Ben Affleck is many things: an actor, a Batman, and a Dunkin' representative. But in recent years, he's also inspired many memes.

Affleck's facial expressions are immensely relatable: He often appears to be going through an existential crisis. Naturally, that's made him a perfect candidate for reaction memes.

Here's a breakdown of the most popular Ben Affleck memes.

Ben Affleck smoking memes

Ben Affleck's smoking memes are perhaps his trademark.

The most well-known meme comes from a paparazzi photo snapped in 2016. According to Know Your Meme, the photo was first published by the Cut in August 2016. It shows Affleck, clad in a blue shirt, standing outside smoking a cigarette with a pained look on his face.

The photo quickly circulated on Twitter and Reddit, as people quickly created hundreds of memes and photoshopped variations. Around the same time, other photos of Affleck despondently smoking and vaping started circulating.

In April 2020, Affleck was seen smoking with a face mask over his nose, updating the smoking meme for the pandemic.

Sad Affleck and other memes

It seems 2016 was a big meme year for Affleck. While promoting Batman v Superman, Affleck was seen zoning out while co-star Henry Cavill discussed the film's bad reviews. The video quickly caught on, and the world was given Sad Affleck.

In one popular remix, "The Sound of Silence" was added to the video. The Sad Affleck meme has also been Photoshopped to replace Cavill with other iconic figures.

Affleck said in 2022 that Sad Affleck was funny to him, but he worried about his kids seeing it and being affected.

A 2015 paparazzi photo of Affleck at the beach, clad in a towel while staring contemplatively at the ocean, went viral in 2018—mainly because of his massive back tattoo. He claimed that the ink was for a role but later walked that back, admitting to the tattoo.

Recently, there's been a new addition to the Affleck meme catalog. He was captured once again zoning out at the 2023 Grammys with his wife Jennifer Lopez. This became known as Bored Affleck. However, he denied this, insisting that he had a "good time" that night.

"My wife was going, and I thought, 'Well, there’ll be good music. It might be fun,'" Affleck told the Hollywood Reporter. "At movie award shows, it’s speeches and, like, sound-mixing webinars. But I thought this would be fun."

Ben Affleck is every introvert everywhere. You can see his batteries draining in real time. Man is already at 23% 🪫 #GRAMMYs #SaveBen pic.twitter.com/Yv5zmzbPhr

— Dr. Kinda Decent Human (@amsi81) February 6, 2023

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A doctor on TikTok claims that her voice was used without her permission to sell an ear-cleaning device.

Doctor Dana (@footdocdana), a podiatrist who has more than 2.2 million followers, typically posts a combination of lifestyle and medical content. But on Thursday, she posted a different video.

An older TikTok of hers was allegedly manipulated to make it sound like she's recommending a product from a company called HearClear.

In the TikTok, she was originally advising followers not to use even Q-Tips to clean their ears, because it could "damage the tympanic membrane." Dana was addressing a video where a man appears to be sticking a small black device in another man's ear.

Then the video cuts to an image of the HearClear Pro, while Dana's voice continues: "Instead, you should be using something like the HearClear, as it is far safer and more effective." In a stitch, Dana watches the video in horror.

She says in the caption that the company "used an AI clone of my voice to pretend I recommend their product." Many commenters advised her to take legal action.

@footdocdana This is going to be a HUGE problem in the future @hearclear @HearClear™ #fraud #ai #artificalintelligencenews #artificialintelligence ##doctor##doctorreacts##doctorsoftiktok##learnsomethingnew##medical##surgery##medicalvideos##doctors##podiatry##podiatrist##footsurgeon##surgeon##surgeons##nurse##nurses##healthcare##scrublife##medicalhumor##scrubslife##podiatric#medicine ♬ original sound - Doctor Dana • FootDocDana

There is a @hearclear TikTok account, but there are no videos and only 58 followers. Another account, @hearclear.at, shows more videos of the device Dana is allegedly recommending, but is in German. An email to a UK HearClear contact bounced back.

AI voice cloning is a major issue, and the audio-centric TikTok is a perfect source for people looking to scam and manipulate. Whereas AI often struggles with replicating things like teeth and hands, audio cloning is much more seamless and accessible. And harder to spot as fake.

