On the internet, a meme can be defined as an image, gif, or video taken in large numbers on social media. And finally, the best thing about a meme is when you don’t know what it’s going to be. This is exactly what happened to András Arató, an electrical engineer who became an Internet hero overnight.
Because to this day, anyone who has ever set foot on social media has already seen that recognizable tense smile out of a thousand. But nothing predestined András Arató to make himself known.
During the 2000s, the fifty-year-old Hungarian took advantage of his recent retirement to travel to the four corners of Europe, especially Turkey, while posting photos of his escapades on iWiW, the Hungarian Facebook. It is thanks to his publications that András Arató is noticed by an image bank photographer.
The man offers him a test session, which András accepts on the spot, without imagining for a second that the images would go around the world. Starting in 2009, the first glimpses of the shooting of him appeared on the internet, notably on the Facepunch forum, which has since disappeared.
A difficult status to accept
The Internet user Greenen72 thus publishes dozens of photos of András Arató from all angles: as a businessman, in the doctor’s office, in the middle of a sports session or even as a surgeon. All photos are watermarked Dreamstime, the name of the photography agency that produced the images.
Although there are dozens of photos of the Hungarian, one stands out in particular: no incarnation of a profession on the show, just András Arató with a mug in one hand, the other at a computer keyboard, his eyes twitching at the camera. A tension that will create the code name given to this man at that unknown time: Hide the pain Harold (“Hide your pain Harold”), for which reason it is used as a meme for situations in which the Internet user refers to an evil-being hidden. or a shame
Finally, in 2011, the now christened Harold made a name for himself on the internet with netizens taking the famous photos creating Facebook pages dedicated to this new icon, some of which were quickly followed by several hundred thousand people.
It is here where András Arató bears the full weight of his new notoriety, difficult to assume and appreciate at first, due to the multiple entertainments. Sometimes less funny: the famous glass-in-hand photo is modified, for example, to transform András into a soldier of the Third Reich, My struggle on the desk and Nazi cross on the arm.
It wasn’t until 2016 that he finally assumed his status as a web icon and publicly admitted, on the Russian social network Vkontakte, that he is the famous Harold. Starting today, the 78-year-old Hungarian has fun with his evil doppelganger and regularly posts fun, accompanied by the hashtags #hidethepainharold and #painharold.
Acclaimed in the media
Proof of his exceptional career, András Arató was invited to tell his story in 2019 for a TED talk, titled “Waking Up as a Web Hero”, viewed almost 8 million times.
An iconic status that brands were also quick to take advantage of: the Hungarian, for example, produced a Coca-Cola ad in Hungary in 2019. A German computer product brand also used the services of the senior model to promote a computer for games. A Hungarian music group, Cloud9+, even made music in honor of their national emblem.
More recently, Harold even reappeared in his doctor’s outfit in an ad about…coronavirus. In fact, the trucks of the delivery company STAF and Carrefour had chosen to thank the doctors and nurses in an advertisement placed on the back of the vehicles. The “Thank you heroes” message was thus accompanied by photos of the caretakers, including the famous photo from the image bank showing András Arató all smiles.
So unlike many other unknowns turned memes, András Arató was able to capitalize on this sudden notoriety by becoming a celebrity in his own right. And one thing is certain: his smile may not be as strained as it used to be, considering all this has given him in little over a decade.
Source: BFM TV
