# Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash > Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash is a 2015 Facebook meme group founded by Will Dowd and Sean Walsh, featuring viral "Bernie or Hillary?" comparison image macros supporting Sanders' political campaigns. Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash was a Facebook group created in October 2015 by college student Will Dowd and author Sean Walsh to support Sanders' presidential campaign through internet memes[2]. The group grew to over 417,000 members and popularized viral formats like the "Bernie or Hillary?" comparison posters, becoming one of the most prominent examples of meme-driven political engagement during the 2016 and 2020 election cycles[2]. In June 2020, admins renamed the group "So You Decided To Fuck Around," declaring it had moved beyond its original purpose[2]. ## Origin Will Dowd, a college student, and Sean Walsh, an author, created the Facebook group in early October 2015 with the explicit goal of supporting Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign[2]. From the start, the group operated on user-submitted content. Members posted their own creations as commentary on Sanders and his campaign, editing the politician into pop culture imagery and layering him onto established meme templates[2]. While predominantly based on Facebook, content from the group quickly spread to Reddit, Tumblr, and Twitter[2]. - **Platform:** Facebook - **Creator:** Will Dowd (co-founder), Sean Walsh (co-founder) - **Date:** 2015 ## Overview Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash (often abbreviated BSDMS) was a user-submitted Facebook meme community dedicated to promoting Sanders through humor[4]. Members created image macros, Photoshopped images, and short videos, frequently editing Sanders into pop culture contexts like rap album covers or pairing him with existing internet meme formats[2]. The group's moderators aimed for positive, pro-Sanders commentary and banned content that was racist or consisted of personal attacks against other candidates, though enforcement was inconsistent, particularly with sexist memes targeting Hillary Clinton[2]. The name itself was a deliberate play on "dank memes," internet slang for high-quality or ironic humor, and Dowd said almost no coordination went into the content creation process. The community was essentially self-organizing[2]. ## How It Spread The group's biggest viral moment came on January 28, 2016, when Reddit user ObviousPlant posted a series of 12 fake campaign posters comparing Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton on absurd, apolitical topics[3]. The posters depicted Sanders as genuinely knowledgeable about subjects like Radiohead and lizards while Clinton gave generic, politician-style answers[1]. ObviousPlant posted them to Tumblr, Reddit, and Imgur with the caption "Left in the streets of Los Angeles," and the Reddit post in r/pics hit 550 points with 97% upvotes while the Tumblr post collected over 38,000 notes within days[3]. The easy-to-Photoshop format spread rapidly through the Dank Meme Stash group, which had over 79,000 members at the time[3]. Members filled in new topics and generated fresh candidate answers, with the most popular edits gaining over 300 likes each inside the group before spreading into general newsfeeds. Twitter users also picked up the format, with New York Magazine collecting and covering the best versions[1]. On February 10, 2016, the group popularized another meme when member Maddi Epping, a slam poet from Des Moines, Iowa, screenshotted a Clinton campaign email with the subject line "I'm not kidding, Maddi" and posted it to the group[2]. The phrase became a trending topic across social media and got picked up by news outlets. The group also helped spread the Ted Cruz Zodiac Killer joke, which became one of the most persistent political memes of that election cycle[2]. By April 2016, the group was large enough to be briefly affected by a Facebook-wide suspension of Sanders-related groups[2]. When Sanders formally conceded the nomination and endorsed Clinton on July 12, 2016, the community split on whether to back Clinton or go elsewhere[2]. The group peaked at approximately 417,147 members by May 2018, though the admin and moderator team had thinned to just 15 people by that point[2]. Sanders' 2020 presidential run brought renewed activity. By October 2019, the group had about 394,448 members[2]. The "Bernie or Hillary?" comparison format also saw revival, now featuring Sanders against Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, and Joe Biden[3]. But in June 2020, admins renamed the group to "So You Decided To Fuck Around," announcing that "the stash has progressed beyond the need for Bernie Sanders"[2]. By November 2020, the group was inaccessible on Facebook, though the associated Facebook page still had over 273,000 followers as of 2023[2]. ## How to Use The group's most famous export, the "Bernie or Hillary?" comparison poster, follows a simple