The 8 most memorable memes of 2020

Memes, as random or silly as they might be, are becoming a key part of brands’ social media marketing strategies. For many brands, it’s a way to show consumers they care about the same topics their followers are posting about. The mess that is 2020 gave everyone plenty to talk—and meme—about.

Flexing their cultural cache, brands hopped on everything from the mysterious monolith discovered in Utah to Kim Kardashian West’s tone-deaf pandemic birthday party, of course incorporating their products whenever possible. Here are the top memes brands latched onto this year:

‘Dreams’ and Ocean Spray

Arguably, the top meme of the year happened on the platform of our No.1 marketer of the year—TikTok. In October, Nathan Apodaca (a.k.a 420doggface208 on TikTok) posted a video where he’s drinking Ocean Spray cranberry juice while riding a skateboard and lip-synching to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.” The viral video quickly became a meme with people posting their own versions … even Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood did his own version and so did Ocean Spray CEO Tom Hayes. Ocean Spray gifted the star a cranberry red Nissan pickup truck stocked with juice and picked up his tab for his honeymoon. TikTok then took the meme and turned it into a commercial.