Boy Bye

About

Boy Bye refers to a tweet advertising anti-Trump phone wallpaper by The Democratic National Committee Twitter account. The tweet has been criticized for pandering to youngsters by using a Beyonce lyric and phrases like whole mood rather than discussing new policies.

Origin

On June 15th, 2019, The Democratic National Committee^[1] tweeted, "This is a whole mood. Text "Boy Bye" to 43367 to get this exclusive wallpaper" and attaching a picture of the wallpaper featuring Trump with the text "Boy Bye" (shown below). The tweet gained over 1,100 likes and 500 retweets in three days.

Precursor

On April 23rd, 2016, Beyoncé released her album Lemonade featuring the song "Sorry" (shown below). The lyrics include:"Middle fingers up, put them hands high/ Wave it in his face, tell him, boy, bye (Sorry, I ain't sorry)/ Tell him, boy, bye, boy, bye, middle fingers up/ I ain't thinking 'bout you."

Spread

On June 16th, 2019, Twitter users began comparing the situation to the How Do You Do, Fellow Kids meme. Twitter user @TheLoveBel0w posted the GIF which received over 2,300 likes and 100 retweets in two days (shown below).

On June 17th, Twitter user @AltMayo^[2] mocked the Tweet with an image of Donald Trump with the text "Mr. President, Sir, Take several seats (shown below, left). The tweet was captioned, "This is a whole mood… the house! Text "OKURRRRT" to 43367 to get this exclusive wallpaper" and received over 800 likes in a day. That same day, Twitter user and social media manager^[3] for the DNC tweeted, "So let’s discuss this: I (A Black Woman) conceptualized this design for the Democratic Party. @bearseason (Black Graphic Designer) beautifully & thoughtfully created the artwork. @TheDemocrats aren’t just white people, it’s #BlackCreatives too. 👋🏾" (shown below, right). The tweet gained over 500 likes but many of the comments commented one how the original tweet was still in poor taste.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References