender discrimination when it used the meme in an advertisement which portrayed Bahnhof's employment opportunities as the attention-stealing woman and the ignored girlfriend as "your current workplace".{{cite news |last1=Tsang |first1=Amie |title=The Distracted Boyfriend Who Took Over the Internet Is Deemed Sexist in Sweden |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/business/sweden-distracted-boyfriend-meme-sexist.html |work=The New York Times |date=September 26, 2018 |accessdate=September 27, 2018}}

{{reflist}}

{{Commonscat|Distracted boyfriend}}

• {{Know Your Meme|distracted-boyfriend|Distracted Boyfriend}}
• "[https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/disloyal-man-walking-his-girlfriend-looking-297886754 Disloyal man walking with his girlfriend and looking amazed at another seductive girl"] on Shutterstock
• "[https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/disloyal-man-with-his-girlfriend-looking-at-another-girl-gm493656728-77018851 Disloyal man with his girlfriend looking at another girl]" on iStock
• [http://antonioguillem.com AntonioGuillem.com], website of the stock photographer

Category:2010s photographs

Category:2015 works

Category:2015 in art

Category:Internet memes introduced in 2017

Category:Fiction about infidelity

Category:Mass media in Girona

Category:Photography in Catalonia

Category:Stock photography

Category:Color photographs

Category:Shorty Award winners

Category:People notable for being the subject of a specific photograph