Do you remember the kid from the viral Popeyes meme?
Dieunerst Collin shot to fame on Vine back in the day, when he was captured giving some serious side-eye at a Popeyes restaurant in New Jersey.
The iconic moment was over a decade ago, back in 2013, when Collin was only nine years old. He was waiting in line for a family pack of chicken biscuits and fries when a stranger began recording him.
Collin gives the man a sideways look and the video, which was later posted on Vine, went viral instantly.
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It's still used today and is perhaps one of the most recognizable memes on the internet.
Speaking about it in 2023, Collin told CNN: “When it happened, we didn’t want to be in the spotlight. And just having that out there, people were coming to my dad and saying, ‘Hey, we’ve seen your kid on this,’ trying to make a joke of it. My dad didn’t like it for his kids to be joked on.
“But now, the fact that I switched it into a blessing, he likes it.”
So what does Collin look like now? And what's he been up to since?
Well, back in 2023, Collin - who was a freshman at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, signed with Popeyes for a sponsorship using his name, image and likeness (also referred to as an NIL deal) on billboards.
It started back in 2021, when Collin became a state champion with his high school football team.
Over on Twitter, podcast producer Jim Weber tweeted: “The @Popeyes meme kid @CollinDieunerst is now a freshman offensive lineman at Division II Lake Erie College and if this guy doesn’t have a NIL deal by tomorrow, the Louisiana kitchen needs to clean house on upper management.”
With a bit of pressure online, Popeyes announced it had offered the teen a NIL deal.
“A lot can happen with the power of the internet behind you!” Collin said in a release, as per PEOPLE.
“I can't believe I can say I'm officially sponsored by Popeyes. Thank you to everyone who helped spread the good word!”
An NIL deal is an agreement between a person and a brand that allows them to profit from the use of their name, image and likeness.
Popeyes released promotional posters showing an image of nine-year-old Collin, in the meme that kickstarted everything.
“This is where our story started,” Collin narrates the video.
“The moment that made us a meme. We didn’t ask for it. We didn’t understand it. But don’t worry little man, we didn’t let it stop us. Because the more we grew, the tougher we got. We learned to lean in. We turned the attention into motivation and the motivation into championships. This is where our story started and now it’s where a new one begins.”
These days, Collin is aged 20 and regularly shares posts about football on his social media accounts.
Topics: Food and Drink, Sport, Entertainment, Viral
Lucy Devine