American Chopper Argument

2011image macroclassic

American Chopper Argument is a five-panel image macro built from screenshots of Paul Teutul Sr. and his son Paul Teutul Jr. shouting at each other on Discovery Channel's reality show. The template started as a wholesome dialogue swap on Reddit in 2011, then hit peak Twitter virality in March and April 2018 as a format for staging mock debates over pop culture and politics.

exploitable templatesmulti panel memesdebate memesreality tv origin memesdelayed virality memes

Overview

American Chopper Argument is an image macro format built from five screenshots of a shouting match between father and son Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr. on Discovery Channel's reality show American Chopper1. Users overlay their own text on each panel to stage a mock debate, following a rhythm of claim, rebuttal, escalation, chair-throwing, and final accusatory point1. The template's five-panel exchange lets creators voice both sides of an argument in one image, and the meme is used for topics ranging from Star Wars to gender politics to Garfield the cat6.

The show stopped producing new episodes in 2010, so many people sharing the format never watched the original series1. The image stack runs tall rather than wide, and users complained the vertical layout displays awkwardly on smartphones6. In April 2018 a compressed side-by-side edit started circulating specifically to fit Twitter's crop preview3.

How It Spread

The wholesome-swap template sat mostly dormant until late March 2018 delivered its breakout moment on Twitter1. A March 26, 2018 tweet by @_ericcurtin kicked off the revival, and within about two weeks that post reached roughly 55,000 likes and 17,000 retweets5. USA Today ran an explainer within days and noted the resurgence started quietly on Twitter before spreading fast4.

Photoshopped variants that swapped the Teutuls for characters from other franchises appeared on Twitter through late March and early April. Notable examples included an /r/MemeEconomy Garfield entry on March 27, a Prequel Memes crossover posted by FunnyJunk user lerky on March 31, a Frasier version by Twitter user @markpopham on April 4, and a Neon Genesis Evangelion recreation by @notebooklines on April 63.

Coverage piled up quickly. Mashable ran the first hot take on March 28, and Vice, CNET, Vox, Slate, and USA Today all published pieces between March 28 and April 10, 20187. Several outlets pointed out the timing matched Discovery's American Chopper reboot, scheduled to air in May 2018, and openly asked whether the meme's return was a marketing push2.

How to Use This Meme

The format typically uses five stills in order: Paul Sr. speaking, Paul Jr. speaking back, Sr. yelling, Jr. throwing a chair, and Sr. red-faced and pointing1. Each panel gets a plain white text box overlaid, and the exchange usually follows a set structure of proposition, rebuttal, reaffirmation, second rebuttal, and final accusatory line1. Common convention is to pick a low-stakes or absurd debate topic, like whether Garfield contributes anything to society or whether Ewoks belong in Star Wars, and let both Teutuls take opposing sides6. Some creators skip the original stills entirely by photoshopping characters from other franchises into the exact same pose sequence, keeping the five-beat rhythm intact3.

Frequently Asked Questions

American Chopper Argument

2011image macroclassic

American Chopper Argument is a five-panel image macro built from screenshots of Paul Teutul Sr. and his son Paul Teutul Jr. shouting at each other on Discovery Channel's reality show. The template started as a wholesome dialogue swap on Reddit in 2011, then hit peak Twitter virality in March and April 2018 as a format for staging mock debates over pop culture and politics.

exploitable templates multi panel memes debate memes reality tv origin memes delayed virality memes

Overview

American Chopper Argument is an image macro format built from five screenshots of a shouting match between father and son Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr. on Discovery Channel's reality show American Chopper1. Users overlay their own text on each panel to stage a mock debate, following a rhythm of claim, rebuttal, escalation, chair-throwing, and final accusatory point1. The template's five-panel exchange lets creators voice both sides of an argument in one image, and the meme is used for topics ranging from Star Wars to gender politics to Garfield the cat6.

The show stopped producing new episodes in 2010, so many people sharing the format never watched the original series1. The image stack runs tall rather than wide, and users complained the vertical layout displays awkwardly on smartphones6. In April 2018 a compressed side-by-side edit started circulating specifically to fit Twitter's crop preview3.

How It Spread

The wholesome-swap template sat mostly dormant until late March 2018 delivered its breakout moment on Twitter1. A March 26, 2018 tweet by @_ericcurtin kicked off the revival, and within about two weeks that post reached roughly 55,000 likes and 17,000 retweets5. USA Today ran an explainer within days and noted the resurgence started quietly on Twitter before spreading fast4.

Photoshopped variants that swapped the Teutuls for characters from other franchises appeared on Twitter through late March and early April. Notable examples included an /r/MemeEconomy Garfield entry on March 27, a Prequel Memes crossover posted by FunnyJunk user lerky on March 31, a Frasier version by Twitter user @markpopham on April 4, and a Neon Genesis Evangelion recreation by @notebooklines on April 63.

Coverage piled up quickly. Mashable ran the first hot take on March 28, and Vice, CNET, Vox, Slate, and USA Today all published pieces between March 28 and April 10, 20187. Several outlets pointed out the timing matched Discovery's American Chopper reboot, scheduled to air in May 2018, and openly asked whether the meme's return was a marketing push2.

How to Use This Meme

The format typically uses five stills in order: Paul Sr. speaking, Paul Jr. speaking back, Sr. yelling, Jr. throwing a chair, and Sr. red-faced and pointing1. Each panel gets a plain white text box overlaid, and the exchange usually follows a set structure of proposition, rebuttal, reaffirmation, second rebuttal, and final accusatory line1. Common convention is to pick a low-stakes or absurd debate topic, like whether Garfield contributes anything to society or whether Ewoks belong in Star Wars, and let both Teutuls take opposing sides6. Some creators skip the original stills entirely by photoshopping characters from other franchises into the exact same pose sequence, keeping the five-beat rhythm intact3.

Frequently Asked Questions