Barry, 63
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About
Barry, 63 are a series of memes that use a photograph of a British man with a pint of beer in his hand while smiling into the camera, referred to as "Barry, 63." These memes are often based on well-known comedic tropes about British people and often use the man's photo as an exploitable with various captions.
Origin
On July 24th, 2015, Facebook[1] page Slimming World shared a weight loss story of Newcastle charity worker Derek Avery who lost 247.5 pounds (112 kg), more than half his body weight, after being diagnosed with diabetes and being insulted over his weight. The page also uploaded a video containing multiple photographs of Avery before and after his weight loss, including a photograph of Avery holding a pint of beer in his hand. Avery was named "Man of the Year" by Slimming World that year. The video gained over 152,000 views on Facebook[2] and 20,000 views on YouTube[3] in seven years (shown below).
In the following days, several British news outlets reported on the story, including articles by Daily Mail[4] and Mirror.[5] In both articles, the photograph of Avery with a pint was included (two versions shown below, left and right).
Spread
The image saw occasional use on 4chan as an illustration for a stereotypical British person (in a similar manner to Norf F.C. and CAM ON INGERLAND memes). The image did not see active use outside of 4chan until May 2020, when troll Twitter[6] account @Jimmyfostergb, which used the image as its profile picture, became active, making provocative comments on posts by popular internet celebrities, especially e-girls. Screenshots of the posts made by the account went viral on other social media platforms, including reposts to Reddit[7] and TikTok.[8]
On October 30th, 2020, Redditor[9] allstupidthings posted a Dungeons & Dragons meme using the photograph that gained over 4,800 upvotes in six months (shown below, left). The man in the photograph became known as Barry, 63, after on January 22nd, 2022, an Every Time You Repost This meme captioned "every time you repost this image a random person on Earth gets turned into Barry, 63" went viral on Instagram[10] and Twitter[11] (original author unknown, shown below, center).
In the following weeks, old and new memes based on the photograph were actively circulated on social media. For example, on February 10th, 2022, Twitter[12] user @PresidentToguro posted a Rolls Worst Joint Ever meme about Barry, 63, that gained over 1,200 retweets and 10,600 likes in five days (shown below, right).
Various Examples
Barry https://t.co/xwy4g6f1OQ pic.twitter.com/lFUAYRWK0a
— Zane Schacht – Voice Goblin (@VoicesByZane) February 13, 2022
Templates
Search Interest
External References
[1] Facebook – Slimming World
[2] Facebook – Man of the Year 2015
[3] YouTube – Derek lost 17st 9.5lbs to become Slimming World's Man of the Year 2015
[4] Daily Mail – Man who wore XXXXXXXL clothes sheds EIGHTEEN STONE after being told he was too fat to work… and is crowned slimmer of the year
[5] Mirror – 32-stone charity worker dubbed a 'salad dodger' by youths turns life around and loses almost half body weight
[6] Twitter – @Jimmyfostergb
[7] Twitter – @Jimmyfostergb
[8] Twitter – @Jimmyfostergb
[9] Reddit – Hello there, weary traveler! What’ll it be-- beer, wine or adventure?
[10] Instagram – patrickwarburtonfan5
[12] Twitter – @PresidentToguro
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