Where did the Congratulation Poster Parodies come from?

The meme originated on Indonesian Twitter on August 2, 2021, after politicians published self-promoting congratulatory posters following the badminton gold medal win at the Tokyo Olympics. Twitter user @adriansyahyasin was key in documenting and spreading the trend.

What does the Congratulation Poster Parodies meme mean?

The meme satirizes political vanity and opportunism, specifically the tendency of Indonesian politicians to co-opt public celebrations for personal branding by making themselves the visual focus of congratulatory materials.

How do you use the Congratulation Poster Parodies format?

Create a congratulatory poster where the "congratulator" (yourself, a fictional character, or an absurd figure) takes up most of the poster space, while the actual subject of congratulations is squeezed into a tiny corner.

Is the Congratulation Poster Parodies meme still popular?

No. The meme was a short-lived viral moment tied specifically to the August 2021 Tokyo Olympics and is no longer actively used.

Which politician's poster started the backlash?

The Democratic Party's poster featuring party leader Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono was among the first to draw widespread criticism, as his photo occupied nearly half the image while the gold medalists were placed in a small corner.

Who made the most praised parody poster?

The Ministry of Public Works and Housing (PUPR) was widely praised for their self-aware version, which edited Minister Basuki Hadimuljono into the athletes' photo at a tiny size, as if cheering from the stands.

Did other Olympic athletes get similar treatment from politicians?

Yes. Bronze medalist Anthony Ginting also appeared in oversized politician posters, though fewer officials latched onto his achievement compared to the gold medal winners.

Greysia Polii And Apriyani Rahayu Congratulation Poster Parodies

Q: What is the Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu Congratulation Poster Parodies meme?

It's a series of parody images mocking Indonesian politicians who posted congratulatory graphics for Olympic gold medalists Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu but featured their own photos at sizes much larger than the athletes.

2021Image parody / exploitable templatedead

Published March 31, 2026

Also known as: Poster Pejabat Nebeng (Politician Hitchhiking Posters)

On August 2, 2021, Indonesian politicians flooded social media with congratulatory posters for Olympic gold medalists Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu, featuring their own photos at comically large sizes that dwarfed the actual athletes. Indonesian netizens roasted the self-serving designs and created a wave of parody posters inserting everything from anime characters to famous cats, turning political vanity into one of Indonesia's sharpest viral satire moments of 2021.

indonesian memes political satire memes exploitable templates olympics memes

Overview

After Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu won Indonesia's gold medal in women's doubles badminton at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Indonesian politicians and officials rushed to claim reflected glory. They published congratulatory posters on social media that featured their own faces at sizes far larger than the athletes they were supposedly celebrating1. The result looked less like congratulations and more like campaign ads. Indonesian netizens quickly noticed, mocked the narcissistic designs, and began creating parody versions, inserting fictional characters, animals, and absurd self-promoters into the same format.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Twitter (Indonesian political accounts as source material, @adriansyahyasin as viral spread)

Key People

@adriansyahyasin, community-created

Date

2021

On August 2, 2021, Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu defeated Chinese pair Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan to win gold in women's doubles badminton at the Tokyo Olympics1. The win triggered a nationwide celebration across Indonesia.

Almost immediately, politicians began posting congratulatory graphics on social media. The Democratic Party, led by Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY, eldest son of former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono), published a poster where AHY's photo took up nearly half the image while the two gold medalists were squeezed into a small upper corner3. Criticism poured in instantly. One netizen wrote: "It's weird that politicians who contributed nothing suddenly want their photo displayed" (translated from Indonesian)3.

On the same day, Twitter user @adriansyahyasin posted a tweet predicting that politicians would design congratulatory posters with their own photos bigger than the athletes. The prediction received over 9,000 likes and 1,700 retweets. Hours later, the same user began documenting real examples, proving the prediction correct. That documentation thread collected over 32,900 likes and 16,100 retweets2.

