Don't Do X, Worst Mistake of My Life / Running Peter

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About

Don't Do X, Worst Mistake of My Life refers to a series of memes that warn the reader not to do a certain thing or go to a certain place, used in a similar manner to Doge in Danger memes. The memes usually feature an image of Peter Griffin from Family Guy running away.

Origin

On May 1st, 2005, episode one "North by North Quahog" of season four of the animated series Family Guy premiered.^[1] In one scene of the episode, which parodies the same scene in the 1959 film North by Northwest, Peter Griffin is running away from a crop duster plane (comparison video shown below).

On October 27th, 2018, during the height of the popularity of ironic Peter Griffin memes, Redditor J-Dad posted three image macros that warned the reader against doing a certain thing at a certain time and featured an image of Peter Griffin running away superimposed over another image. The posts gained over 30 upvotes, 40 upvotes and 700 upvotes in the /r/okbuddyretard subreddit in four years,^[2]^[3]^[4] and are the earliest found memes using the format (shown below).

Spread

Starting in late October 2018, the format achieved major popularity in the /r/okbuddyretard subreddit, particularly with memes referencing various historic events. For example, on October 28th, 2018. Redditor^[5] SandJar posted a meme about the Siege of Leningrad that gained over 7,200 upvotes in the subreddit in four years (shown below, left). On November 1st, Redditor 74457000 posted a meme about Nazi Germany that received over 1,200 upvotes in the same period (shown below, center). From /r/okbuddyretard, the format spread to /r/historymemes other subreddits, with memes also featuring other characters rather than Peter Griffin. For example, on November 15th, 2018, an unknown Redditor^[6] posted a meme that received over 50 upvotes in /r/animemes prior to being deleted (shown below, right).

In October 2019, the format regained popularity as a Don't Google reverse-psychology bait format. For example, on October 23rd, Redditor EthanHoagDerek posted a Don't Google meme that received over 940 upvotes in three years in /r/okbuddyretard^[7] (shown below, left). On February 3rd, 2021, Redditor^[8] SpookyyMemeBoy5001 posted a meme that received over 180 upvotes in the subreddit (shown below, right).