Someone tried to Kickstart a "meme restaurant," got death threats almost instantly
It’s easy to hate memes. They’re volatile, they helped get Trump elected, and they don’t know when to fucking stop. But they’re also unavoidable, a distinctly modern means of communication that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. But to detach a meme from its perplexing, crowd-cultivated irony is, to some, a crime—memes, after all, are not references so much as shorthand. And that’s perhaps why the internet reacted so aggressively towards a teenage boy and his older sister when they sought to create a restaurant based on memes. One cannot simply name a burger after a meme.
Earlier this month, Catriona Crehan started a Kickstarter campaign with her little brother, who is autistic, for an earnest restaurant concept, one that would try to embody meme culture both in its design and menu. Loose design sketches and a mock-up of the menu are posted on the Kickstarter. Sample items include a Tide Pod Shake, a Chocolate Rain Lava Cake, and Covfefe Coffee.