The Desperate man meme is used when you just saw something alarming. The top is something the speaker just saw. The bottom (and the wide-eyed man clutching his hair) is their face. The joke is pure alarm.
Our recreation of the Desperate man format, with a small business caption.
How the Desperate man meme works
What it means
The top is something the speaker just saw. The bottom (and the wide-eyed man clutching his hair) is their face. The joke is pure alarm.
Use it when
You just saw something alarming.
Also called
Desperate man, desperate man, courbet, shocked face, hands in hair, oh no
How popular
Number 304 of the 312 formats in our library, ranked by how often each is captioned and how often business accounts use it.
Its captions
1.When you seeup to 60 characters
2.My faceup to 50 characters
Every picture here is our own recreation of the format: the same layout, pose and joke, drawn with generic people. None is the original meme photo, and none shows a celebrity or the person from the original. Some formats are drawn with text and shapes only.
Desperate man meme examples for 13 industries
The same format, captioned for each kind of business. Open an industry for its other memes.
The top is something the speaker just saw. The bottom (and the wide-eyed man clutching his hair) is their face. The joke is pure alarm.
When should I use the Desperate man meme?
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When you just saw something alarming. It fits the reaction and relatable kind of joke.
How do I caption the Desperate man meme?
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It has 2 captions: when you see (up to 60 characters); my face (up to 50 characters). Keep each to a few words so the meme reads in a second.
Can I use the Desperate man meme for my business?
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Yes. The picture is The Desperate Man, Gustave Courbet, about 1843 to 1845, which is in the public domain: nobody owns it, so it is free to use, also for business posts. Keep the caption honest.
A Desperate man meme about your business
Type what the joke is about. Content Drifter writes the captions in your brand’s voice on this format and two others, and schedules the one you like.