9GAG's Meme Monument

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Overview

9GAG's Meme Monument, also known as #FunLegacy, is a 24-ton slab of stone engraved with various internet memes created by 9GAG in honor of the internet humor site's ninth anniversary. The monument has been widely mocked online, leading to the creation of operation "#SmashTheStone" to organize the slab's destruction.

Background

On April 25th, 2017, the 9GAG TV channel uploaded a video titled "The Time Has Come. The First Man-Made Monument To Humor Is Here #FunLegacy," which unveiled the stone slab which had been etched with images submitted by the 9GAG userbase (shown below). In the video, the monument is shown being transported to the desert, where it would be buried to be discovered by future generations. Within eight months, the video accumulated upwards of 300,000 views and 360 comments.

Developments

News Media Coverage

In the coming days, several articles about the monument were published on various internet humor and advertising news sites, including Campaign,^[3] Adweek^[4] and Geekyrant.^[5]

Online Reaction

On May 6th, 2017, Redditor Tia00017 submitted a photograph of the monument titled "So 9GAG decided to bury a meme monument for future generations to find. Full of horrid and dead memes" (shown below). Prior to being archive, the post gained over 3,500 points (95% upvoted) and 250 comments on /r/CringeAnarchy.^[1]

#SmashTheStone

On May 5th, 2017, a post was submitted to 4chan's /pol/^[7] board encouraging viewers to discover the location of the stone in order to destroy it (shown below). Prior to being archived, the post gathered upwards of 350 replies. In the thread, users came up with ideas to destroy the slab, including pouring vinegar to dissolve the limestone. Additionally, users began speculating about its location, leading to a possible discovery near a limestone quarry in Spain within four hours.

On January 11th, 2018, YouTuber Internet Historian uploaded a video titled "9GAG's Meme Rock | #SmashTheStone," which received upwards of 307,000 views and 3,500 comments over the next 24 hours (shown below). That day, the video was submitted to the /r/videos^[6] subreddit.