Earlier this year, TikTok attempted to crack down on the spread of AI and deepfakes by requiring creators to disclose if AI was used. In February, an AI Joe Rogan ad made it appear he was promoting a product on his show.

There are many scammy companies and brands on TikTok that lift content without permission. Last year, a creator called out a dupe AirPods Max seller for making it look like she was promoting their headphones. And these scammy brands often disappear or scrub their videos.

We reached out to Dana for comment.

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Swifties have been getting creative with outfits for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour. But one fan's costume is definitely a throwback.

TikToker Irina Spadaro posted video from a recent South American stop of the Eras Tour. She's dressed as a goat, and during the chorus of Swift's performance of "I Knew You Were Trouble," she lets loose two goat screams.

The video has more than 635,000 views. (The Daily Dot reached out to Irina for comment.)

"YES I DID THE GOAT SCREAM DURING THIS SONG," said one commenter.

"This video lived in my head back in 2013 - you win!!" said another.

They're referencing a 10-year-old viral remix of Swift's 2012 song "I Knew You Were Trouble." There were two remixes: "I Knew You Were a Goat When You Walked In" and "Trouble (Goat Remix)." In both, the song is the same as Swift's, but different goat screams were added to the chorus.

Both were uploaded to YouTube in February 2013, but the "Trouble (Goat Remix)" became a little more well-known and now has more than 7 million views on YouTube. Swift apparently thought the remix was funny.

In 2021, goat screams were added to "I Knew You Were Trouble (Taylor's Version)," for continuity.

@irinaspadaro cumplí mi deber 🫡 videito generado por la jefa @bongioannivale #theerastourtaylorswift #theerastour #theerastourbuenosaires @Taylor Nation #taylorswift ♬ sonido original - Irina Spadaro

Swifties have documented their Eras Tour fits, and many of them go deep with references to Swift lore. In the comments of Irina's video, people referenced the "Starbucks Lovers" guy who took a misheard lyric from "Blank Space" and turned it into an appropriate Eras Tour outfit.

@domcielak Grande carmel non fat latte coming your way taylor #taylorswift #taylornation #swifttok #tstheerastour #minneapoliststheerastour #blankspace #starbuckslovers #fyp ♬ original sound - Depresseddom

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Vince McMahon, the co-founder and former CEO of the WWE, is synonymous with wrestling. But his role within the organization has been in flux over the last year after misconduct and hush money allegations went public in June 2022. 

McMahon returned to the WWE as executive chairman in January. In early, November he sold off $700 million in stock in TKO Group, the parent company of the WWE.  

While McMahon is in the spotlight less these days, Vince McMahon memes continue to flourish. 

Vince McMahon reaction meme

Perhaps one of the most enduring Vince McMahon meme formats is a three- or four-panel reaction meme template featuring the exec's increasingly ecstatic faces.  

As Know Your Meme points out, it’s often compared to the “galaxy brain” meme format. But the McMahon meme started circulating around 2013 and actually came before the brain. 

The original clip is from an April 2002 in-ring segment where McMahon interviews potential personal assistants. After a few interviews, wrestler Stacy Keibler walks out, gets on his desk, and does a striptease. This is what McMahon is reacting to. 

In one of the earlier versions of the meme, circa 2013, McMahon is reacting to a bodybuilder. It was first shared as a GIF before becoming the panel meme.

The McMahon reaction meme is largely used to express delight or excitement. In a later version of the meme, the last panel shows McMahon with red laser eyes.

Vince McMahon crying meme

A newer Vince McMahon meme has gone viral on TikTok and X, largely for nostalgic purposes.

It's a scene from the 2020 documentary Undertaker: The Last Ride, in which McMahon tears up while discussing his friendship with wrestler The Undertaker. He then makes a "cut" sign with his hand as he continues to get emotional.

"Can you tell us what it was like on MySpace?" reads the caption on one viral TikTok that uses the meme. Others went with some variation of "Dad, tell me about _____." The crying meme started circulating in October.

McMahon allegations

In June, allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct against McMahon went public, and he quickly announced he would retire from the WWE.

