1984 Calendar Meme Template

A man turns the calendar and discovers it says 1984. Put a new rule or restriction in the speech bubble to make an ordinary inconvenience sound like a dramatic loss of freedom.

The calendar refers to George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four and its authoritarian society. In parody versions, the reported restriction is far smaller than the alarmed response suggests.

The size of that mismatch makes the joke. A group chat banning voice notes or a game requiring its tutorial can produce an intentionally excessive reaction.

Gary Varvel published the original cartoon on January 9, 2021, in response to Donald Trump’s Twitter suspension and restrictions affecting Parler. The calendar was his comparison to Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. [1]

By January 19, users were replacing the speech-bubble text with other complaints. Know Your Meme documents a Cyberpunk 2077 edit among the early parodies, which changed the cartoon’s serious comparison into a joke about exaggerated reactions. [1]

Write the announcement inside the empty speech bubble at the upper left. Keep the calendar, the turning page, and the year 1984 unobstructed.

A short rule or restriction gives the reaction something clear to exaggerate. The year already provides the punchline, so there is no need to repeat it in your caption.

The announced rule or restriction

Inside the empty speech bubble.

• Write a rule or newly discovered restriction.
• Keep the text inside the speech bubble.
• Let the calendar supply the 1984 reference.
• Use a minor inconvenience for an obviously exaggerated complaint.