Success Kid
You might remember it as I Hate Sandcastles
The archive does not hold a copy of this image that it may show.
Biggest memes ever20 of 32
2011·The social era·wholesome
A photograph of a baby on a beach with a clenched fist full of sand and a determined face, captioned with small victories.
At a glanceThe facts
- Remembered as
- I Hate Sandcastles
- Spread in
- 2011
- Began as
- A photograph
- Where it started
- flickr
- Format
- Meme
- Who or what it shows
- Sammy Griner, as a baby, clenching a fistful of sand
- Photographed by
- Laney Griner, his mother
- Original title
- “Why I oughta...”, on Flickr
- Used to say
- A small thing went unexpectedly right
- Origin
- Not an upload originally
- Available
- Not held by ViralWorld
What this wasThe story
An eleven-month-old boy on a beach grips a fistful of sand and sets his jaw. His mother, Laney Griner, photographed him and posted the picture to Flickr on 31 August 2007. Captioned, the expression reads as grim satisfaction, and the macro became the standard way to narrate a minor victory: the thing that went right when it did not have to.
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.
Why it matteredWhat changed
It is the clearest case of a meme changing meaning under its subject’s feet, from a brat to a winner, and of a parent keeping control of the picture: registering the copyright, licensing it, and using the fame once to pay for a kidney transplant.
TimelineIn order
- Posted
Laney Griner posts the photograph of her son to Flickr under the title “Why I oughta...”.1
- Took off
The picture spreads with the caption “I Hate Sandcastles”, as though the boy had just flattened another child’s. The reading then flips to self-congratulation, and the name Success Kid sticks.1
- Later
Laney Griner registers the copyright and begins licensing the picture herself.1
- Mainstream
The White House uses the image in a tweet promoting immigration reform.1
- Came back
The family launches a GoFundMe for a kidney transplant for Sammy’s father, Justin. He receives the transplant.1
- Later
Laney Griner sends a cease-and-desist letter to the US congressman Steve King for using the picture in a fundraising advertisement. A jury later awards her 750 US dollars.1
What people misrememberSet straight
Commonly remembered asIt was always Success Kid.
ActuallyIts first run as a meme was as “I Hate Sandcastles”. His mother disliked that version because he loved sandcastles.1
More from hereIn this collection
Why it is here: something the internet still knows by name · copied, redrawn and reused until the original stopped mattering · it got out of its own corner of the internet fast · still being watched and quoted years later
This began as a photograph, not as a video. Originally published on flickr.
Where it came fromWhat we know
There is no original upload to identify: this did not begin as one. There is no copy of it here either — what it was, when it appeared and what people called it is what this page can tell you.
Nothing here is claimed to be the first publication of this Moment, because the first publication was not an upload. This 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.
- 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.
What this was built on, each one a record of its own.
- A variant of The image macroMeme · 2007
Named as one of the stock characters the image macro form is used with.
More from 2011You were there
More from the social eraMore of the archive
SourcesWhat was read
Sources last read on . That date is about the history on this page. Whether the media still plays is checked separately and can change any day. How ViralWorld documents things