The guy who signed up for the photos that eventually became the ‘Hide Your Pain’ Harold meme probably had absolutely no idea what he was getting himself in for when he went along for the photoshoot because his life was irrevocably changed after those pictures went viral and he became a meme.
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And Harold is here now to insist that he’s a meme and not an influencer, despite having a following of more than 400,000 people on Instagram. András István Arató – that’s his real name – was recently appearing at pop culture fair Como Fun in Lariofiere, Italy where he sported a t-shirt displaying this slogan.
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Cool? Not sure what he’s trying to prove there or why it means so much to him, but I suppose it’s great that he’s been allowed to get his message out there. Hopefully people take that on board when talking about him now?
Harold – his real name is too annoying to type out – also let everyone know about how he became a meme:
The stock photos began when a photographer contacted me when he saw my sour face on social media, and he was saying that he was seeking a character like me and invited me to shoot some images.
I first realised I had become a meme six or seven months later.
At first it was horrifying when I encountered the first memes because there were some really rude or disgusting jokes with me. So I wanted to restore all the pictures and close down all the websites they appeared on, but that was not a solution.
At first, I did not consider myself as famous, but later more and more people stopped me on the street asking for a sour face. I do this always willingly because I see the joy in the eyes of these people
That’s a great way to deal with the situation. Seems like the guy has become literally world famous and probably made quite a lot of money and been given quite a few opportunities off the back of it all as well. What a story.
For more of the same, check out Harold revealing some of the insane ways that becoming a meme has changed his life. Notice he didn’t say influencer.
