Do You Think They Asked Him to Pose Like This Or He Just Did That?

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About

Do You Think They Asked Him to Pose Like This Or He Just Did That? is a copypasta used alongside an image of a subject striking a particular pose, wondering if the imagined photographer asked the subject to strike the pose or if it was their natural inclination. The phrase was first used on X / Twitter in July 2023 in reference to a well-known photograph of Eminem his hand forward, gaining viral spread on sites like Reddit and Instagram. A screenshot of the Eminem post recreated on Reddit also became the subject of memes as an exploitable image macro following the same format.

Origin

On July 18th, 2023, X^[1] user @marksnotnice posted an image of rapper Eminem with his hand out in front of him, the same image use in the woe plague be upon ye meme, under the caption, "Do you think they asked him to pose like this or he just did that," garnering over 71,000 likes and 5,800 reposts in 10 months (shown below).

On July 19th, the post was recreated on /r/Hiphopcirclejerk,^[2] garnering over 4,300 upvotes in the same span of time.

Spread

The format spread over the following months. On July 21st, 2023, X^[3] user @babeygirlmac posted a version of the meme using an image of Mac from It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, garnering over 3,300 likes in 10 months (shown below, left). It was reposted to /r/IASIP^[4] on July 22nd, garnering over 370 upvotes in the same span of time.

On September 24th, Instagram^[5] user frogseatingass posted a version of the meme replacing the photo of Eminem with a photo of Dwight Eisenhower, garnering over 43,000 likes in eight months (shown below, right).

On January 22nd, 2024, Instagram^[6] user zazubabyman posted a version of the meme using an image of a cat under the phrase, garnering over 199,000 likes in four months (shown below). On January 24th it was reposted by Instagram^[7] user lilcasper.v2, garnering over 500,000 likes in the same span of time.

On February 28th, X^[8] user @yoracrab posted a version of the meme using an image of Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil 4, garnering over 3,200 likes in three months (shown below, left). On April 12th, it was reposted by Instagram^[9] user howitfeelstochewfivegum, garnering over 22,000 likes in a month. On May 5th, Instagram^[10] user pissed.mario posted a version of the meme that garnered over 1,500 likes in two weeks (shown below, right).