McMahon is alleged to have paid hush money to at least four women to settle the misconduct claims, which were internally investigated by the WWE. That investigation concluded in November 2022.

McMahon was subpoenaed in July of this year, as federal law enforcement is still investigating the case.

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Stanley cups have become a sought-after lifestyle item thanks to TikTok, where users show off entire collections of their oversized drink tumblers.

But one woman inadvertently put her Stanley cup to the ultimate test.

In a TikTok that has more than 17 million views, a woman named Danielle (@danimarielettering) shows the inside of her Kia, which has recently been burned in a fire.

"Everyone's so concerned about if the Stanley spills," she says before pulling an orange Stanley cup from her cupholder.

TikTokers quickly called on Stanley to "use this as an advertisement."

"If they don't send you a free Stanley I will have no hope," one user wrote. "This made me for the first time want a Stanley," said another.

"Imma need Stanley to start making cars," one user posited.

The Daily Dot reached out to Danielle for comment

@danimarielettering Thirsty after you catch on fire? @Stanley 1913 is like no problem i gotchu #fyp #carfire #accident #stanleycup ♬ original sound - Danielle

Are Stanley cups fireproof?

The cup in Danielle's video appears to be the popular Stanley Adventure Quencher, which is made with recycled stainless steel and claims to stay iced for 48 hours.

While the company doesn't market these cups as fireproof, stainless steel is fire-resistant. Stanley has a section of its blog titled "Stories of the Unbreakables," allegedly from real customers. And one sounds familiar.

A man named Greg writes that his mother bought him a Stanley thermos in 1979 when he was working as a plumber. While he was staying in Maryland for work, his hotel burned down after a "freak" explosion.

"I was not there at the time, but all my belongings were," Greg says. "I lost everything I had on me there. After the fire was put out and the rubble sifted through, the only thing left standing, basically untouched? My Stanley thermos."

Danielle's video isn't the first time someone posted to TikTok about this exact thing.

In August, a woman named Lauren (@laurenreho) posted about her car catching on fire. She surveys the charred remains, then notes, "My Stanley cup is still pretty much intact." She shows that the handle came off but the cup didn't melt.

"Great marketing for y'all, though," she adds.

@laurenreho @Stanley 1913 please, i already have to replace everything else i lost, i just want a new black 40 oz tumbler #stanleycup #stanleytumbler #stanley40oz #carexplosion #carfire #911 ♬ original sound - LAUREN👼🏽🖤🎸⚡️

The Daily Dot reached out to Stanley for comment.

Update 9:43am CT, Nov. 17: Terence Reilly, Stanley's global president, addressed Danielle's TikTok from the official Stanley account on Thursday. He said he "couldn't think of a better example of our product's quality," and offered to replace her damaged car.

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Browsing TikTok can certainly make you feel like you have depression—or ADHD or autism—through self-diagnosing via TikTok is not advised. 

This week’s sound references depression, but it’s been applied to a wide range of behaviors and experiences.       

The sound

The sound is of someone saying, “Give me it! I’ve got fucking clinical depression, you fucking idiot.” 

In December 2022, the account @zzyzzxrd posted the audio, and it’s been used in more than 3,800 TikToks so far.

Quite a few people used the sound to soundtrack a specific experience: When you’re taking out the trash and the bag “fights back.” Others used it for moments of overstimulation or annoyance with inanimate objects. 

“Me when I’m already overstimulated and sweating just from vacuuming and the cord snags,” said @dantejamees. 

Others used it for even more specific tasks, like pulling teeth from an animal skull. Or getting bangs. 

While clinical depression requires evaluation and diagnosis from a medical professional—not TikTok—the trend here seems to be using this sound for minor annoyances or inconveniences, like Starbucks not releasing its Pumpkin Spice Latte soon enough. 

Where’s it from?

It’s from the 2013 Australian mockumentary series Ja’mie: Private School Girl, in which comedian Chris Lilley played the titular character. 

Ja’mie is a spinoff of Lilley’s other popular series, Summer Heights High. In the clip posted to TikTok, Ja’mie has fallen into a depression after learning her crush is seeing her friend, and is stealing her mother’s antidepressants. Ironically, Ja’mie diagnoses herself with clinical depression. 

