What Is the BONK Meme? Meaning, Origin, and Everything About The Viral Dog Meme

The BONK meme is a form of internet humor that has become popular around the world. The funny images from the meme are very simple and funny cartoon panels that show a Shiba Inu dog “bonking” another dog with a baseball bat, a hammer, or a newspaper, among numerous other versions, instantly made it a fan favorite. Including the phrase “BONK” and the cartoon panels of the dog’s exaggerated reactions, made the meme all the more relatable and faultless.

However, the fact remains, its simplicity is key, and the absurdity of the concept carries the essence of memes; which means it is quick, relatable, and can even be understood by your Grandma. Moreover, why has “BONK” been able to be transcendent and go viral? It sort of has the right amount of absurdity, hilarity, and has a very wide adaptability for the world of memes, it has become a stand alone internet number, much like Cookie Monster has become a part of our lexicon as well.

#1 What Is the BONK Meme?

The BONK meme is a well-known internet meme format that features a Shiba Inu dog, usually Cheems or Doge, shown in a cartoon-like comic panel format. In any of the comic panels, one dog “bonks” the other dog on the on the head or face, while using a object (a bat; hammer; or newspaper) to create an absurdly funny comic depiction of some reprimanding behavior of some sort, while highlighting the word “BONK” in a clip-art-style format in the meme.

This meme format has taken the internet by storm and is shared widely across a variety of social media platforms and meme sharing communities. The over-exaggeration and humor that can be expressed in the BONK meme has really hit home with users developing funny antics around a format that is easy to copy and create, resulting in the ongoing successful execution of the BONK meme being shared extensively online.

#2 What Is The Origin Of BONK Meme?

In 2016 on Tumblr, user didlo shared an image of their Shiba Inu, Copper, who had eaten a scorpion and had gotten his face all swollen. The image, with the caption “She ate a scorpion,” took off. The “BONK” meme gained traction where the image of Copper is combined with cartoonish overlays and a hammer, bat, or newspaper, often with the text and sound effect “BONK” in bold.

In 2019, we started to see some higher usage of the BONK meme through Instagram user snootboopes, who posted a video of Copper, and humorously made it appear in the image that there was a hammer, with the famous BONK sound effect. The video, in just seven months racked up 38,600 views and 5,000 likes and spread into other social media like Reddit and Twitter, as well as Instagram.

The interesting thing about the BONK sound effect is that it is not original to the meme. It had been previously seen in episode 49b of SpongeBob SquarePants (“Rock-a-Bye Bivalve”), as well as has been widely circulated as part of royalty-free cartoon sound effect packs; each example traces something back to the realm of internet humor. The BONK meme was able to become popular because of the combination of the humorous visuals and sound effects that everyone shared and experienced together.

#3 How the BONK Meme Spread on the Internet

The BONK meme took off in popularity through viral videos and meme compilations while being used more on social media.

Instagram Video @snootboopes

The instagram account @snootboopes posted a video with a Shiba Inu dog on July 13th, 2019, the video was edited with a hammer and “BONK” sound effect. The video got over 38,600 views and 5,000 likes in 7 months which is a large animal meme boost in popularity.

YouTube Compilation Freememeskids

The YouTube channel that featured a BONK video compilation was called Freememeskids and was posted on July 20th, 2019. The bonk compilation video exceeded 4.2m views in 4 months and mainstreamed that bonk meme, changed the way that memes were made and featured.

Edits by @snootboopes

Additinal edits created by @snootboopes including edits that had different funny scenarios and sound effects were posted on July 21-22nd, 2019 with engagements as low as 30,000 views and as many as 17,800 views in 7 months in comparison even though it was direct from Freememeskids channel.

Twitter Engagement

Another user on twitter leaky6720 called @omfuze tweeted the original bonk video on July 21st, and it had over 5,600 retweets and 20,500 likes, while the video had over 2m views in 4 months. The user @ku1edud3 also used the bonk meme in a post tagged @ogpuppy claiming that bonking the dog helped breakthrough another video and claim it made no sense with over 700 retweets and 3,100 likes.

These events highlight how the BONK meme proliferated through the internet, finding a following through creative edits, robust sharing on social media platforms and which were included in popular meme compilations.

#4 Why Did the BONK Meme Go Viral?

There are several reasons why the BONK meme spread so quickly: it’s simple, funny, and easily modified.

1. Simplicity and Visual Clarity

The meme is so simple: a dog is bonked with a hammer and there is big bold text that reads “BONK.” This simplicity makes it easy to spot and share. The simplicity of the visual, and the directness of the content meaning means it has a high potential to be shared.

2. Humor from Overblown Moral Policing

The humor in BONK comes from the fact that a minor transgression is being met with an over-the-top punishment. The bonk is an exaggerated reaction to a non-issue, and therefore is relatable and funny; especially when the dog looks confused.

3. Meme Modification for Commentary, Parody, and Satire

BONK has also proven versatile enough to be used for commentary and satire. People were able to adapt it to many different topics; from pop culture, to straight political commentary, the meme was relevant and entertaining in a lot of contexts.

The combination of simplicity, humor, and ability to modify ensured that BONK would spread.

#5 FAQs About the BONK Meme

1. Who created the BONK meme?

The BONK meme originated from a 2016 Tumblr post by user didlo, featuring a photo of their Shiba Inu, Copper. It gained viral attention in 2019 after an Instagram video by @snootboopes, where the dog is edited with a hammer and the “BONK” sound effect.

2. Is there a real “horny jail” meme origin story?

Yes, the “horny jail” meme became popular on Twitter and Reddit to humorously “punish” people for inappropriate behavior. It’s often paired with the BONK meme to add an exaggerated, playful layer to internet interactions.

3. Why do people keep remixing it?

The BONK meme is adaptable and easy to customize. Its simplicity and humor make it perfect for commentary, parody, and satire across various contexts, which is why it continues to be remixed.

4. How do I make my own BONK meme?

To make your own BONK meme, find an image of a dog (like Cheems or Doge), add a “BONK” text overlay, and pair it with a “BONK” sound effect. You can use meme generators like Imgflip to create it easily.

#5 Conclusion

The BONK meme has now demonstrated it is more than an inside joke on the internet. The simplicity, universal humor, and flexibility of the meme first seen with a Shiba Inu, have allowed it to grow beyond its original origin. The BONK meme has persisted on different social media platforms and across cryptocurrencies; it continues to be applied to satire, commentary, or just for fun. BONK continues to expand, build relevance, and demonstrate the power of humor, which can transcend dynamics in connecting with people, and being an important part of the continual transformation of memes on the internet.