You Know I Had to Do It to Em

About

You Know I Have to Do It to Em is a photoshop meme based on a picture of Twitter user LuckyLuciano17k standing on a sidewalk wearing a light-colored shirt and shorts with the caption “You know I had to do it to em.”

Origin

On September 2nd, 2014, Twitter user LuckyLuciano17k posted the photograph of himself with the caption “You know I had to do it to em” (shown below).^[1] Prior to the Twitter account becoming private on December 22nd, 2016, the tweet received more than 1,700 likes and 1,700 retweets.

Spread

The tweet remained relatively unknown until July 1st, 2016, when Twitter user @ExhelonWinter^[4] reposted the photo with a mock caption depicting @LuckyLuciano17k as a snobby hip hop fan (shown below).

first mock caption that started the meme You Know I had To Do It To Them

On July 7th, Tumblr user zonecassette posted an ad for the candy M&M featuring an M&M version of the television host Dr. Phil standing with his arms crossed along with the caption “You know I had to do it to em,” garnering more than 4,400 notes within six months (shown below, left). On July 26th, Tumblr user queenwhiskey reposted the original photograph.^[6] On December 5th, Tumblr user splooge-mcducc posted a photoshop of LuckyLuciano17k as the character Fred Flintstone from the cartoon The Flintstones (shown below, right). Within three weeks, the post gained over 18,000 notes.

I had to do it to them meme of the kid made into a green M&M with a mustache

Had to do it to them meme of the kids as Fred Flinstone

On December 22nd, Tumblr user milkyboyhanzo posted a photoshop featuring the character Zenyatta from Overwatch (shown below, left). The following day, Tumblr user graffitidraws^[7] posted an illustration of the character Stingy from LazyTown based on the original LuckyLuciano17k photo (shown below, right).

I had to do it to them meme as Zenyatta from Overwatch

I had to do it to them meme as Stingy from LazyTown

The meme continued appearing in various iterations through October of 2017. On October 1st, Twitter user @lujgi posted a photoshop of the character as the twins from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, gaining over 8,400 retweets (shown below, left). The same day, Instagram meme maker adam.the.creator^[8] posted an image including Luciano in a “All the memes of September” collage (shown below, right).