2025 Meme Review

We’re at the beginning of the second month of 2026, and I find myself reminiscing on some of the best memes of 2025. There have been so many great ones, but I’ve chosen my ten…well not favourite, but definitely ten of the most significant. Disclaimer: I like to think I am still in touch with the current trends but if any of my choices show my age I am deeply sorry. Please do not send disappointed emails to Unpublished (or do, you have free will). So whether you’re feeling nostalgic, or just want to make fun of me, here is my 2025 meme review.

1. Italian Brainrot

I’m still not entirely sure how this started. For those of us unaware, Italian Brainrot refers to a specific style of AI-generated media which consists of an animal combined with…well something. It’s usually everyday objects, food, and weapons (thanks Wikipedia), and by the end I’m convinced that there was a new one every 5 seconds. They’re then given vaguely Italian sounding names such as Tralalero Tralala, who is a shark wearing three blue Nike shoes, Bombardiro Crocodilo, who is a crocodile combined with some sort of bomber jet, or Ballerina Cappucina, who is a ballerina with a cappuccino cup for a head. Sounds ridiculous? It definitely was. People were coming up with entire background stories for these characters, some of which were, frankly, outrageous. Starting to think the children yearn for Creative Writing classes…new niche for the English department? But while this brainrot certainly held a firm place in the 2025 hall of fame, let us return to the original for a moment…

2. Dubai Chocolate + Labubu

Even if you missed some of the more niche memes of the last year, I suspect it was impossible to avoid this. Let's start with something potentially controversial - Dubai Chocolate is actually not even bad. I mean it’s just chocolate and pistachio, two things which I can’t say I hate. But I suppose we are all entitled to our own opinions so if you tried it and it wasn't for you, that's fine too…(I take it back, at Unpublished we are always correct). However, I cannot say I particularly enjoyed the Labubu. Look, don't get me wrong - I enjoy the novelty of a blind box and, from time to time, I will even partake in one myself. But watching influencers open entire crates of them was just not it. If you own one, two, maybe even five, I can accept this. I cannot accept opening hundreds. I’m sorry. Not to mention the fakes - suddenly they were EVERYWHERE, and some of them were genuinely terrifying to look at. But where I really draw the line is when we combined Dubai Chocolate and the Labubu. No, just no. These two things do not need to be combined. 

3. Moonbeam Ice Cream

So this originates from a Benson Boone song. I do not know what song. I also have no desire to know what song. Hearing your friends sing two lines from this song over, and over, again is enough to put you off listening to a song for life. To be entirely transparent, I do not know much about Benson Boone except that he wears sparkly jumpsuits and backflips a lot (for some reason), so I do apologise if I am missing out. If any loyal readers are willing to write a convincing enough plea, I will listen to the song in full. The things we do for journalism. But let's move on to another musical mishap…

4. Coldplay Kiss Cam

A rather unfortunate moment where a married couple were caught ducking from Coldplay’s kiss cam. The problem? They were not married to each other. Now I’m not going to get into the ethics of attending a concert with someone who is not your partner, but surely, if you were caught in this situation, the best thing to do would be just to play it off? Perhaps this is why a million recreations suddenly sprung up on the internet, I mean the sheer absurdity of the situation was astonishing and an the recreations were excellent. What makes it even better, is that I can confirm (through my own attendance) Coldplay themselves now give a disclaimer that anyone who doesn't want to be caught in a similar situation should distance themselves when the kiss cam is on. Boots on the ground journalism for y’all. 

5. Nothing beats a Jet 2 Holiday

Things caught on camera seemed to be a trend in 2025 because I think I’ve seen a million different mishaps soundtracked to an old Jet 2 advert. From waterslides to animals, attempts to retrieve items in weird places to skydiving, a quick scroll under this sound will provide an impressive array of bad situations caught on camera. Now why exactly this particular Jet 2 Holiday advert went so viral that it became the go to sound on Tiktok, I cannot exactly say, but it appears I am not the only one unsure. A no-so-quick deep dive and the reason seems to be the irony in the difference between such an upbeat jingle and an unfortunate situation. Unfortunately, my deep dive has not been able to explain why this particular advert was the victim of choice, my sincerest apologies to anyone this disappoints. (Also I keep getting Jet 2 adverts now. Help.)

