AboutWhat does the meme depict?

The "Phil Swift Slaps On Flex Tape" meme features a two-panel image depicting Phil Swift, the spokesperson for Flex Tape, vigorously applying a piece of the adhesive tape over a leaking water tank. The original imagery shows Swift stopping the leak with Flex Tape, signifying a quick-fix solution. This template often sees the tape and Swift's hand reimagined to humorously 'fail' to stop the leak, dripping with water.

OriginWho did it first?

The meme originated from a commercial released by Swift Response, the maker of Flex Tape, on January 12th, 2017, which was uploaded to YouTube. In the advert, Phil Swift demonstrates the effectiveness of Flex Tape by slapping it onto a water tank that immediately stops leaking. The video caught public attention and significantly grew in popularity after a comical review by YouTuber JonTron, accessible here, posted in September 2017. The first known use of its imagery online as a meme appeared when an animated GIF derived from this commercial was posted to Reddit's r/gifs subreddit on January 29th, 2017, available here, and the same GIF was subsequently added to GIPHY, here. A crucial development in its use as a meme template occurred when a two-panel format was introduced by an Imgflip user "whosscruffylookin95" on January 7th, 2019, who adapted a GIF into a static image and added captions, setting the stage for widespread adaptation as an object-labeling meme.^[1]

Origin: 2019