And Then I Said: Obama Meme Template

Obama and his aides are laughing together. Give them an invented story about a promise so unlikely that repeating it is enough to make the whole room laugh.

The caption pretends to recount something the speaker said earlier. The laughter suggests the claim was unrealistic, insincere, or hilariously optimistic.

It works just as well for your own habits as for someone else’s promises. The words are part of the joke, not a quotation from the people in the photo.

Pete Souza photographed Barack Obama laughing with aides aboard Air Force One on November 14, 2009, while traveling to Singapore. The official White House archive records the photograph and date; it does not identify the joke they were sharing. [1]

The broader And Then I Said format uses laughing groups and implausible claims. Know Your Meme documents a July 2011 example using different politicians and several variations in 2012. Those dates describe the format’s spread, not the first use of this particular Obama crop. [2]

Put the short introduction in the upper-left corner and the unlikely promise along the bottom. Keep the laughing faces visible.

Write the second line as the claim being retold. Plans to leave on time, stop after one episode, or keep a meeting short all fit the expression.

The introduction

In the upper-left corner, away from Obama’s face.

The unlikely promise

Across the lower edge, beneath the faces.

• Use the introduction to establish a retold conversation.
• Put the implausible claim in the second caption.
• Keep the faces unobstructed.
• Self-directed jokes work without political context.