Memes die when brands use them. The new viral sensation can die out quickly when plucked from its original habitat and processed through a marketing team. But sometimes- when wielded naturally and appropriately the power of mimetics moves mountains.
There were many such failures on the Twitter that was before new management came in. I'll save those examples for another post. Instead here are a few examples where it worked for me.
Case 1. EBay listing: Pokemon Gold BOX & INSERTS ONLY!!! Great Shape! Cartridge in active auction https://www.ebay.com/itm/296154538976
After listing me childhood GameBoy with all its peripherals including camera and games and important to this listing, the Pokemon Gold cartridge, I found the Pokemon Gold box in another box. Listed it for $20. Added photos of every angle since these boxes do seem to be in demand. One in worse shape was going for $65. And after all of these professionally laid out shots bam hit them with a meme.
Less than 5 minutes after posting this listing a buyer made an $85 offer and I took it so fast.
I want to believe the meme put it over the edge. Others listed around $65 "Buy It Now" lingered for days.
Case 2. https://www.ebay.com/itm/296159097222 So I experimented again. Again. This sold for over asking. Not $65 over asking. In the next case it was $9 over asking. A positive trend is still a positive trend. Especially when this collection of items wasn't the greatest. Just castoffs and cutaways.
3. The latest experiment is partly inspired by the AFI vinyl missprint listing that's already garnered interest. What if I market directly to the fans of the item listed? https://www.ebay.com/itm/296253935649?epid=15046038071&itmmeta=01HQNX3E5XTW1MJAJJ060FJ984&hash=item44fa1c5021:g:xF8AAOSwAftl3ZN4 This listing already has watchers, and it's only been up for a few hours. If you've seen The Venture Brothers this right here is the sweet spot. For those who don't know it spoofs secret agent 007 type super science shows the likes of Hannah Barbara's Johnny Quest. Lots of villain monologues and cheesy chewing the scenery from the voice actors. It's a complete joy to view if you're a fan of that, or 1980s music since David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Klaus Nomi (yes, alive!) are villains in it.
The EBay listing starts innocently enough.
Then it's a pitch perfect presentation of the character, The Monarch, and the spiraling obsessive madness he embodies. Check out the way the background moves between the next three images. That kind of moving quasi-Alfred Hitchcock meets Dario Argento style Dutch angle was an integral element of the show in when The Monarch acts out like this:
Look forward to see how this plays out. Maybe this can be my hustle on Upwork. "Hey- value adding opportunity here! Memetics in your EBay listings! Come get it!" Honestly seems like a fun and fine way to make a living.
Update: As of 2/29/24 there are 5 watches on The Venture Brothers DVD listing amidst a sea of similar listings with zero watchers. It's something. We'll see what happens.
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