Lilley has always played a variety of characters in his shows, but some have been divisive. In another Summer Heights High spinoff, Jonah From Tonga, Lilley wore brownface to play him. He was also called out for wearing blackface for his character S.mouse, a rapper. 

He also saw some backlash for his 2019 Netflix series Lunatics, in which he plays six different characters, including one named Jana, who people thought was a woman of color. In 2020, Netflix Australia and New Zealand allegedly removed Summer Heights High, Jonah From Tonga, and two other Lilley shows from the platform. 

But in a March 2023 interview, Lilley claimed that “All of my shows have been and always are available. They never disappeared—skim through some headlines, you might think otherwise. But they’re still popular, and Netflix and I still have a great relationship.” 

Sound off 

The popularity of this TikTok sound—which has been used pretty steadily since December—might have made the show popular again. The character of Ja’mie—rich, entitled, delusional—is certainly right up TikTok’s alley, and there are several Ja’mie fan edits. There was even a Ja’mie Halloween costume this year. 

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As Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift's relationship continues to publicly evolve, fans have started looking back—at Kelce's old tweets.

Kelce has tweeted under the handle @tkelce since 2009, so there's quite a catalog. As anyone who spends time online can tell you, looking back at a famous person's old tweets can be disappointing.

But something different is happening here. Kelce's old tweets are... good?

Several X accounts, many of them Swifties, posted their favorite Kelce tweets from roughly 2010 to 2012. This is when he would have been attending and playing for the University of Cincinnati.

Yes, there are misspellings like "squirle" (instead of "squirrel") and "stair" (instead of "stare") but as @penthouseheart wrote regarding Kelce's earnest 2010 birthday tweet, "He is one of the girls."

Another viral tweet from @folklorexcvi compared the lyrics from Swift's "All Too Well," written in 2011, with Kelce's "I just gave a squirle a peice of bread" tweet, showing they really might be twin flames.

"taylor swift was sitting in centennial park with her book hoping to meet prince charming while travis was in an olive garden with his dad tweeting about how the chicken alfredo at that establishment was #shmackin," wrote @holdenfordfocus.

That is a real tweet, and Olive Garden actually quote-tweeted it.

While it's easy to call this himbo content, some of Kelce's old tweets are fairly philosophical. He seems to have leveled up around 2012, his senior year of college. Kelce was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013.

A tweet posted in September 2012 reads: "The capacity to live in the past by memory can also emancipate the individual from the tyranny of the present." Many people thought this was Kelce's own musing, but it's actually a quote from American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr's 1949 book Faith and History.

Kelce has apparently already deleted some old tweets, but hopefully, he doesn't go on a delete spree. This is vintage Twitter content.

"All of Travis Kelce’s old tweets feel like the edible just hit," wrote Betches.

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TikToker Ollie B (@oliverjbrenner) issued a call to "whoever is in charge of cutting the salmon at Trader Joe's" after discovering something was left behind.

Trader Joe's hasn't had the best track record lately with food quality; customers are allegedly finding bugs in their packaged rice and rocks in their cooked falafel.

But this story was a little different: Ollie held up the piece of salmon to show it still has a fin.

"I understand that it's a fish," he says in the TikTok, which on Wednesday had more than 1.8 million views. "But there's a reason why I'm buying it from Trader Joe's and I'm not out in the f*cking sea going fishing for it."

"The Trader Joe’s parking lot is as traumatic as being out in the sea," said one commenter.

Salmon fins are edible, and there are recipes for them. But seeing one on a piece of fish is still a little jarring.

@oliverjbrenner

Like ???

♬ original sound - ollie b

Trader Joe's last had a fish recall in 2020. Over the summer, TikToker Hannah Matson found what she called "parasites" in her salmon fillets, though wild-caught salmon can potentially have parasites. Freezing it before serving or cooking the fish kills them.

More recently, Trader Joe's recalled multigrain crackers that potentially contained pieces of metal and broccoli cheese soup that allegedly contained insects.

