If you’ve been anywhere on social media in the last few days, you might have seen a new meme called ‘Chill Guy’. It has been represented by some of the biggest brands in gaming, such as Call of Duty, and parodies of it have appeared all over TikTok and Twitter.
It’s a brilliant and lighthearted meme that many are enjoying worldwide, but the creator of the character used in the meme has suddenly announced a copyright action. He stressed on social media that he’ll start issuing takedowns against certain profiles using the image ‘over the next few days’.
That’s Not Very Chill
On Twitter, @PhillipBankss shared an image of a cartoon dog in 2023. This character mulled around on social media for a while before skyrocketing as a viral meme image just days ago. For some reason, influencers and cryptocurrency brands got their hands on the image and started using it in a series of parodies to promote their products.
That’s the source of the creator’s anger, and it’s why the image has been copyrighted.
He admitted on Twitter that not everyone will feel the brunt of his takedown notices:
just putting it out there, chill guy has been copyrighted. like, legally. I’ll be issuing takedowns on for-profit related things over the next few days
not like brand accounts using him as a trend, that’s kinda something i dont really care about (i do just ask for credit. or xboxes.). mainly unauthorized merchandise and shitcoins
As the meme goes, a brand or a creator will use the image with a caption reading ‘something, something, but you’re just a chill something’. It’s tough to explain, so here’s an example from Halo:
When Master Chief trades you his plasma pistol for your rocket launcher but you’re just a chill marine:
I’m getting old and appreciate memes less and less, but this one still makes sense to me.
To give PhillipBankss credit, he revealed that his social feeds and DMs were being spammed by crypto shills and at times nefarious brands using his image to get in on the trend and traffic. That’s who he aims to target with this copyright action, and the run-of-the-mill users sharing it on social and content platforms won’t be impacted.
Let us know if you’re already tired of seeing Chill Guy on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that the STALKER franchise is soaring following STALKER 2’s release
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