Vape Nation is a 2016 H3h3 Productions comedy sketch and catchphrase in which Ethan Klein roams New York in a pot-leaf bandanna shouting "vape nation" and "go green" at pedestrians.

Where did Vape Nation come from?

It came from a YouTube video H3h3 Productions uploaded on March 21, 2016, which pulled 2.75 million views and 33,000 comments inside a week.

What does Vape Nation mean?

It is a satirical name for the vape-stoner subculture Klein parodies in the sketch, used as a joke greeting, sign-off, or caption on vape-related posts.

How do you use Vape Nation?

Common uses include captioning vape posts with "Vape Nation" or "Vape Naysh y'all," tagging screengrabs with "#GoGreen," and spamming the "VapeNation" BTTV emote on Twitch.

Is Vape Nation still popular?

It is a classic 2016 meme best known as an H3h3 catchphrase and Twitch emote; its biggest moment was the week of launch in March 2016, when the sketch and image macros spread across Reddit and Tumblr.

Vape Nation

2016catchphraseclassic

Published October 4, 2026

"Vape Nation" is a satirical YouTube sketch uploaded by H3h3 Productions on March 21, 2016, in which Ethan Klein roams New York City in a marijuana-leaf shirt yelling "go green" and "vape nation" at strangers. The video pulled 2.75 million views within its first week and spawned the catchphrase, hand sign, image macros, and Twitch emote that defined the 2016 vape-mocking meme wave.

stoner memes catchphrase memes youtube culture memes sarcasm memes 2016 memes

Overview

Vape Nation is built around a short Ethan Klein character bit: a stoner in cargo shorts, a pot-leaf bandanna, and a matching marijuana-leaf tee who treats his vape pen like a sacrament while greeting pedestrians with "go green" and "vape nation"1. The soundtrack is an electronic remix of H3h3's older "I'm Ethan Bradberry" clip, which gave the whole bit its warped, meme-core energy1. The sketch doubles as a parody of the then-exploding vape-stoner subculture, where the aesthetic of the device became louder than the drug itself4.

As a meme, Vape Nation lives mostly through its catchphrases and screengrabs. Common formats include image macros of Klein in character squatting in the street with captions like "#VapeNation" and "#GoGreen"5, and "so lit" edits of his vape-face reaction3. Fans also run a "VA" hand sign and tag everything with "Vape Naysh y'all" as the character's trademark farewell7. On Twitch, a BetterTTV emote of Klein's head is still typed as "VapeNation" in chats whenever a streamer coughs on a hit4.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

YouTube (H3h3 Productions)

Creator

Ethan Klein

Date

2016

On March 21, 2016, H3h3 Productions uploaded the "Vape Nation" video to YouTube, with Ethan Klein in costume as the pot-leaf-clad vape evangelist walking around Manhattan telling random pedestrians to "go green"1. The sketch combined deadpan street-interview beats with Klein's exaggerated vape rips, scored by an electronic remix of the "I'm Ethan Bradberry" audio bit4. Within one week it had pulled over 2.75 million views and more than 33,000 comments on YouTube4.

The character was a direct send-up of the vape-stoner archetype rather than any one person, with Klein credited as the writer, performer, and uploader through the H3h3 Productions channel1. KYM lists the video itself as the first appearance of the "Vape Nation" catchphrase and "go green" greeting that fans later recycled into image macros4.

How It Spread

The sketch spread fastest on Reddit the same day it dropped. Redditor DemiPixel crossposted it to r/videos, where it pulled more than 10,100 votes (64% upvoted) and over 1,600 comments4. Image macros then started showing up on Tumblr within hours: the blog "Ethan Klein's double chin" posted a "so lit" edit of Klein in character on March 213, and user theprolapsedanus followed up the next day with a street-squat still captioned "#VapeNation" and "#GoGreen"5.

Mainstream TV also brushed up against the bit. On March 22, 2016, WABC-TV New York anchor Bill Ritter filmed Klein vaping outside the station, and Klein reposted the clip to the H3h3 Productions Twitter account with the caption "VAPE NATION ON THE NEWS"2. Twitter users piled on throughout the week with the "#vapenation" hashtag, which collected a steady stream of fan posts in the days after launch6.

The meme also crossed into Twitch, where a BetterTTV emote of Klein's vaping face was added under the keyword "VapeNation" and used in chat whenever anyone referenced weed or vapes4. By then "Vape Nation" had settled in as a general-purpose vape-mocking catchphrase, with Urban Dictionary entries describing it as a fake "club" complete with its own hand sign7.

Timeline

2016-03-21

H3h3 Productions uploads the "Vape Nation" sketch to YouTube; Redditor DemiPixel crossposts it to r/videos the same day[1][4].

2016-03-21

Tumblr blog "Ethan Klein's double chin" posts the earliest known "so lit" image macro of Klein in his vape character[3].

2016-03-22

WABC-TV anchor Bill Ritter films Klein vaping outside the news station; Klein tweets the clip as "VAPE NATION ON THE NEWS"[2].

2016-03-22

Tumblr user theprolapsedanus posts the "#VapeNation / #GoGreen" squat image macro that becomes a standard format[5].

2016-03

The video crosses 2.75 million views and 33,000 YouTube comments inside its first week[4].

2016

A "VapeNation" BetterTTV emote of Klein's head is added on Twitch and spammed whenever vaping or weed comes up on stream[4].

How to Use This Meme

Typical use pulls from the sketch's catchphrases. Common conventions include signing off a comment or video with "Vape Nation" or "Vape Naysh y'all," greeting fellow vape jokers with the "VA" hand sign, and tagging posts with "#GoGreen" alongside a screengrab of Klein squatting in his pot-leaf fit5 7. On Twitch, viewers often spam the "VapeNation" BTTV emote when a streamer coughs on a vape or a joint on stream4.