Zoomerification meme

7 images

The cover image for the Zoomerification meme, showing a vintage film character digitally altered with the signature curly-top fade haircut alongside the original scene.
A 4chan thread from October 2021 zoomerifying a movie character, sparking replies written in exaggerated Gen Z slang.
A judge zoomerified with a curly-top fade delivers a ruling entirely in Gen Z slang.
A 4chan exchange from April 2022 zoomerifying both a vintage school portrait and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
A zoomerified businessman meme paired with a copypasta about vibing with customers, plus zoomer-slang replies.
A viral April 2022 tweet zoomerifying Don Draper from 'Mad Men', reimagining his Lucky Strike pitch in Gen Z slang.
An April 2022 tweet using a zoomerified character in a suit to stage a slang-heavy exchange ending in 'Your compliment was sufficient, Simp.'

History

Zoomerification is an image edit format where photos of people or fictional characters get a Broccoli Hair perm and their dialogue is rewritten in Gen Z slang like "bussin," "no cap," and "fr fr." It started on 4chan in May 2021 and hit viral scale in mid-2022 through Twitter and Instagram meme pages.

Origin

The setup started on 4chan on May 11th, 2021, when an anonymous user posted a photograph of a teenager with a Broccoli Hair cut and listed several slang expressions tied to Gen Z[3]. That thread also produced the Zoomer Perm exploitable, which artists soon pasted onto Wojaks and Pepes[2].

On October 5th, 2021, a /tv/ user gave Frank Sheeran the haircut, and other posters replied with Irishman lines rewritten in slang[3]. Five days later, a /pol/ user ran the same edit on Adolf Hitler[3].

Platform: 4chan (origin), Twitter and Instagram (viral spread)
Creator: Unknown 4chan user
Date: 2021

Overview

Zoomerification is a photo edit format where real people or fictional characters get a "Zoomer Perm" (also called Broccoli Hair or Mulatto Perm) pasted onto their head, and their dialogue is rewritten with a heap of Gen Z slang like "bussin," "no cap," "deadass," and "fr fr"[3]. The joke works by smashing a serious or iconic figure into the speech pattern and hair of a stereotypical 2020s teenager[1].

Edits typically pair a still from a film, TV show, or historical photograph with a caption that swaps the original line for a slang heavy rewrite[3]. Frank Sheeran from The Irishman, Don Draper from Mad Men, and Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men all got the treatment as the format built momentum[3].

How It Spread

Before November 17th, 2021, an unknown Twitter user posted an edit of a judge's photograph, which was then reposted to iFunny and back to 4chan[3]. February 2022 brought more scattered 4chan posts, but the format did not hit critical mass until early April 2022, when an anonymous /tv/ user edited Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men with Gen Z dialogue[3].

On April 13th, 2022, another /tv/ thread featured a Don Draper edit with the reply "lucky strike, it's bussin"[3]. Twitter user @hereliesthighs reposted it within the hour, and the tweet pulled over 7,300 retweets and 80,200 likes in two months[3]. The next day, @tulpapilled posted an American Psycho business card scene edit that gained 860 retweets and 9,600 likes[3].

The big jump came on May 15th, 2022, when Redditor GirlsInMerzbowShirts posted an edited "Mad World" frame with the rewritten lyric "I find it kinda bussin', I find it kinda cap"[3]. Twitter user @LeaMaric copied the post on May 20th and cleared 62,500 likes in two weeks[3]. Instagram meme pages including rad_milk, trashcanpaul, adam.the.creator and sonny5ideup pushed the format further in late May and early June 2022[3].

How to Use

Making a Zoomerification edit typically starts with a still of a serious character, historical figure, or celebrity. Common convention is to paste on the Broccoli Hair perm and rewrite the caption or line so it is packed with Gen Z slang like "bussin," "no cap," "fr fr," "deadass," and "lowkey slap"[4]. The stronger the contrast between the source (a hitman, a mob enforcer, a dictator) and the teenage vernacular, the harder the joke lands[3].

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Zoomerification?

Zoomerification is an image edit format where subjects get a Zoomer Perm haircut and their dialogue is rewritten in Gen Z slang like "bussin" and "no cap"[3].

Where did Zoomerification come from?

It started on 4chan on May 11th, 2021, with an anonymous post pairing a teenager's Broccoli Hair photograph with a list of Gen Z slang expressions[3].

What does Zoomerification mean?

In meme use, it means turning any subject into a stereotypical Gen Z zoomer by editing on the Broccoli Hair perm and swapping their dialogue for slang[4].

How do you use Zoomerification?

Take a still of a serious figure like Anton Chigurh or Don Draper, paste on the Broccoli Hair perm, and rewrite their line with terms like "bussin" or "lowkey slap"[3].