I'm a fan of the show Project Runway.
This past season's winner was the pixie-like Christian Siriano who regularly used the phrase "That's fierce!" to describe items, events, activities.
What a great phrase! What a great meme! Much better than Paris Hilton's "That's hot!"
A week or so after Christian Siriano's win, I was skipping through the TV channels when I stopped on QVC. What caught my eye was a solar powered fountain and the two women discussing it's virtues.
I was almost sold on the product when one of the women said, "That's fierce!" (Internal dialogue: "Say what? Did she just say the fountain was fierce? Gimme a break.")
It sounded as inappropriate as a 90 year-old grandfather saying, "That's hot!"
Whether or not Christian Siriano originated this meme, it definitely sounded better coming from his lips than from these QVC women trying to get me to purchase a solar fountain. In fact, their use of it seemed so contextually challenged that I grunted, made a face, and turned the channel.
Does this mean that all memes are not created equal?
In other words, does this point to the idea that not all memes can be equally used by all members of society? Or is there a classification or hierarchy of memes -- we can all sing "It's a small world after all" with confidence (over, and over, and over again, ad infinitum) but not everyone can use "That's fierce" convincingly.
Will "That's fierce" take off like "Awesome!" and "That's hot!" and how long will it be sustained and how far will it propogate?
And is Christian's "That's fierce!" a meme or a brand?
Ferocious minds want to know.
