Super Bowl Selfie Kid Memes Are Taking Over, and Gamers Are Eating It Up

No matter who you were pulling for in yesterday’s Super Bowl, everyone seems to be getting behind the new Super Bowl Selfie Kid meme, gamers and game companies included.

Just as they usually are, this newest meme popped up overnight with its first creation happening just minutes after the Super Bowl halftime show. Justin Timberlake performed and went up into the crowd at one point while finding himself next to Ryan McKenna, a 13-year-old who temporarily shared the spotlight with Timberlake.

While McKenna hoped to take a selfie with Timberlake to commemorate this once-in-a-lifetime moment, he fumbled with his phone for a while to prepare, a moment that the camera lingered on given how close he was to Timberlake. Viewers instantly started meme-ing about how McKenna was on his phone during the performance with jokes about him Googling who Timberlake was popping up with minutes, and it didn’t take long for video game companies to hop on board either.

Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition > Justin Timberlake

One of the first few video game accounts to join in on the Super Bowl Selfie Kid meme was the Final Fantasy XV account with a tweet that matched the new meme with an existing Final Fantasy reference.

The reference being made here is a connection to one of the main characters from Final Fantasy XV named Ignis, a brilliant strategist and one of the more level-headed members of Noctis’ group. Combat and strategy aside, Ignis is also responsible for cooking the best meals possible for the group, dishes that are always accompanied by Ignis’ exclamations about discovering a new recipe. The image on the right is a version of Ignis from the Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition, a mobile version of the game that was apparently more interesting than Timberlake.

Ubisoft Reveals a New Far Cry 5 Villain

Another account that fired back with their own reference to Ryan McKenna’s new meme fame was Ubisoft in a tweet that made a joke about the performance while also directing gamers towards its upcoming Far Cry 5 game.

With the new game being set in Montana during contemporary times complete with a crazed militia-style cult, some drew comparisons between gaming bad guys and Timberlake’s camo outfit complete with leather jacket and bandanna. Austin Walker from Waypoint was one viewer in particular who tweeted about Timberlake’s outfit with a reference to the game by referring to Timberlake as a “mid-game Far Cry 5 boss.”

However, Ubisoft wasn’t about to let that opportunity go despite not being tagged in the tweet. The account replied on Monday morning with its own reference to McKenna’s new meme with images that showed him apparently looking “How to beat Justin Timberlake in Far Cry 5.”

 

Xbox UK Takes a Low Blow with CoD: MW2

The Xbox UK account, on the other hand, took this meme opportunity to cruelly toy with gamers’ hopes and dreams by bringing up one of the best Call of Duty games of all time.

In this account’s take on the Super Bowl Selfie Kid, Xbox UK started by tweeting the same image that everyone else was with McKenna front and center before throwing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 into the discussion. With a simulated request from McKenna to the Xbox UK account to hurry up and add Modern Warfare 2 to the list of backwards compatible games, Xbox UK unexpectedly pulled on the heartstrings of those who remembered the noob tubes and nukes fondly and hope to play the game again on current consoles, hopefully without all the modded lobbies.

The Walking Dead Tweets with a Self-burn

It may not have been a gaming reference or one that involved the Super Bowl Selfie Kid meme, but even the Twitter account for The Walking Dead was quick to catch onto some less-than-impressive effects that were spotted during the Super Bowl.

Throughout pauses in the matchup between the Eagles and the Patriots, an on-screen visual would display the stats for both the team’s quarterbacks, Nick Foles and Tom Brady. However, instead of using an actual image of the two, the display offered some computer-generated versions of the players that looked a bit outlandish compared to their surroundings.

The Walking Dead’s Twitter account was swift to swoop in with a self-burn, a reference to a CGI deer from season 7 that quickly drew criticism from fans due to how poorly it meshed with the rest of the show.

PUBG Gets New Loot Preview

Outside of the Super Bowl Selfie Kid meme itself, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was also brought up, a game that’s decked out with all kinds of customizable loot and outfits.

Among the various armors and frying pans that players can equip themselves with, one of the features that was shown prominently on many advertisements was bandanna-clad characters. Couple that with Timberlake’s camouflage outfit and it’s easy to see why some viewers such as Xbox’s Josh Stein would draw comparisons between the outfit and a teaser for some new PUBG loot.

A few additional Twitter moments were spotted that referenced both the new Super Bowl meme and Timberlake’s performance, so keep an eye on Twitter as more companies catch on to see new takes on the meme.