Where did Copy That come from?

The 30-second spot was uploaded to the EB Games Canada YouTube channel on December 16th, 2014, and blew up after a Reddit r/videos post on December 19th passed 3,800 upvotes.

What does Copy That mean?

'Copy that' is radio slang for 'I heard you' or 'I understand,' basically the same as 'roger,' which is why it fits Call of Duty's military tone.

How do you use Copy That?

People typically quote the line in a soft, deadpan voice to acknowledge any request, or paste the screenshot of the long-necked clerk into photoshop edits, a format that was actively curated on a Facebook page and Tumblr set up in late December 2014.

Is Copy That still popular?

It's a classic 2014-era gaming meme rather than an active trend; the exploitable and the phrase still get referenced when people talk about the worst video game commercials, but the burst of edits mostly happened in the weeks after the ad dropped.

Copy That

Q: What is Copy That?

It's a catchphrase and exploitable image from a 2014 EB Games Canada TV commercial for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, in which a store clerk softly replies 'copy that' to two customers asking for the game.

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Published August 17, 2026

Copy That is a catchphrase and exploitable image lifted from a cringe-inducing December 2014 EB Games Canada commercial for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, in which a lanky-necked store clerk softly says the line to two hyped-up customers. The screenshot of the clerk quickly turned into a photoshop template on 4chan and Tumblr.

advertising memes catchphrase memes exploitable templates cringe memes call of duty memes

Overview

Copy That is a two-word catchphrase and reaction image pulled from a 30-second EB Games Canada TV spot promoting Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare1. The line is delivered by an actor playing a store clerk who greets two frantic customers rushing in to buy the game, replying to their request with a soft, almost whispered 'copy that'3.

Most of the meme's staying power comes from the clerk himself. The screenshot people latched onto shows him with a strikingly long, thin neck and an awkward smile, which quickly made him a target for photoshop edits on 4chan3. In military and gaming slang, 'copy that' is just an acknowledgement meaning 'I heard you,' which is why the phrase also fit right into Call of Duty jokes6.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

YouTube (source) / 4chan and Tumblr (viral spread)

Creator

EB Games Canada; meme creators anonymous

Date

2014

The commercial, titled 'EB Games: Rivals,' was uploaded to the official EB Games Canada YouTube channel on December 16th, 20141. It aired as part of the Canadian marketing push for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, the eleventh main entry in the series, which had launched a month earlier on PC, Xbox and PlayStation3.

The spot follows two Call of Duty fans racing each other to their local EB Games store to grab copies of Advanced Warfare. When they burst through the door and ask for the game, the store clerk pauses, then meekly answers 'copy that,' a beat that landed as unintentionally funny to almost everyone who watched it3.

How It Spread

On December 19th, 2014, a link to the ad was posted to Reddit's r/videos, where it hit the front page with more than 3,800 upvotes and over 2,200 comments before the thread was archived2. The next day, MemeCenter ran a writeup calling it 'EB Games Makes The Absolute Worst Ad, Copy That!' which pushed the video to a wider audience3.

Within 48 hours the clip was re-posted to r/xboxone on December 21st and, more absurdly, to r/poetry on December 22nd, where users treated the clerk's line like a piece of minimalist verse5. Around the same time, screenshots of the clerk started showing up on 4chan boards including /v/, /tv/ and /s4s/, plus threads on GameFAQs picking apart the man's neck3.

On December 27th, a Facebook page went up dedicated to photoshops of the clerk, followed a day later by a single-topic Tumblr collecting the same kind of edits3. From there, 'Copy That Guy' settled in as one of those pre-2015 gaming commercial memes people still trot out whenever a stiff retail ad goes viral4.

How to Use This Meme

Two common uses. First, the phrase itself: dropping a soft, deadpan 'copy that' in reply to any request, mimicking the clerk's delivery for comedic effect6. Second, the exploitable: the head-and-shoulders shot of the long-necked clerk is typically pasted into other scenes, video game screenshots, or storefronts, with the joke resting on his awkward smile and neck rather than any specific caption3.