Remember that really old meme that had a girl smiling with a burning building in the background? Well, that meme, “Disaster Girl”, has now been sold for $473,000. Yes, that’s right a simple meme is worth that much.
It is part of internet history so it has a certain amount of sentimental value. These are basically the memes we grew up with. Didn’t think it would be sold for this much. Also, you guessed right, it is being sold as an NFT.
The sudden popularity of NFT or Non-Fungible Tokens has given rise to a new wave of digital art. Giving digital pictures and even memes value that can now be translated into assets. These digital pictures can now be sold as a piece of art. Even though everyone has the picture and open distribution is possible. The token just identifies who the original owner is.
Zoe Roth, the girl in the meme was 4 years old when the picture was taken, now she’s 21 years old and eager to cash in on her 10 minutes of internet fame. It only took 16 years for her photo to amass such value.
The meme is now linked to a unique digital signature. According to Roth, “I’m a part of history”. Roth also commented on what she thinks a meme is by saying that “A meme is a picture or video with crazy captions that people share widely because they think it’s funny and they can relate to it”.
Roth also shed some light on the photo itself. She said that “In 2005, my dad took a picture of me standing in front of a house fire. I was standing there looking evil as if I started the fire — but oh my gosh, no, I didn’t”. Now the meme has been sold to a collector named @3FMusic. Reporters speculate that the buyer is actually Farzin Fardin Fard, CEO of a music production company based in Dubai.
The buyer released an anonymous statement as well clarifying their reasons for buying the meme, “Our management team is always in cooperation with some highly knowledgeable and experienced art advisers who believe that we must grow with technological movements that help us to not only promote our business but also to support artists and the art market”.
Roth and her dad were set to get 10% of the profits whenever the meme was sold and now that it has, the father and daughter are planning to divide the earnings. Roth is reportedly looking for non-profit organizations she can donate to.
Roth said that “Being able to sell it just shows us that we do have some sort of control, some sort of agency in the whole process”.
Oh well, it is 2021 so I am no longer surprised that even memes are being sold for so much. This isn’t the first time as well. The timeless crazy “Overly Attached Girlfriend” meme also sold for $411,000. I guess a lot of old memes will soon be cashing in on their fame. Even Grumpy Cat was sold.