Imgflip
The name Chloe Clem probably doesn’t ring a bell for most people if you don’t provide any context. But tell them that she’s “side-eye Chloe” and suddenly a whole bunch of internet users immediately know who you’re talking about. That’s because Clem, who is now 14 years old, rose to internet fame 12 years ago when her mother posted a picture of her in a car seat giving a hilariously unimpressed look.
The photo quickly went viral as a meme for people to use when describing anything they’re unimpressed or disgusted by. Twelve years later, Clem says she’s rarely recognized in public. But her mom, Katie, recently told People Magazine that she has plenty of regrets.
“My friends were like, ‘You need to see this. This is crazy.’ So I went on to Tumblr and I remember just seeing Chloe’s little face everywhere,” she told the magazine. “I realized someone had taken a screenshot from the video and created it, because it wasn’t us.”
But Katie said that things quickly took a turn for the worse. Chloe, who was just 2 years old at the time, was often approached by strangers seeking a picture.
“Chloe was 2, and people were coming up to her,” Katie says. “They were freaking out. They were taking pictures of her.”
But despite the uncomfortable fame of her young daughter, the viral meme did have benefits for the family. Katie and her husband were able to monetize the photo, including large partnerships with brands such as Google Pixel. They even sold the photo as an NFT in 2021, making $74,000 in the process.
“10 years ago, we were so poor. This happened to us and we’re like, ‘What? We can pay bills. We can upgrade our tiny apartment for the four of us.’ It was real-world issues,” she explained. “That money literally helped us survive for a decade. Every ounce of the money, aside from saving it and putting it away, was helping us get through our life. Rent, bills, food.”
She later expanded into YouTube content including Chloe as well as her other daughter, Lily. But ultimately, Katie scaled back the content. She now says that she might have taken a different path given the opportunity again.
“It kind of just took a turn toward the end, and I just was like, ‘I don’t think I want this much exposure with my kids,'” she reflects. “Once they got a little bit older, I was forcing them to do things and I could tell they were bored. I could tell they were tired, and I’m like, ‘Okay, we’re done.'”
So let this be a cautionary tale. Becoming an iconic meme might well come with immediate benefits. But there are costs as well.