TikTok’s fixation on ‘Couch guy’ brings out parodies and memes

Last week, a TikTok showing a woman surprising her long-distance boyfriend at college started circulating. Despite the fact that the woman, Lauren, reassured people they're very much together, TikTok got very invested in analyzing the video frame by frame, trying to find something that proved he's a cheater or acting sketchy. And the man, Robbie, became known as Couch Guy.

The Couch Guy hashtag has more than 540 million views on TikTok, and the video has birthed memes and parodies. The most popular trend is people recreating the "surprising my boyfriend" premise, which now extends to animals as well.

The obsessive frame-by-frame analysis was also parodied.

Have you had to explain Couch Guy TikTok to your friends and loved ones yet?

Robbie, who has apparently embraced the Couch Guy nickname, posted a reasonable response over the weekend, and he addressed people's odd fixation: "Ur welcome for getting u off berries & cream tiktok, but remember: Not everything is true crime. Don't be a parasocial creep. Go get some fresh air." (He might be referencing TikTok's obsessive investigation of the Gabby Petito case.)

But there is also now Couch Guy merch, according to Lauren. The saga continues.

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