Nice Try Diddy

About

Nice Try Diddy is a form of comment spam popularized on advertisement videos on Instagram in mid-2024. The spam references rapper and hip-hop mogul Diddy, who has been the subject of myriad controversies in 2024. The prevalence of the spam posts led to widespread confusion on social media in June 2024 as to the meaning behind the catchphrase, with some speculating it's a joke about Diddy trying to be involved in seemingly everything, perhaps due to his status as an entrepreneur or to pay off the numerous lawsuits surrounding him at the time.

Origin

Beginning in May 2024, comment sections of advertisements and sponsored posts on Instagram began to be spammed with the phrase "Nice try, Diddy." One of the earliest known examples was noted on May 14th, 2024, by Twitter / X user @raccoon2u2,^[2] who pointed it out on an ad for Newsbreak's "Safety Map," which marks the location of nearby sex offenders (shown below). The user speculated that the "Nice try Diddy" spam was due to the service the app provided and the nature of the allegations against Diddy, which included the trafficking of minors.

Spread

Over the following month, the spam began appearing under more ads, though they had seemingly no connection to Diddy. On June 8th, 2024, Twitter user @takefivecinco^[3] noted that the spam appeared under an ad for LEGO Pharrell Williams Movie, gaining over 70 likes in four days (shown below).

On June 10th, 2024, Redditor 2deep4myowngood posted an example of the spam to /r/OutOfTheLoop,^[1] showing it appearing on an ad for Call of Duty (shown below). In the thread, Redditor xInfinity962 wrote in the top-voted answer:

Answer: The "nice try Diddy" comments on things are part of a meme where people joke about P. Diddy trying to be involved in everything, following raids on his homes. It's a silly internet joke implying he's trying to sneak into unrelated situations, like the game's release. It's just a dumb joke lol

Another user in the thread suggested it's an extension of "Nice try, feds," which was similarly used as comment spam under mobile game ads prior to "Nice try, Diddy." The joke in that case was that sketchy mobile game ads were the work of law enforcement to try and trap criminals. Diddy is being referred to as a "Fed" due to a conspiracy pushed by Kanye West^[6] that Diddy has cooperated with law enforcement to blackmail criminals with information he knows.

Numerous examples of the spam comment being used on Reddit also appeared in June 2024 as it spread.^[4] Another thread inquiring about the meaning behind "nice try Diddy" was posted to the /r/PeterExplainsTheJoke^[5] subreddit on June 11th, with the top-voted comment referencing the answer in the /r/OutOfTheLoop thread the day prior.

The spam has also appeared under Instagram ads for Apple Intelligence (shown below, left) and RocketMoney (shown below, right).

As of June 12th, 2024, it is unknown if there is a specific purpose or point behind the comment spam.

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References