{"id":8539,"date":"2020-08-13T07:45:21","date_gmt":"2020-08-13T06:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lemonade.com\/de\/blog\/?p=8539"},"modified":"2025-06-29T10:31:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T09:31:03","slug":"best-covid-memes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lemonade.com\/de\/blog\/best-covid-memes\/","title":{"rendered":"How Memes Can Help Us Get Through a Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

We need to laugh, even during the worst of times. In most cases, humor isn\u2019t meant to belittle misfortune or suffering\u2014it\u2019s a way to make anguish easier to digest. As none other than Mary Poppins once sang: \u201cA spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the past two months, our pandemic-stricken world has been spinning out of control. While we can\u2019t visit beloved restaurants or hang out with strangers in the park IRL, we can<\/i> commiserate online and share our favorite memes. Unsurprisingly, most memes in the shadow of COVID-19 have been tinged with a certain desperate comedy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTerrifying situations produce anxiety,\u201d explains professor Janet Gibson. \u201cGetting the joke, in some ways, is like having control over our fears, to feel assured we are alive.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dark humor has been a coping mechanism ingrained in human nature for centuries. The term \u201cgallows humor,\u201d which can be traced all the way back to the European revolutions of 1848, refers to a certain type of cynicism in the midst of traumatic situations. We can only imagine what the 19th century would have done with Twitter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Humor in a crisis can boost morale, but it can also help inform and educate. At the very least, it provides a release for anxiety, or a way to cope with things that are just too heavy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at some of the ways that memes are helping us survive the fear and confusion of 2020.<\/p>\n

Memes can be a form of therapy<\/b><\/h3>\n

Memes can sometimes be a way to express a feeling that is otherwise difficult to articulate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They can be a tool to grapple with crippling anxieties, post-traumatic stress, or good ol’ fashioned existential dread. Memes become a sort of therapy, a way for strangers to realize they’re not alone in their despair. There’s always comfort in company.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Memes make it okay to address our communal sense of dread. There\u2019s a sense of powerlessness in the world right now\u2014no one knows what tomorrow will bring\u2014and poking fun at those feelings can have a legit therapeutic effect.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTerrifying situations produce anxiety,\u201d Grinnell College Psychology professor Janet Gibson explained<\/a> to Gizmodo. \u201cGetting the joke, in some ways, is like having control over our fears, to feel assured we are alive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

We can learn while we LOL<\/b><\/h3>\n

Many COVID-themed memes are doing more than just lifting spirits and inspiring a sense of community despite social distancing. They’re also promoting healthy behaviors and sharing important facts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Some of our favorite memes poke fun at the dangers of lifting stay-at-home restrictions too early, or angrily address those who weren\u2019t taking stay-at-home orders seriously to begin with. There are memes that highlight the sleeper symptoms of Covid-19, or suggest nonsensical ways to cut down on the very real problem of face-touching (like rubbing chili pepper all over your hands).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that mainstream media, and organizations like the CDC, have already reminded us about all of this stuff countless times. But perhaps it takes the right meme to really make it stick\u2014and in the meantime, we get to cushion our fears with a bit of whimsy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Classic memes get a COVID-19 update<\/b><\/h3>\n

The versatility of a meme is unparalleled. Its basic structure is so simple that a meme can be effortlessly brought back to life for new purposes, and new jokes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

A Drake meme created by A.I.<\/p><\/div>\n

With the help of DIY websites like Imgflip\u2019s Meme Generator<\/a>, anyone can get in on the game. As Vox\u2019s Aja Romano points out<\/a>, Imgflip even has a tool that generates memes based on artificial intelligence. The site processes a bunch of already existing memes, and then spits out what it thinks a meme should<\/i> look like. \u201cAs with all other attempts to virtually approximate reality,\u201d Romano notes, \u201cthe result of this AI is often an uncanny valley between a real meme and a fake one.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As memes spread, they mutate\u2014there\u2019s a reason content like that is described as \u201cviral\u201d (which now seems totally awkward). Memes can be picked up and reappropriated to frame current events. A random still from a Brazilian soap opera<\/a>, for instance, becomes a way to reflect on how time itself loses its meaning during quarantine.<\/p>\n

When memes borrow the language of “science”<\/b><\/h3>\n

The daily news is full of graphs that are rarely reassuring. A certain type of meme borrows the visual language of science for a bit of levity. Memes poking fun at sobering statistics allow us to take a step back from a terrifying situation to gain a new perspective (or at least take a deep breath).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

A “scientific” chart by @mattsurelee<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

These memes create a lighthearted spin on how our everyday routines have changed as a result of the virus. Instead of a graph that illustrates how we can \u201cflatten the curve,\u201d we get one that tracks an uptick in \u201cworrying\u201d and \u201chand-washing\u201d\u2014while the value of your 401k plummets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure, some may think it\u2019s too soon to make light of the pandemic. But that might be missing the point. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s telling a funny joke about a deadly disease,\u201d Adam Padilla, the meme lord behind the Instagram account @adam.the.creator, explained in a recent <\/span>Forbes<\/span><\/i> interview<\/span><\/a>. \u201cYou\u2019re telling a joke about <\/span>dealing<\/span><\/i> with a deadly disease.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The coronavirus is a serious threat, and the human suffering that it has caused is immeasurable. But it\u2019s okay to LOL when we\u2019re uncertain, scared, or stressed. For centuries, through plagues and wars, humor has been a ubiquitous remedy. So don\u2019t feel bad about laughing. It’s not being cruel\u2014it’s surviving.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It may seem insensitive to joke about a disaster, but it can actually be a way to cope and heal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":8566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8539","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-english","8":"post-hentry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Memes Can Help Us Get Through a Crisis \u2022 Lemonade Insurance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover how memes help us laugh, cope, and stay informed during crises. 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