Scott Seiss' "Then Die"

Submission 595

Part of a series on Reaction Images. [View Related Entries]

About

Then Die refers to a reaction image featuring a still from a video posted by TikToker and comedian Scott Seiss. The meme shows Scott Seiss donning a mustache with his mouth open alongside text that reads, "Then Die." The original video was posted in 2021, with Seiss responding to people who said they would not be getting a vaccine saying, "Then Die," adding, "What do you want me to do, argue with you? I'm not on the debate team, this isn't mock trial." The video and the image reading "Then Die" came to be used as a reaction meme in subsequent years. The format is similar to the Then Perish meme featuring Barack Obama.

Origin

On May 13th, 2021, TikToker^[1] Scott Seiss posted a video featuring a joke response to people who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19. In his video, Seiss says, "Then Die. What do you want me to do, argue with you? I'm not on the debate team, this isn't mock trial."

The video was removed from TikTok but simultaneously reuploaded to Twitter^[2] / X where it gathered over 120,000 likes in three years.

Spread

On July 4th, 2022, X^[3] user @mane_tank posted a clipped version of the video alongside the caption, "Party member: I'm not moving out of the AoE / Me, a healer," referencing RPG tactics. The post gathered over 34,000 likes in two years.

On July 13th, 2023, X^[4] user @str8fromva1 posted an even shorter clip from Scott Seiss's video, looping the phrase "Then Die" and gathering over 2,000 likes in a year.

On January 18th, X^[5] user @MaxistLeninist posted a still image from the meme featuring the phrase "Then Die" in response to @TrueSlazac, who wrote that "international trade might be one of the few things worth dying for." The post was subsequently deleted (repost from iFunny shown below).

On September 8th, 2023, X^[6] user @robrousseau posted the Then Die image in reaction to a "Trump or Death" banner being unfurled at Yankee Stadium, gathering over 22,000 likes in a year.

On September 3rd, 2024, X^[7] user @AnneComics posted a grainy "Then Die" image in response to a news headline that read, "Pleads That It Can’t Make Money Without Using Copyrighted Materials for Free." The post gathered over 170,000 likes in a day.