# Sad Keanu Sad Keanu is a 2010 photoshop meme built from a paparazzi shot of Keanu Reeves eating a sandwich alone on a park bench. Editors cut the slumped actor out of the frame and dropped him into new backdrops, while a parallel branch added cartoon companions to cheer him up. It broke wide on Reddit in early June 2010 and led to a fan-organized Cheer Up Keanu Day event. ## Overview Sad Keanu is a photoshop meme built around a paparazzi shot of actor Keanu Reeves sitting alone on a park bench, slumped forward and eating a sandwich with a downcast expression[7]. Editors cut the mopey Reeves figure out of the original frame and drop him into new photoshopped scenes, treating the slumped pose as a portable prop[3]. A parallel branch of the meme pastes cartoon friends, animals, rainbows, or celebrity companions next to the bench in edited attempts to cheer him up[4]. In the months after Sad Keanu peaked, a family of spin-off Keanu Reeves photoshop memes followed, including Sad Keanu in a Helmet in July 2010, Happy Keanu and Tai Chi Keanu in October, and a Sad Laurence Fishburne edition featuring Reeves's Matrix co-star that arrived in December[6]. ## How It Spread Reddit lit up over the next few days with tribute threads including 'Instead of Chuck Norris, let's make Keanu Reeves a meme,' 'Keanu Reeves is Hungry,' and 'Oh Keanu'[2]. Urlesque ran a write-up on June 7, 2010 called 'Sad Keanu: The Latest Image Macro'[3], and BuzzFeed user memecore followed on June 8 with '10 Best Sad Keanu Images,' which climbed into the site's Top 10 list for that day[4]. The edits jumped to Tumblr next, where a dedicated Sad Keanu Tumblr launched on June 10, 2010 and the standalone blog SadKeanu.com went live four days later on June 14[5]. On June 17, SadKeanu.com received a DMCA takedown from Splash News, which held copyright to the original bench photo[5]. The next day, site admin Dan replaced every user submission with a farewell post and switched the site to silhouettes and non-bench renderings only[5]. Fans organized a Facebook event called 'Cheer Up Keanu Day' for June 15, 2010, encouraging people to send Reeves letters, gifts, phone messages, and donations to cancer research[1]. Press coverage picked up at Entertainment Weekly, the Washington Post, E! Online and Time Magazine[1]. Reeves himself briefly addressed his sudden internet fame in a January 18, 2011 BBC studio interview[6]. ## How to Use To make a Sad Keanu edit, editors typically cut the sandwich-eating Reeves out of the original 2010 park bench photograph and paste him into a new backdrop, keeping his slumped pose and downcast expression intact[3]. The cheer-up variation adds friendly figures, cartoon animals, rainbows, or celebrity companions to the bench instead of relocating him[4]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Sad Keanu? Sad Keanu is a 2010 photoshop meme built from a paparazzi photo of Keanu Reeves eating a sandwich alone on a park bench, edited into countless new settings by fans[7]. ### Where did Sad Keanu come from? The image was shot in May 2010 by Splash News paparazzo Ron Asadorian, and the first known photoshop thread appeared on Green-ovale.net's /tv/ board on May 23, 2010[6]. ### What does Sad Keanu mean? The meme uses Reeves's slumped bench pose as a lonely, downcast figure that fans either place in absurd new locations or surround with cheer-up companions[4]. ### How do you use Sad Keanu? Editors typically cut the sandwich-eating Reeves out of the original photograph and paste him into a new backdrop, or add friendly figures beside him for the cheer-up version[3]. ### Is Sad Keanu still popular? Its June 2010 peak ended fast after the DMCA takedown of SadKeanu.com on June 17, and the site's June 18 shift to silhouettes-only submissions marked the end of its heavy viral run[5]. ## References 1. [https://www.zimbio.com/Keanu+Reeves/articles/miMh27vIooz/Internet+Unites+Cheer+Up+Keanu+Reeves]() 2. [https://www.reddit.com/user/rockon4life]() 3. [https://www.urlesque.com/]() 4. [https://www.buzzfeed.com/memecore]() 5. [https://thedailywhat.tumblr.com/tagged/sad-keanu]() 6. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sad-keanu]() 7. [https://people.com/celebrity/keanu-reeves/]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/sad-keanu Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library