Back in the summer of 2018, when Twitter was seemingly at its worst, a wholesome meme reemerged like a phoenix from the flames. The ASCII “sign bunny” meme, which first gained popularity in 2014 but at some point became endangered as Twitter became more and more of a dumpster fire, was officially back.
The meme was versatile in that it could be used to draw attention to anything from jokes and hot takes to legitimately earnest observations. As the meme regained popularity, it naturally evolved into variations such as the “you want this” meme as a way to win someone’s heart, which also spawned countless modifications.
It wasn’t long before at some point, early into the resurgence, someone got the idea to turn the original sign bunny into a buff bunny with its arms folded, as you can see in the below example from the always delightful Lin-Manuel Miranda.
⠀ ⠀(____/)
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) July 23, 2018
(•(ㅅ)•) Loving you is not a
＿ノ ヽ ノ＼＿choice
`/ `/ ⌒Ｙ⌒ Ｙ ヽ It’s who I am
( (三ヽ人 / |
| ﾉ⌒＼ ￣￣ヽ ノ
ヽ＿＿＿＞､＿＿_／
｜( 王 ﾉ〈
/ﾐ`ー―彡
/ ╰ ╯
Like the sign bunny, buff bunny was used as a way to make your point abundantly clear, lest you would rather split hairs (or “hares,” as it would be) with a giant, absolutely ripped ASCII bunny rabbit.
This month, the meme took yet another turn in the form of the buff bunny acting as a sort of a bodyguard or protector that stands between the OP and a thought, opinion, or action. It first picked up popularity among Russian, Eastern European, and Spanish-speaking Twitter, but eventually, Western society caught wind.
As you can see in some of the examples below, the buff bunny can represent a significant other, parent, or another superior individual.
https://twitter.com/ItsQuinnMoore/status/1098056196890669057
⠀ (__/)
— Bram Stroker (@gormen_ghastly) February 18, 2019
⠀ (•ㅅ•) my dad puttin music
＿ノ ヽ ノ＼ __ on my MP3
/ `/ ⌒Ｙ⌒ Ｙ ヽ
( (三ヽ人 / |
| ﾉ⌒＼ ￣￣ヽ ノ
ヽ＿＿＿＞､＿＿_／
｜( 王 ﾉ〈 (__/)
/ﾐ`ー―彡 (•ㅅ•) me when i was 7
⠀ (__/)
— kells (@trankellyk) February 19, 2019
⠀ (•ㅅ•) my manager telling
＿ノ ヽ ノ＼ __ the customer
/ `/ ⌒Ｙ⌒ Ｙ ヽ what I just said
( (三ヽ人 / |
| ﾉ⌒＼ ￣￣ヽ ノ
ヽ＿＿＿＞､＿＿_／
｜( 王 ﾉ〈 (__/)
/ﾐ`ー―彡 (•ㅅ•) me
⠀ (__/)
— lake (@lakeboots) February 19, 2019
⠀ (•ㅅ•) my mom scheduling my
＿ノ ヽ ノ＼ __ doctor’s appointment
/ `/ ⌒Ｙ⌒ Ｙ ヽ
( (三ヽ人 / |
| ﾉ⌒＼ ￣￣ヽ ノ
ヽ＿＿＿＞､＿＿_／
｜( 王 ﾉ〈 (__/)
/ﾐ`ー―彡 (•ㅅ•) me
⠀ (__/)
— The Black Sheep (@TheBlackSheep99) February 20, 2019
⠀ (•ㅅ•) my advisor getting me
＿ノ ヽ ノ＼ __ into a class that’s full
/ `/ ⌒Ｙ⌒ Ｙ ヽ so I can graduate
( (三ヽ人 / |
| ﾉ⌒＼ ￣￣ヽ ノ
ヽ＿＿＿＞､＿＿_／
｜( 王 ﾉ〈 (__/)
/ﾐ`ー―彡 (•ㅅ•) me
https://twitter.com/richeepeace/status/1098805787218997248
Others went a little more abstract with it to symbolize internal struggles:
⠀ (__/)
— transcending (@somethinglovely) February 21, 2019
⠀ (•ㅅ•) the person i project
＿ノ ヽ ノ＼ __ to be so i never
/ `/ ⌒Ｙ⌒ Ｙ ヽget hurt again
( (三ヽ人 / |
| ﾉ⌒＼ ￣￣ヽ ノ
ヽ＿＿＿＞､＿＿_／
｜( 王 ﾉ〈 (__/)
/ﾐ`ー―彡 (•ㅅ•) me actually
⠀ (__/)
— gender bronoun ⭐️ (@luftballons66) February 19, 2019
⠀ (•ㅅ•) body improvement
＿ノ ヽ ノ＼ __ club
/ `/ ⌒Ｙ⌒ Ｙ ヽ
( (三ヽ人 / |
| ﾉ⌒＼ ￣￣ヽ ノ
ヽ＿＿＿＞､＿＿_／
｜( 王 ﾉ〈 (__/)
/ﾐ`ー―彡 (•ㅅ•) mob
And then the Burger King Twitter account jumped on the bandwagon, as #brands tend to do:
(__/)
— Burger King (@BurgerKing) February 22, 2019
(•ㅅ•) my hangry gf
＿ノ ヽ ノ＼ __ racking up a
/ `/ ⌒Ｙ⌒ Ｙ ヽ $30 order
( (三ヽ人 / |
| ﾉ⌒＼ ￣￣ヽ. ノ
ヽ＿＿＿＞､＿＿_/
｜( 王 ﾉ〈 (__/)
/ﾐ`ー―彡 (•ㅅ•) the $5 in my wallet
May we all be so lucky to have someone in life to get our backs like the buff bunny meme.
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