JFK (Clone High)

About

JFK refers to the character John Fitzgerald Kennedy from the 2002 animated series Clone High. In September 2020, memes about the character gained significant popularity on Twitter along with other memes about the series following the announcement of a reboot in July.

Origin

On November 1st, 2002, episode one of the animated series Clone High premiered in the United States.^[1] The series, which ran for 13 episodes, is set in a fictional high school where all students are all clones of famous historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Joan of Arc, and Mahatma Gandhi. In the first episode, a macho, narcissistic womanizer, and an archetypical Chad John Fitzgerald Kennedy (often referred to as JFK or Jack) is introduced.^[2] The character is voiced by Christopher Miller.

Nothing bad ever happens to Kennedys!

Over the course of the season, JFK is depicted as an archetypical jock, self-obsessed and ignorant but sometimes quite smart when the situation calls for it. He has a rivalry with Abe Lincoln, with whom he competes for the affection of Cleopatra. The character speaks with a thick Boston accent.

Spread

While the character appeared in memes and fan art before, mainly created and shared by the fans of the series, he did not reach viral popularity until late August 2020, when memes about JFK and the Clone High series in general gained popularity on Tumblr, Twitter, iFunny and other platforms. The surge in popularity was prompted by the announcement of the reboot of the series on July 2nd, 2020.^[3] On July 6th, YouTube user NotUriellIrl posted a video^[4] "Clone High S1, but it's all JFK" which gained over a million views in two months (shown below).

Memes about the character did not see viral spread online until September 2020. On July 31st, Instagram^[5] user luckilylatte started posting dubbed memes in which he voiced JFK, with a meme posted^[6] on August 16th, a JFK dub of the viral WTF Am I Gonna Go to Therapy For tweet,^[7] gaining particular popularity (shown below, left). The image was originally posted by Tumblr^[11] user cottagecoregamer on August 11th, 2020.

On August 25th, 2020, Twitter^[8] user @FLAPJACKIE reposted a scene from the show in which the assassination of John F. Kennedy is referenced, with the clip gaining over 106,000 views, 4,600 retweets and 15,300 likes in two weeks (shown below).

this plays in my mind always pic.twitter.com/8kT1Ntx5Nq

— 🪐saturn/armitage🐱 (@FLAPJACKlE) August 25, 2020

Memes about the character, as well as about the series in general, peaked in popularity in early September 2020 after luckilylatte's dub went viral on Twitter^[9] and iFunny.^[10] A sub-format based on two images of JFK sitting on the Casting Couch and using the snowclone My Day Be So Fine, Then Boom gained spread as a part of the trend, with the first such meme posted by Twitter^[12] user @datonestarfox2 on September 6th, 2020.

Related Memes

My Day Be So Fine, Then Boom

My Day Be So Fine, Then Boom refers to a series of snowclone memes in which various characters describe their pleasant day being ruined by various events. Originating from a viral meme based on an image of Clone High character JFK, the format gained a notable presence on Twitter in mid-September 2020.

Various Examples

my non british followers asking me to say tuesday pic.twitter.com/dtEhGscd3U

— post ☕️🌿 (@postsynthpink) September 10, 2020

all white male indie bands sound like this pic.twitter.com/uUYyFGfeTV

— those are you got some nice shoulders (@costtaconcordia) September 11, 2020

i tried guys pic.twitter.com/tfgnEr011b

— wes (@cybersexwes) September 10, 2020

Search Interest

External References