How It Spread

The backlash spread fast across Indonesian social media. Twitter account @nksthi compiled roughly 20 narcissistic congratulatory posters from various officials into a single thread, captioning it: "A collection of posters that will lower your immunity. Enjoy" (translated from Indonesian)3. User @jek___ added: "Politicians are busy calling the print shop to make congratulations for Greysia and Apriyani but their face is bigger on the banner" (translated from Indonesian)3. Another user, @dickypsy, suggested politicians redirect their poster budgets into donations for badminton courts and equipment in rural areas3.

Parodies started rolling in within hours on August 2nd. The Facebook page Doraemon Hari Ini edited Suneo Honekawa, the spoiled rich kid from the Doraemon series, into the poster template with his photo larger than the athletes1. Kaesang Pangarep, President Joko Widodo's youngest son, posted his own version on Instagram holding a tennis racket, picking up praise for joining the mockery of the very political class his father leads1. Facebook user Sudiro Sumbodo II created a satirical step-by-step guide to designing a congratulatory poster "like a politician," complete with instructions on photo and logo placement, earning 830 reactions and 1,800 shares2.

Indonesian webcomic artists also joined the pile-on. Risa Comics posted a parody on Facebook with over 2,600 reactions. Gump n Hell uploaded across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, pulling 4,100 reactions on Facebook, 18,000 likes on Instagram, and 3,400 likes on Twitter. Cartoonist Wahyu Kokkang added his own take the following day2.

The Ministry of Public Works and Housing (Kementerian PUPR) earned widespread praise for a self-aware response. They edited Minister Basuki Hadimuljono into the athletes' victory photo at a tiny size, as if cheering from the stands. Their tweet simply asked, "Is this small enough?"1. Twitter-famous cat Bintik also got a parody poster expressing pride in the athletes' achievement1.

The trend extended beyond the women's doubles pair. Bronze medalist Anthony Ginting also appeared in oversized politician posters, though as @adriansyahyasin observed, fewer politicians seemed interested since "perhaps they felt a bronze medal wasn't enough to boost their electability" (translated from Indonesian)1.

How to Use This Meme

The format is straightforward: take a congratulatory poster layout and make the "congratulator" comically more prominent than the person being congratulated. Creators typically:

Use a standard congratulatory poster design with the athletes' Olympic victory as the subject

Insert a large photo of themselves (or a fictional character, pet, or absurd figure) that takes up most of the poster space

Shrink the athletes' photo to a corner or background element

Add official-looking logos, titles, and congratulatory text to complete the political poster aesthetic

Cultural Impact

The meme tapped into a specific Indonesian cultural practice. As Coconuts Jakarta reported, Indonesia has a strong "flower board culture" where prominent figures send congratulatory or condolence displays to weddings, funerals, and other events, with the sender's name printed in far larger text than the recipient's1. The politician poster trend was this same impulse translated to social media graphics.

The backlash prompted some government accounts to respond with humor rather than defensiveness, with the Ministry of Public Works' self-deprecating entry praised as the strongest response1. The incident also sparked broader discussion about politicians co-opting public achievements for personal branding, with netizens calling on officials to invest in sports infrastructure instead of vanity posters3.

Fun Facts

@adriansyahyasin predicted the exact poster trend before it happened, then documented real examples in the same thread, making it read like a prophecy fulfilled in real time2.

One of the original politician posters used a recycled photo of the athletes from the 2018 Asian Games rather than a current Olympics image, and netizens spotted it immediately1.

Kaesang Pangarep's participation in the trend added an extra layer of irony, as the president's own son publicly mocked the behavior of his father's political peers1.

The Ministry of Public Works' tiny-minister edit was widely considered the "gold medal winner" of the parody trend1.

Derivatives & Variations

Doraemon parody

— The Facebook page Doraemon Hari Ini used the spoiled rich kid character Suneo Honekawa in the template, fitting since Suneo is known for bragging and name-dropping[1].

Kaesang self-parody

— President Jokowi's son Kaesang Pangarep created his own version with a tennis racket pose, adding meta-humor by having the president's family mock the political class[1].

Satirical design guide

— Sudiro Sumbodo II made a graphic tutorial on how to design a narcissistic congratulatory poster like a politician, complete with sizing instructions[2].

Ministry of Public Works response

— The PUPR ministry created an inverted version where Minister Basuki was edited tiny into the crowd, asking "Is this small enough?"[1].