0.01% of Germs

Submission 36,078

About

.01% of Germs refers to the remainder of bacteria left behind after using a cleaning product which advertises that it kills 99%-99.99% of germs. The remaining bacteria has appeared as a character in various meme templates since 2010.

Origin

The claim that a cleaning product kills "99% of bacteria" is commonly seen on the packaging of products like Lysol^[1] and Clean Smart Disinfectant Spray.^[2] The remaining bacteria began seeing use in memes in the early 2010s. One of the earliest known images to reference the character was a Forever Alone posted to Cheezburger^[3] on November 3rd, 2010 (shown below).

Spread

In the ensuing years, the character saw some use in other meme templates. For example, an image circulated during the Occupy Wall Street movement parodying We Are the 99 Percent referring to the 1% of remaining germs (shown below, left). Another image using the Rage Comic character Y U No Guy referenced the character (shown below, right).

In 2018, the meme resurfaced in object labeling templates. An image using Naruto characters grew popular. A post to /r/blackpeopletwitter with the image gained 6,800 upvotes (shown below, left). A post to /r/MemeEconomy from April 6th, 2018 featuring both Savage Patrick and Tired Spongebob gained over 30 upvotes (shown below, right).