In October 2014, comedian Hannibal Buress went viral after a video of him calling Bill Cosby a rapist found its way onto the internet.
Buress’s remarks were in reference to the multiple sexual assault allegations that had been made against Cosby up until that point. Despite the information already being out there, the renewed interest led to a wave of additional accusations that would ultimately tarnish Cosby’s legacy beyond repair. But somewhere in between, Cosby (or a member of his PR team) made a mind-boggling attempt at distracting his fans from all the bad publicity.
Buress’s clip hadn’t been online for a full month before Cosby’s official Twitter account informed his millions of followers that there was now an official meme generator available on his website. “Go ahead. Meme me!” Cosby instructed them in a since-deleted tweet.
The generator let users scroll through a selection of Cosby images and add words to them. Apparently the memes needed to be submitted for approval, but that didn’t stop some pretty outrageous ones from getting made.
This one should easily get approved! #CosbyMeme pic.twitter.com/GYysETPODn
— jake (@jakecurrie) November 10, 2014
Bill Cosby Once Launched a Meme Generator. It Lasted Less Than 24 Hours
As any reasonable person would expect, this whole thing backfired spectacularly. And while we don’t doubt that a couple of Cosby’s fans might’ve used this generator to make wholesome memes, the overwhelming majority of the ones that are still floating around pertain to the rape allegations.
Even the people whose images didn’t get approved just ended up taking screenshots and sharing them on their own Twitter accounts. You can take a look at a few of the memes that remain online below.
Oh Cos! #Cosbymeme @BillCosby pic.twitter.com/ahFX7LFgVg
— Trill Withers (@TylerIAm) November 10, 2014
Oh man, these are making my day! #CosbyMeme pic.twitter.com/nWwhFEDEhD
— Knuckshot Lariat (@ImNotFloyd) November 10, 2014
Someone’s getting fired. #cosbymeme pic.twitter.com/GSMsNFcz1D
— The Nuclear Unit (@thenuclearunit) November 10, 2014
Less than 24 hours later, the Cosby meme generator was shut down for good. The accusations against Cosby, on the other hand, only grew from there. By July of the following year, New York magazine had released an issue featuring 35 of his accusers on the front cover.
As of right now, more than 60 women have come forward with similar stories about their alleged encounters with Cosby.
The post 12 Years Ago, Bill Cosby’s PR Team Made One of the Worst Social Media Decisions Ever appeared first on VICE.
