You are probably familiar with Dieunerst Collin, even if you have never heard of him. Anyone who has used Twitter or social media in the last 10 years has probably seen his face.
Collin was only 9 years old when the meme that made him famous showed him giving the side eye while holding a cup at Popeyes. He became one of the most popular reaction GIFs and images on the internet with just one look.
The East Orange native wasn’t thrilled about his viral fame at first. But his viral moment came around this week. Collin, who turns 19 next month, is now a college football player and has just signed a deal with Popeyes to use his name, image and likeness. This is called a “NIL deal”.
He got the deal after getting his followers and the general public to make enough noise online to attract the attention of the fried chicken chain. “With all the support, I was able to take it and use it to expand my name and not just keep being the Popeyes boy,” Colin tells NJ Advanced Media.
The Popeyes meme kid, who is now a college football player, has been offered a NIL deal by Popeyes.
After years of being an internet meme, Dieunerst Collin is finally capitalizing on his image after reposting the meme with his state championship. pic.twitter.com/ZiWhzUG4xd
— PopBase (@PopBase) January 12, 2023
A billboard is the first thing that came out of that deal. It can be seen on his home field. In the pictures on the board, the same meme and saying from 10 years ago now works in Collin’s favor. Popeyes posted a photo of the freshman in front of the Newark billboard as a meta reference to the meme and the New Jerseyan behind it.
The football player, who is now an offensive lineman for the Storm at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, mimics the look on his face when he was 9 years old, which is next to a more recent photo on the billboard. This time he has a much larger cup in his hand.
“From memes to dreams,” reads the board. And below: “Popeyes, proud sponsor of Dieunerst Collin.” Collin was just minding his business at that Popeyes as a kid when a video of him went viral on the now-defunct app Vine. In the 2013 clip, Collin is asked to utter the catchphrase of another viral star, Lil TerRio.
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He just stood there and watched. Collin became a meme after screenshots of him giving the side eye went viral. Let’s jump to the year 2021. Collin posed with the trophy after his high school football team, the East Orange Campus Jaguars, won the state championship.
He gave a nod to his history as a meme by giving the side eye. @Jerseystar973 posted Collin’s photo from the Vine video meme everyone knows on Twitter. “From Popeyes to State Champion!!” they tweeted.
The tweet was a hit because it told everyone what “Popeyes kid” was doing and set up the endorsement deal. Collin, a communications major at Lake Erie, returned to something he knew a little about for the next installment: social media.
On Instagram, the footballer asked Popeyes to help him. On Jan. 8, he used the two photos of himself from the 2021 tweet and asked all of his followers to repost them and tag Popeyes.
BREAKING: Popeyes has signed Dieunerst Collin – “The Popeyes meme kid” – to a NIL deal.
Collin is now a freshman offensive lineman at D-II Lake Erie College. pic.twitter.com/xC7UmuJLvY
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) January 11, 2023
His goal was to let the fast food chain know that he wanted to “talk about business.” His post was shared by well-known Twitter accounts, who spotlighted Popeyes for responding.
“It actually took less than 24 hours,” says Collin. On January 12, the company had publicly welcomed the footballer “to the family.” He was so happy that he started dancing.
“This has been a wild ride”, says Molly Hoffman, the athletic director of Lake Erie College. “It was the talk on our campus that the Popeyes boy would come,” she says, even though the university encouraged people to use Collin’s real name.
That was talked about less and less until last weekend, when the national media showed up. “It was nice to have such a great young man go through this process with us,” Hoffman says about the NIL deal. “I can’t speak highly enough of him.”
She thinks Collin’s experience could make it easier for athletes from other small colleges to get into the NIL. Friends and family have been sending him videos of the billboard at 742 McCarter Highway over the past few days. On January 15, Popeyes showed the photo to his audience for the first time.
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“My mother, she is very excited,” says Collin. “My dad was really emotional when he heard about it and saw it… He was against the meme and so was I, a long time ago.”
Collin didn’t like people calling him “Terio” for a few years because of the video and meme. “That was pretty annoying,” he says. But when Collin’s famous photo was placed next to his real-life journey, the meaning of that meme changed.
The footballer is happy that he has a deal with a brand that is not only associated with him through a meme, but also because it reminds him of his family.
“Popeyes has always been there for my family when we couldn’t cook,” he says. “We would just enjoy it and just sit and have family moments and just talk and laugh.” Collin will also put his energy into becoming a YouTuber and Twitch streamer to reach more fans and followers in the future.
Last lines
At the age of 9, Dieunerst Collin was already an internet meme. The boy, who was 9 years old at the time, gives the side eye while holding a cup to Popeyes.
After signing with Popeyes, ten years later, this college football player is the one smiling… Feel free to leave your comments and reactions in the space provided below.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.