6. The Louvre Heist

Not everything was caught this year - a group of people managed to somehow rob the Louvre. I can hear the protests already so disclaimer: I know they were caught eventually. We at Unpublished are Up to Date™. But I wanted to make a good segue, so forgive me… Anyway, the fact that the literal Louvre became victim to a heist has got to be one of the craziest moments of 2025. The jokes, halloween costumes, and general uproar it produced were indescribable. But let's talk about someone who definitely didn’t rob the Louvre…

7. Belly’s engagement ring from Jeremiah

No explanation necessary. But it wasn't just the size of the ring, it was the defiant way Belly presented it. Some may say she was…standing on business.

8. Justin Bieber and the Paparazzi

I'm not proud, but I have to admit that ‘it’s not clocking to you that I’m standing on business’ was indeed a key part of my vocabulary for a short period of time. There is genuinely no reason why Justin Bieber saying that was so life-changing for me. I don’t really have much to say on the topic, except that I am so sorry to anyone I traumatised by saying this sentence several times a day. 

9. ‘The concept of’ and the Wicked Press Tour

This also remains a common part of my vocabulary to this day. Bonus points if accompanied by the hand motion. I think what makes this meme so good is that it is so versatile. In a lesson? Use it to explain a theory which just makes no sense. In the lunch queue? Use it to despair over the amount of lower and middle school in the way (as is tradition at Unpublished - we must complain over the lower years. #6thformprivileges). Cynthia Erivo has been an absolute gift this last year, but no matter how many memes or gifs she inadvertently causes, this one will forever remain my favourite. Maybe the Wicked press tour is just that iconic because it also gave us ‘Madam Morrible, Flip it Around, Wicked Witch’. The limitations of written articles prevent me from providing a reenactment but, rest assured, I am doing the hand motion right now.

10. 67

I think we all knew that this was going to appear but, for the record, I really considered not including it just to leave everyone hanging. Alas, I decided that many of you would be far too happy if I neglected to include it, and that just wouldn’t do. But where to begin? What does 67 even mean? Nothing, apparently. And this really upsets me. I am okay with things randomly blowing up for little to no reason, but the fact is, this number means quite literally nothing. So deep was my distress over its lack of meaning that I consulted my younger sister who told me that I am officially of ‘unc’ status. Which, you know, is rude. I am not so old that I don't know that is an insult. At this point I abandon my journalistic integrity entirely, (only for a moment though, of course) and respond with the deeply cutting insult that I’ve ‘been on TIktok longer than she has been alive’. She's only three years younger than me so I’m really not sure what I was thinking because that is blatantly untrue. Evidently being called ‘unc’ hit me harder than I expected. But let us return to 67 and its meaning (or lack thereof). Apparently numbers are just funny sometimes; for those of who are on the older end of the spectrum (BUT NOT ‘UNC’) it may be best compared to 1738. Hope that helps anyone struggling out there xx. I know our readers are always eager to hear any teacher-related anecdotes and I can confirm that I have had multiple teachers ask what it means as their younger classes will not stop saying it. Unfortunately, I am not sure I gave them much clarification or comfort. Hmm…I’m feeling generous today after all, so may I ask that we all stop traumatising our teachers with 67. In fact, maybe let’s all leave 67 in 2025 entirely.

So there you have it - my 2025 meme review. I’m almost convinced I have shown my age, but I hope we appreciate my attempt to bring you all to the cutting edge of journalism. I’m sure there are many I’ve missed but I hope I have done all of our readers with outrageous screen times some justice.

Xoxo,

Unpublished