Speed of the Internet Meme (Suarez)

By Adam Driver on Wednesday, June 25, 2014

At around 6:30 GMT yesterday evening, if you listened really quietly, you could hear the simultaneous sound of upwards of a few dozen million people in the world turn to a colleague, mate, loved one or pet and say “Did he just do it again?!”

Luis Suarez holding his teeth after the incident

For those who have been stuck in a tunnel, or had their internet cut off since yesterday, Luis “The Teeth” Suarez impressed us all again by sinking his fangs into another human being – this time Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini – and once more brought the game into disrepute, inspiring the next generation of football-playing youngsters to sharpen their incisors before the next kickabout.

Giorgio Chiellini shows the referee mark on his shoulder

Bit of brief background: this is the third time he has been caught allegedly biting another player (and I have to put ‘allegedly’ JUST in case – weirder things have happened than a Uruguayan lawyer calling my mobile…). In 2010, playing for Dutch club Ajax, he was banned for seven matches for biting PSV Eindhoven midfielder Otman Bakkal’s shoulder. And Chelski fans will recall Luis getting hungry in the second half of a game in April last year.

Yes, its disgusting, yes it sets a bad example, and yes he should be chastised, banned from the game for eternity and have his teeth removed. But, from a PR POV (not Luis’) this has been fantastically jumped on immediately, with dozens of Twitter and Instagram posts in the moments after the incident, and appearing in the last 20 hours. Well done Social Media gurus, I applaud your speed and creativity!

My particular favourites are the Specsavers (always good value on memes) and Nando’s (also always quick off the mark) – bothbelow.