Happy Birthday Memes
Part of: Happy Birthday Images and GIFs
A birthday meme works when the joke is about the situation rather than the person — ageing, candles, surviving another year. Below are ten captions you can copy, and a warning about meme templates that matters if the meme is going anywhere public.
What makes a birthday meme land
The joke has to be about the situation, not about the person. Ageing, candles as a fire hazard, being one year closer to a discount — those work with almost anyone. Jokes about how someone looks do not.
The second rule is speed. A meme is read in about a second, so the caption has to work before the image is understood, not after.
Caption lines that work on any image
These are the captions rather than the images, because the image you use should be one you already have — a bad photo of the birthday person always beats a stock template.
Another lap around the sun completed. Barely.
Officially old enough to complain about the music.
The candles cost more than the cake this year.
Level up. Same terrible stats.
Aged like fine wine, if wine came in a box.
This is the youngest you will ever look. Enjoy it.
Warranty expired. Still running.
Congratulations on surviving your own decisions for another year.
Birthday plan: cake first, dignity later.
Nobody grows up. Some people just get taller.
A warning about meme templates
Most well-known meme templates are frames from films, television or photographs owned by someone. Sharing one privately is one thing. Putting it on a product, an advert or a business page is a different matter, and the fact that everyone does it is not a defence.
If the meme is going anywhere public or commercial, use a photo you took, or artwork that is genuinely licensed for it — the clipart on this site is free for commercial use, and the image set is too.
How to make one in a minute
- Pick a photo you already have of the birthday person, the worse the better
- Copy a caption above
- Add the text in your phone's photo editor, or in any free design app
- Keep the text short enough to read at thumbnail size
For something that moves rather than sits still, put their name into the fireworks maker and send the animation instead. It gets a bigger reaction than a meme and takes about the same time.