2011·The social era
Success Kid
A photograph of an eleven-month-old that became the internet's standard picture of a small triumph.
You might remember it as I Hate Sandcastles
A meme
This Moment began as a photograph, not as a video. Originally published on flickr.
- SourceNot an upload originally
- MediaNot held by ViralWorld
What this was
A meme classified under children.
It first appeared in 2011, during the social era.
It is one of the very few image macros whose subject is identifiable, still living, and still connected to the picture. CNN called Sammy Griner "likely the Internet's most famous baby". The image was licensed for a Super Bowl advertisement, used by the White House to argue for immigration reform, and — when Sammy's father needed a kidney transplant in 2015 — turned by the family into a fundraising appeal that the internet answered.
The Griners have repeatedly had to defend the picture: a fireworks company used it without permission, and in 2020 a congressman's campaign received a cease-and-desist for it. The meme is now a small case study in what happens when a family's snapshot becomes public property.
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The social era
- Smash Mouth All Star 2014The social era
- What Does the Fox Say 2013The social era
- Ecce Homo of Borja 2012The social era
- Wojak 2010The social era
- Darude Sandstorm 2014The social era
- Press F to Pay Respects 2014The social era
- Twitch Plays Pokémon 2014The social era
- Mutant Giant Spider Dog 2014The social era
Related
- Little Darth Vader 2011The social era
- Kid President 2013The social era
- Kids React 2010The social era
- Kony 2012 2012The social era
- Move in day! XO by: Beyonce 2014The social era
- 'Shocking' video Man filming hit by lightning 2014The social era
- Orbs caught on cam 2014The social era
- LVMPD Officer Caught on Camera Bustin' A Move 2014The social era
Grouped by explicit relationships where evidence exists, and by shared theme otherwise.
Behind the recordWhere it came from
There is no original upload to identify: this Moment did not begin as one. ViralWorld holds no copy of it either — what it was, when it appeared and what people called it is the record.
Nothing here is claimed to be the first publication of this Moment, because the first publication was not an upload. This Moment began as a photograph, not as a video. Originally published on flickr.
Not established. This index only names a creator where the evidence supports it.
- What happens
- A meme classified under children.
- When
- The sources below date the original to 2007-08-31. ViralWorld records this as a cited claim rather than an established publication date, because it holds no copy to check it against.