OkBuddyRetard (subreddit)

r/okbuddyretard

The okbuddyretard logo
Status	Active
Subscribers	1.1 million+
Owner	GrantVsZombies
Founded	December 10, 2017
Founder	Kirbizia
Discord	OkBuddyRetard 5
Link	https://www.reddit.com/r/okbuddyretard/

r/okbuddyretard (often abbreviated as OkBR or OKBR) is a subreddit created by Kirbizia and now owned and run by GrantVsZombies and Lemonade1947, where users share ironic memes created to parody and satirize memes that they find to be normie or of poor quality. As the subreddit's sidebar explains, the objective is to "pretend to be 8 year olds who just gained internet access and made clueless memes in the early 2010s". Memes in the subreddit typically parody image macros that use the impact font, which is associated with older memes and mainstream culture. These memes are generally captioned with nonsequiturs that are occasionally distorted through text overlays.

OkBuddyRetard has probably been the most influential subreddit in the irony sphere. Throughout its history, there have been several associated Discord servers: OkBR1, OkBR2, OkBR3, OkBR4, and currently OkBR5. These servers have also been very influential in the space, giving birth to many other servers that would in some cases even overtake OkBR in member count.

History

Origins

"The Original", as posted by Kirbizia at the point of creating the subreddit.

On March 26th, 2017, iFunny user Paddy_2017 posted the earliest known image of Doge with the caption "OK Retard." The image was captioned "The easter bunny isn't real." It received more than 4,300 upvotes (shown below). On August 2, 2017, an anonymous 4chan user on the /pol/ (Politically Incorrect) board posted this image without the IFunny mark. The image would later become a de facto logo for the subreddit (though it would later change over time as the subreddit grew). The image would also spread onto other 4chan boards, and then later onto different platforms.

“	Hi I made the thing as asked in question so I think I can say some things about it. The initial idea for r/okbuddyretard was based on the "original" of an image of doge saying ok buddy, crossed out multiple times with the words retard. I got this image from people posting it in the r/bonehurtingjuice discord, so I can't say where they came from. I created the subreddit based on a image similar to what happened with r/bonehurtingjuice. Similarly to r/bonehurtingjuice just posted images I found on discord, reddit or other places that I found were funny and had a somewhat similar theme.	„
	— u/Kirbizia

Founding of Subreddit

Kirbizia made OkBuddyRetard with the premise of it being "BHJ but even stupider." The premise of the subreddit and the origin of its name was "The Original" image as discussed earlier.

OkBR was founded around the idea of unique and individual memes, dismissing existing meme cultures and creating new ones. The owners of this subreddit claim that this is why they ban memes, as it forces users to innovate.

In 2018, early in the subreddit's life, its current co-owner Lemonade1947, described the subreddit thusly:

“	It's a form of post-post-irony where a meme is re-contextualized as a response to the general boredom and apathy that it seems a lot of the kinds of people who browse have developed for popular meme culture. No other subs really encompass this in the same way, all of them having their own sub-cultures. This board (tries) to avoid that. Every post is different (even if there are occasionally some running themes which honestly I think it'd be best to avoid)	„
	— Lemonade1947

He went on to say

“	I think it's really about this sub's rejection of even the most "edgy" meme cultures. It's lack of a specific culture is what defines it. The joyful irony here is that it's only possible for the sub to reject this culture -because- they have a deep understanding of it.	„
	— Lemonade1947

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Ownership changes

Not long after the subreddit was created, Kirbizia was replaced by GrantVsZombies as the owner of the subreddit. A huge drama would ensue over Kirbizia's "demotion" (see Grant's and Lemonade's pages).

About a year later in 2019, Lemonade1947 was made co-owner, and they share this role 50/50. Lemonade is co-owner to this day.

Pewdiepie Apocalypse of 2020

On March 10th 2020, the then most subscribed to youtuber "Pewdiepie" created a video showcasing the subreddit.

During this video, he acknowledges the problems that this video would create, yet makes the video anyway. He states that

“	It's a subreddit that I willingly haven't touched because I know as soon as I review this subreddit everyone that goes on it's gonna be like "Oh pewdiepie reviewed that it's not funny anymore everyone knows about it now." haha. Yeah well I'm here to ruin it for everyone. You're welcome. Don't care. Another reason I didn't want to read this subreddit is because this subreddit just bombarded with ironic memes and that's literally it.	„
	— Pewdiepie

Following this, the sub was closed to new submissions for a week, in which Lemonade1947 continuously posted updates talking about the growth of users. The growth was not as substantial as initially feared, and the subreddit re-opened much the same as it was when it closed. The OkBR discord server would also be in a state of disorder and chaos after this video was made.

“	I remember the day this was released. I was in the OKBR Discord when mass panic ensued and the server fucking locked down for a couple weeks.	„
	— @epicgamernik76 on Youtube

Bizarrely, this was reported on by an Indian news website. This news site reported on the story almost entirely inaccurately, stating that OKBR was for "offensive memes" and misinterpreting Lemonade1947's tweets about the situation.

Current day

These days, the sub is not credited with the same sense of new and uniqueness it once was.

As the subreddit grew more popular, and it's culture became more mainstream, many smaller subs have been created. It can be widely observed that these smaller subs are now where the innovation happens.

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Discord servers

The first Discord server, created in the few months following the creation of the subreddit, is known for inspiring the creation of many now very popular offshoot servers, such as Dogelore, Whenthe, and many more. It was made by active members of the r/BoneHurtingJuice Discord, including Kirbizia. Unfortunately, OkBR1 was nuked in December of 2018.

Afterwards, LunarShadows created a new server. This server, also known as "OkBR2", is now known as Whenthe.

Later, after the OkBR2 splitoff, and it eventually becoming Whenthe, OkBR3 was created. This server also led to the creation of Irony Hub.

Eventually, drama ensued, and OkBR3 was nuked, bringing OkBR4 to life. OkBR4 paled in comparison to any of the previous servers, and its activity and community represented a fraction of its former glory.

In mid to late March of 2022, Doctor Penez invited several subreddit moderators to OkBR4, including Redyards. On April 7th 2022, Redyards nuked OkBR4, which marked the possible end of the OkBR legacy. As a result, many accuse Doctor Penez of paving the way for OkBR's downfall.

After the OkBR4 Nuke, the moderators gave up. It was thought that there was no chance of an OkBR5, but despite that, OkBuddyRetard 5 would be made a year later on April 21, 2023, and it would be owned by GrantVsZombies and Irony Wiki admin Myszak.

Legacy

Although OkBuddyRetard's former glory may never be reached again, its influence on irony is the most profound out of any subreddit or discord. Most of the servers and users listed on this wiki would have had very different lives if it were not for the creation of this subreddit and discord server.