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Brands can pay to place a message in front of people, but they cannot make people want to share it. Memes offer a way to invite that voluntary attention—when the joke fits the moment, the audience and the brand. They are not a guaranteed shortcut to reach or engagement.
Why memes attract attention
A paid placement buys an opportunity to be seen. A share is a separate choice: someone decides the content is worth passing along. Farhan Mutaqin and Almukantar Fikriansyah describe that onward circulation as earned media. Their central distinction is simple: “Brands can buy reach, but they cannot buy people’s willingness to share something.” Phys.org, republishing their article from The Conversation on October 5, 2026.
Humor can give people a reason to share, while a familiar meme format can let them signal that they understand the joke. That social appeal may help a message travel beyond its paid placement, but it does not guarantee virality. In a 1997 essay, Michael H. Goldhaber made a related point about advertising: “When advertisers pay for an ad, for example, they are guaranteed only a chance at an audience’s notice.” His essay is historical framing for the attention economy, not a current measurement of how campaigns perform. WIRED, December 1, 1997.
When a brand meme fits the moment
Timeliness can make a joke feel relevant rather than manufactured. The examples below are reported illustrations, not controlled comparisons showing that one campaign approach performs better than another.
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Oreo’s Super Bowl blackout post
During the 2013 Super Bowl blackout, Oreo posted “You can still dunk in the dark.” The line connected the brand’s product to an unexpected live event, making the reference easy to understand in context.
Levi’s World Cup response
Mutaqin and Fikriansyah also cite Levi’s response when its stadium name was covered during a recent World Cup. The moment gave the brand a timely reference point, though the example alone does not establish how much attention or business the post generated.
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Why forced memes can backfire
A meme can make a brand look out of touch if the format is stale, the product link feels unnatural or the joke clashes with the brand’s established voice. The article points to criticism of Gucci’s 2017 #TFWGucci campaign and backlash to an IHOP pancake post in 2015, which it says was deleted and followed by an apology. These examples are reminders that cultural participation carries reputational risk, not proof that every branded meme will be poorly received.
How brands can invite sharing instead of demanding it
Spotify Wrapped illustrates a different approach: the brand provides personalized summaries that users can share and adapt, including with their own jokes. The company supplies the format; users choose whether and how to distribute it. That structure gives people something personal to show, rather than relying only on a brand-authored punchline.
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For anyone assessing a meme idea, four practical questions help clarify whether it gives an audience a reason to pass it on. These are a decision aid drawn from the examples, not a validated scorecard.
- Is the timing meaningful? Does the post respond to a cultural moment people already care about, or does it merely borrow a trend?
- Does it sound like the brand? Could the same joke plausibly come from this brand without undermining its usual voice?
- Is the product connection natural? Can people understand why the brand belongs in the joke, without an awkward explanation?
- Can people participate? Is there room for audiences to share, adapt or add something of their own?
What the attention-economy idea does—and doesn’t—mean
Herbert Simon’s attention-economy idea offers historical context: when information is abundant, attention becomes a scarce resource. Goldhaber’s 1997 essay similarly argues that buying an ad guarantees only a chance to be noticed. These concepts help explain why brands value voluntary sharing, but they are not a measured law that predicts the outcome of a specific campaign.
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The examples discussed by Mutaqin and Fikriansyah are qualitative. They do not establish that memes reliably outperform other marketing, nor do they provide a verified numerical result showing how much a particular tactic increases sharing. A sound brief therefore asks not only how many people a brand can reach through paid placement, but why anyone would choose to pass the content on.
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