Trojan Horse Meme Template

A wooden horse is welcomed through the gates while soldiers hide inside. Label the appealing offer, the hidden catch, and the person letting it in.

The reader can see the hidden contents before the people at the gate can. That difference makes the format useful for a tempting offer with an unwelcome consequence.

The catch can be a bill, more work, or a chain of follow-up tasks. Keep it connected to the offer: a free app brings ads, while one small change brings a larger project.

The underlying drawing is by Martin Kozlowski. Contently published it in a May 2015 article about Facebook Instant Articles, with Facebook on the horse and The New York Times on the city gate. [1]

The object-label meme spread in July 2018. This edited version removes the publishing labels and adds a view of soldiers inside the horse, making the concealed consequence part of the picture. [2]

Label the wooden horse near its neck, the hidden contents across the open body, and the recipient on the large gate. Keep the gatekeepers and the rope visible so the welcome remains clear.

Choose an offer someone would actually accept. Then name the consequence that comes with it. A third label identifies who fails to account for that consequence.

The appealing offer

A label on the wooden neck of the horse.

The hidden catch

A label across the soldiers inside.

Who accepts it

A label on the city gate.

• Make the horse sound appealing on its own.
• Put the catch inside the horse.
• Use a recipient label when it makes the situation more specific.