format: 1. Create a two-column layout with Bernie Sanders on the left and another candidate on the right 2. Pick a pop culture topic, something completely non-political like a band, movie, food, or hobby 3. Give Sanders the "correct" or deeply knowledgeable answer that sounds like a real fan talking 4. Give the opponent a clueless, corporate, or painfully out-of-touch response ## Cultural Impact The group drew significant press coverage from outlets across the media spectrum. Vice wrote that the memes "transcend the traditional media coverage" and called them "explanatory, deconstructive, self-aware, and incendiary"[2]. Fortune described the group as "ready-made to go viral" with memes that were "hilarious, if incongruent." Electronic musician Steve Aoki called it "eternally entertaining." Yahoo Politics ranked it the second-largest of eighteen major Facebook groups dedicated to Sanders[2]. The group also crossed into the art world. On February 12, 2016, new media artist Matt Starr organized "Weekend with Bernie," an exhibition at Wayfarers Gallery in Bushwick, Brooklyn[2]. The show featured Ryder Ripps' installation "Faces of Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash," which consisted of live Skype video chats with group members displayed as art. Canadian producer Ryan Hemsworth contributed a painting of rapper Lil B depicted as Sanders. The exhibition raised over $10,000 in donations to the Sanders campaign[2]. The Dank Meme Stash helped establish Facebook groups as a legitimate vehicle for grassroots political meme campaigns, a model later imitated by supporters of other candidates across the political spectrum. ## Fun Facts - The abbreviation BSDMS was frequently noted for its resemblance to BDSM, a connection the group's fans treated as a running joke[4]. - At peak size, the group had over 417,000 members managed by only 15 admins and moderators[2]. - Dowd said almost no coordination went into meme creation; the entire operation was essentially self-organizing[2]. - The "Weekend with Bernie" art exhibition in Brooklyn turned live Skype calls with group members into a gallery installation[2]. - The group briefly survived Sanders' 2016 loss, grew through his 2020 run, and then deliberately abandoned the Sanders brand in June 2020[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash? A Facebook group created in October 2015 where members shared user-generated memes supporting Bernie Sanders' presidential campaigns[2]. ### Where did Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash come from? College student Will Dowd and author Sean Walsh founded the group in early October 2015 to promote Sanders' 2016 Democratic primary bid[2]. ### What does Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash mean? The name combines "dank memes," internet slang for high-quality or ironic memes, with Sanders' name, suggesting a curated stash of premium political humor[4]. ### How do you use Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash memes? The group's most popular format places Sanders and a rival candidate side by side, giving Sanders knowledgeable pop culture opinions and the opponent a clueless answer[1]. ### Is Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash still popular? The group was renamed "So You Decided To Fuck Around" in June 2020 and was inaccessible on Facebook by November 2020, though the associated page had 273,000 followers as of 2023[2]. ### How many members did the group have at its peak? The group reached approximately 417,147 members by May 2018, making it one of the largest political meme communities on Facebook[2]. ### Who created the "Bernie or Hillary?" comparison posters? Reddit and Tumblr user ObviousPlant created the original series of 12 posters on January 28, 2016, posting them across Tumblr, Reddit, and Imgur[3]. ### What happened to the group after Sanders lost in 2016? The community divided when Sanders endorsed Clinton on July 12, 2016. The group persisted through the 2020 primary before admins renamed it in June 2020, saying "the stash has progressed beyond the need for Bernie Sanders"[2]. ### Did the group have any real-world impact on the Sanders campaign? The "Weekend with Bernie" art exhibition at Wayfarers Gallery in Brooklyn on February 12, 2016, raised over $10,000 in donations to the Sanders campaign[2]. ### What was the "I'm not kidding, Maddi" meme? On February 10, 2016, group member Maddi Epping posted a Clinton campaign email screenshot with that subject line, and it became a trending topic across social media platforms[2]. ## References 1. [How Do Hillary and Bernie Differ on the Issues That Really Matter, Radiohead and Lizards?]() 2. [Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash - Know Your Meme]() 3. [Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash]() 4. [Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash - Urban Dictionary]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/bernie-sanders-dank-memes Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library