# Copy That 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. ## 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 Warfare[1]. 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 4chan[3]. 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 jokes[6]. ## 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 archived[2]. 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 audience[3]. 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 verse[5]. 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 neck[3]. 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 edits[3]. 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 viral[4]. ## How to Use 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 effect[6]. 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 caption[3]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### 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[1][3]. ### 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[1][2]. ### 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[6]. ### 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[3]. ### 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[3][4]. ## References 1. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80kDRoso_X8]() 2. [https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/2ppjyq/eb_games_has_the_worst_ad_i_have_ever_seen/]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/copy-that]() 4. [https://www.memecenter.com/]() 5. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Poetry/]() 6. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Copy%20That]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/copy-that Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library