Ollie made the salmon TikTok a duet, and the reactions to the fin reveal make it a little less upsetting.

"I got chicken wings that still had feathers," said a commenter on @sarahs2today's duet.

The Daily Dot reached out to Ollie and Trader Joe's for comment.

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How often do you need to wash out your water bottle? Definitely more frequently than never.

In a TikTok from the account @kookynell, that has more than 1.7 million views, a woman's first time washing out her water bottle is documented, as is the gunk that's been chilling in it.

As if seeing the dark-colored gunk on a soapy pipe-cleaner brush isn't enough, you also get a glimpse into the depths of the hydro flask, where there is more gunk—possibly mold.

Commenters were distressed: "Am I the only one that smells my water bottle (and look in it) every time I want to use it?"

"Does it not taste bad with all that in it??"

Others volunteered that they don't wash their water bottles either (or don't do it frequently), and they're fine. One person claimed their husband hasn't washed his in five years.

The water bottle in the video appears to be a hydro flask, but Stanley water bottles have become very popular on TikTok. They're also somewhat controversial.

In August, a mother claimed the Stanley cup she lets her daughter drink from tested positive for lead. Last month, a woman said she developed a cough from mold, after not cleaning hers thoroughly enough.

In addition to mold, other bacteria can be transferred to the cup via your mouth or hands if you don't wash your water bottles frequently. It's recommended you wash—not just rinse—water bottles once a day, or once a week at the very least, according to Popular Science.

Beyond discourse about how often you should be washing these bottles and tumblers, and what's potentially in some of these cups, there's been discussion about over- and hyper-consumption of them.

Last week, creator Carolina Kyung posted her updated collection of Stanley tumblers in a variety of colors, which fills three rows. Kyung claims in the comments that she drinks from these cups as well as collecting them, but it started conversation about the line between collecting and consumerism, and whether criticism around collecting stuff like Stanley cups is gendered.

There's also the irony that these kinds of cups were supposed to help cut down on plastic water bottle consumption, and now people are over-consuming them.

We reached out to @kookynell for comment.

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When you're in a bar bathroom, you shouldn't see the toilet on the ceiling. That is, depending on how much you've had to drink.

"Tell me this isn't the most nauseating bathroom you've ever seen in your entire life," says @cawffeenutt as she enters a bathroom with a normal toilet and sink—and then a toilet and sink on the ceiling.

"No, it's not a mirror," she clarifies.

She then demonstrates that the sink on the ceiling pours water on her when she turns on the faucet of the right-side-up sink.

"I'm terrified to even pull my pants down right now," she says. "Where is the goddamn hook for my bag?"

It's a disorienting video. As a commenter points out, "The toliet [sic] right above the toilet is final destination waiting to happen."

"Imagine going to the bathroom bc ur feeling anxious & walk into THAT," said another commenter. "Immediate panic attack."

On Thursday, the TikTok had more than 728,000 views.

Nausea, panic, and fear are all emotions people have likely felt in this upside-down bathroom, which is a real place. It's located at Spotlight at the Paramount, a bar and live music venue in Huntington, New York. The venue's Yelp and Google reviews are mostly positive, and only a few of them even mention the bathroom.

In 2021, @vidsofvic posted from the Spotlight bathroom showing off the "trick sink." A 2022 TikTok from @ufcfreak4life offered another view and elicited a reasonable comment: "Yea I don’t want a toilet falling on me while in restroom." 

Pete Davidson recently performed at the Paramount, Spotlight's sister venue, but there were no public photos of him taken in the Spotlight bathroom.

The venue's marketing director, Adam Ellis, said in 2020 that they hoped the bathrooms would be a place for "Instagrammable moments." But TikTok is a much more illustrative medium for this bathroom.

And no: It doesn't appear that if you flush, you get toilet water dumped on you. The Daily Dot reached out to Spotlight for comment. 

Update 7:23am CT, Nov. 10: A representative from Spotlight tells the Daily Dot: "The bathroom, like the rest of Spotlight and the Paramount, were designed internally by our team and ownership. Spotlight is an artistic space, constantly changing gallery, and music hall. So the bathroom was just part of the artistic vision of the space... keep people guessing."

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