Business Baby

2014Image macrodead
Business Baby is a 2014 image-macro meme featuring a stern-looking toddler speaking on a toy phone at breakfast, captioned as a serious corporate executive.

Business Baby is an image macro meme from February 2014 featuring a stern-looking toddler eating breakfast while appearing to talk on a red toy phone. The photo was posted to Reddit by user C0LDBLUERIBB0N and quickly spawned captions imagining the baby as a no-nonsense corporate executive handling serious business calls2.

image macro memesreddit memeschild virality memeswork memesearly 2010s memes

Overview

Business Baby uses a single photograph of a young boy sitting at a breakfast table with a serious, almost irritated expression on his face. He appears to be holding or near a red toy phone, which became the central joke: captions frame the baby as a hard-nosed businessperson fielding important calls. The humor comes from placing adult corporate dialogue over a toddler's mundane breakfast scene2.

The format follows standard image macro conventions with white Impact font text, usually with a setup line at the top and a punchline at the bottom. Most captions revolve around the baby negotiating deals, demanding diaper changes in corporate lingo, or making stern demands over the phone2.

The original photo was taken of a young boy eating breakfast and uploaded to Facebook on a Monday night in February 20141. A friend of the family, Reddit user C0LDBLUERIBB0N, saw the photo and posted it to Reddit with permission from the baby's father1. The image caught fire almost immediately thanks to the boy's unusually serious expression2.

According to BuzzFeed, the baby's dad was fine with the photo being posted to Reddit initially but found it strange when his son's face started appearing all over the internet1. Mashable described the meme as a cross between Business Cat and Success Kid, two established image macros that Business Baby drew obvious comparisons to2.

Origin & Background

Platform
Facebook (source photo), Reddit (meme format)
Key People
C0LDBLUERIBB0N
Date
2014

The original photo was taken of a young boy eating breakfast and uploaded to Facebook on a Monday night in February 2014. A friend of the family, Reddit user C0LDBLUERIBB0N, saw the photo and posted it to Reddit with permission from the baby's father. The image caught fire almost immediately thanks to the boy's unusually serious expression.

According to BuzzFeed, the baby's dad was fine with the photo being posted to Reddit initially but found it strange when his son's face started appearing all over the internet. Mashable described the meme as a cross between Business Cat and Success Kid, two established image macros that Business Baby drew obvious comparisons to.

How It Spread

Reddit users latched onto the photo and began flooding the site with captioned versions. The joke coalesced quickly around the red toy phone: users imagined what the baby might be saying during his very important call. Popular captions included scenarios like negotiating "one-figure business deals," demanding someone "put a round peg in a square hole," and calling someone to change his diaper.

Mashable covered the meme on February 18, 2014, calling it "the hottest new meme of 2014". BuzzFeed also picked up the story, framing it as a cautionary tale for parents who post funny photos of their kids on Facebook. The coverage pushed Business Baby beyond Reddit into broader internet awareness, though it never reached the lasting cultural footprint of its inspirations like Success Kid.

How to Use This Meme

Business Baby follows a straightforward image macro template:

1

Use the original photo of the stern baby at the breakfast table

2

Add a top line setting up a business scenario (meeting, phone call, negotiation)

3

Add a bottom punchline that reveals the "business" is actually something a toddler would do

Fun Facts

The baby's father gave permission for the Reddit post but was reportedly "weirded out" when his son went viral.

Mashable explicitly compared Business Baby to both Business Cat and Success Kid, placing it in a lineage of "serious expression" image macros.

BuzzFeed used the meme as a warning to parents: "If you take a funny photo of your baby and put it on Facebook... there is a very good chance that strangers will write things on it".

Nobody ever found out what actually had the baby making that face at his cereal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Business Baby

2014Image macrodead
Business Baby is a 2014 image-macro meme featuring a stern-looking toddler speaking on a toy phone at breakfast, captioned as a serious corporate executive.

Business Baby is an image macro meme from February 2014 featuring a stern-looking toddler eating breakfast while appearing to talk on a red toy phone. The photo was posted to Reddit by user C0LDBLUERIBB0N and quickly spawned captions imagining the baby as a no-nonsense corporate executive handling serious business calls.

image macro memes reddit memes child virality memes work memes early 2010s memes

Overview

Business Baby uses a single photograph of a young boy sitting at a breakfast table with a serious, almost irritated expression on his face. He appears to be holding or near a red toy phone, which became the central joke: captions frame the baby as a hard-nosed businessperson fielding important calls. The humor comes from placing adult corporate dialogue over a toddler's mundane breakfast scene.

The format follows standard image macro conventions with white Impact font text, usually with a setup line at the top and a punchline at the bottom. Most captions revolve around the baby negotiating deals, demanding diaper changes in corporate lingo, or making stern demands over the phone.

The original photo was taken of a young boy eating breakfast and uploaded to Facebook on a Monday night in February 2014. A friend of the family, Reddit user C0LDBLUERIBB0N, saw the photo and posted it to Reddit with permission from the baby's father. The image caught fire almost immediately thanks to the boy's unusually serious expression.

According to BuzzFeed, the baby's dad was fine with the photo being posted to Reddit initially but found it strange when his son's face started appearing all over the internet. Mashable described the meme as a cross between Business Cat and Success Kid, two established image macros that Business Baby drew obvious comparisons to.

Origin & Background

Platform
Facebook (source photo), Reddit (meme format)
Key People
C0LDBLUERIBB0N
Date
2014

The original photo was taken of a young boy eating breakfast and uploaded to Facebook on a Monday night in February 2014. A friend of the family, Reddit user C0LDBLUERIBB0N, saw the photo and posted it to Reddit with permission from the baby's father. The image caught fire almost immediately thanks to the boy's unusually serious expression.

According to BuzzFeed, the baby's dad was fine with the photo being posted to Reddit initially but found it strange when his son's face started appearing all over the internet. Mashable described the meme as a cross between Business Cat and Success Kid, two established image macros that Business Baby drew obvious comparisons to.

How It Spread

Reddit users latched onto the photo and began flooding the site with captioned versions. The joke coalesced quickly around the red toy phone: users imagined what the baby might be saying during his very important call. Popular captions included scenarios like negotiating "one-figure business deals," demanding someone "put a round peg in a square hole," and calling someone to change his diaper.

Mashable covered the meme on February 18, 2014, calling it "the hottest new meme of 2014". BuzzFeed also picked up the story, framing it as a cautionary tale for parents who post funny photos of their kids on Facebook. The coverage pushed Business Baby beyond Reddit into broader internet awareness, though it never reached the lasting cultural footprint of its inspirations like Success Kid.

How to Use This Meme

Business Baby follows a straightforward image macro template:

1

Use the original photo of the stern baby at the breakfast table

2

Add a top line setting up a business scenario (meeting, phone call, negotiation)

3

Add a bottom punchline that reveals the "business" is actually something a toddler would do

Fun Facts

The baby's father gave permission for the Reddit post but was reportedly "weirded out" when his son went viral.

Mashable explicitly compared Business Baby to both Business Cat and Success Kid, placing it in a lineage of "serious expression" image macros.

BuzzFeed used the meme as a warning to parents: "If you take a funny photo of your baby and put it on Facebook... there is a very good chance that strangers will write things on it".

Nobody ever found out what actually had the baby making that face at his cereal.

Frequently Asked Questions