Meaning
What does Hide the Pain Harold mean?
Hide The Pain Harold is the moniker used to describe the popular meme featuring András Arató, a Hungarian electrical engineer and stock photo model. The meme is known for its witty and humorous tone, which is often used to express feelings of suppressed sadness or depression.
The meaning behind “Hide the Pain Harold” stems from the perceived emotions that Arató displays in his stock photos. Despite his smile, many people believe that he is hiding a deep sense of pain and sadness. This interpretation has made him a popular figure in the world of memes and internet culture.
The “Hide the Pain Harold” meme typically features an image of Arató with a forced smile, accompanied by humorous captions or text overlays. These captions often play off the idea that Arató is hiding something behind his smile, such as “When you’re dead inside but still have to go to work” or “When you finally finish your project but realize it’s due tomorrow.”
Origin
What's the origin of Hide the Pain Harold?
The man behind the meme is András Arató, a Hungarian electrical engineer who became an unwitting internet sensation in the late 2000s.
It all started with a video of Arató participating in a Hungarian quiz show in 1996, where he made an innocent comment about his love for milk and cocoa.
This moment was popular on the Hungarian internet in the 2000s, but it wasn’t until 2011 that Arató‘s face became a worldwide sensation. That year, some stock photos of him were uploaded to Facepunch, a popular online forum. The images showed Arató looking pensive and melancholy, as if he were hiding some deep pain behind his smile.
Internet users quickly seized on these photos and turned them into memes, using them to express everything from awkward social situations to existential angst. And thus, “Hide the Pain Harold” was born.
Spread & Usage
How did Hide the Pain Harold spread?
The story behind “Hide the Pain Harold” began in 2011 when a Facebook page was created to pay tribute to him. At that time, no one knew who he was or why he had become so famous. However, this did not stop people from sharing his photos and creating new memes.
In 2014, a thread on 4chan put together various stock photos featuring “Harold” and crafted a story behind his insincere smiles. This is when “Hide the Pain Harold” started to gain popularity. People began using his images to express their own feelings of pain or discomfort, which made him even more relatable.
As more people started using “Hide the Pain Harold,” his fame continued to grow. He became an internet sensation overnight, with people from all over the world sharing his images and creating new memes based on his photos.
Finally, in 2016, “Hide the Pain Harold” uncovered his identity as András Arató on the Russian social network site VK. He revealed that he had no idea how famous he had become until someone showed him one of the memes featuring his face.
Since then, Arató has embraced his newfound fame and even appeared in ads for companies like GEICO and Coca-Cola. He’s also become something of a folk hero in Hungary, where he’s known for his good-natured sense of humor and willingness to laugh at himself.
