Kimberley Vlaeminck 56 Stars

2009image macrodead

Kimberley Vlaeminck 56 Stars is the June 2009 viral news story about an 18-year-old Belgian woman who claimed a tattoo artist covered one side of her face with 53 unwanted stars while she slept, then later admitted she had asked for the full 56. The story spawned Facebook fan pages, image macros, and a browser tool that pasted the star pattern onto any uploaded photo.

hoax memesaccidental fame memeslate 2000s memessingle serving site memesbody image memes

Overview

Kimberley Vlaeminck 56 Stars refers to a June 2009 news story turned internet joke centered on an 18-year-old woman from Kortrijk, Belgium, who appeared in the world press with a cluster of 56 small star tattoos across the left side of her face 1. Her claim that the artist inked 53 extra stars while she slept made her image instantly recognizable in tabloids and on Belgian and Dutch social media 2.

The look itself was the meme. Users on Facebook pages built image macros around her face, pasted the star pattern onto celebrities, and shared star-edited versions of their own profile pictures 2. A Belgian advertising agency shipped a small web tool called The Kimberlizer that dropped the exact 56-star arrangement onto any uploaded photo 3.

How It Spread

Once photos of her tattooed face circulated, Facebook became the hub for the joke. A Dutch-language group titled Fansite Kimberley '56 sterretjes' Vlaeminck passed 20,000 members by June 21, 2009 and hosted more than 500 user submissions of image macros, motivational posters, and star-edited profile pictures 2.

The Kimberlizer web tool, released by a Belgian advertising agency during the same news cycle, made the joke trivial to reproduce by applying the exact 56-star pattern to any face uploaded to it 3. English-language coverage kept the story moving after her confession, with The Telegraph running the follow-up on her admission that the sleeping story was fake 1.

Toumaniantz eventually offered to pay for half of the laser removal, saying he did not want to send an unhappy client away 4. Interest cooled once the news cycle ended, and the meme did not carry meaningfully past summer 2009.

How to Use This Meme

The template is either the original press photograph of Vlaeminck used as an image macro, or the 56-star pattern lifted off her face and pasted onto another portrait. The Kimberlizer tool automated the second version by aligning the exact star cluster with any uploaded photo 3.

Frequently Asked Questions

Kimberley Vlaeminck 56 Stars

2009image macrodead

Kimberley Vlaeminck 56 Stars is the June 2009 viral news story about an 18-year-old Belgian woman who claimed a tattoo artist covered one side of her face with 53 unwanted stars while she slept, then later admitted she had asked for the full 56. The story spawned Facebook fan pages, image macros, and a browser tool that pasted the star pattern onto any uploaded photo.

hoax memes accidental fame memes late 2000s memes single serving site memes body image memes

Overview

Kimberley Vlaeminck 56 Stars refers to a June 2009 news story turned internet joke centered on an 18-year-old woman from Kortrijk, Belgium, who appeared in the world press with a cluster of 56 small star tattoos across the left side of her face 1. Her claim that the artist inked 53 extra stars while she slept made her image instantly recognizable in tabloids and on Belgian and Dutch social media 2.

The look itself was the meme. Users on Facebook pages built image macros around her face, pasted the star pattern onto celebrities, and shared star-edited versions of their own profile pictures 2. A Belgian advertising agency shipped a small web tool called The Kimberlizer that dropped the exact 56-star arrangement onto any uploaded photo 3.

How It Spread

Once photos of her tattooed face circulated, Facebook became the hub for the joke. A Dutch-language group titled Fansite Kimberley '56 sterretjes' Vlaeminck passed 20,000 members by June 21, 2009 and hosted more than 500 user submissions of image macros, motivational posters, and star-edited profile pictures 2.

The Kimberlizer web tool, released by a Belgian advertising agency during the same news cycle, made the joke trivial to reproduce by applying the exact 56-star pattern to any face uploaded to it 3. English-language coverage kept the story moving after her confession, with The Telegraph running the follow-up on her admission that the sleeping story was fake 1.

Toumaniantz eventually offered to pay for half of the laser removal, saying he did not want to send an unhappy client away 4. Interest cooled once the news cycle ended, and the meme did not carry meaningfully past summer 2009.

How to Use This Meme

The template is either the original press photograph of Vlaeminck used as an image macro, or the 56-star pattern lifted off her face and pasted onto another portrait. The Kimberlizer tool automated the second version by aligning the exact star cluster with any uploaded photo 3.

Frequently Asked Questions