다메다네

Dah-meh-dah-neh

This meme began trending as deepfake videos in mid-August 2020 and gained significant popularity in Korea by September 2020. While it was immensely popular for a time, its popularity waned after mid-2021, making it difficult to find people mentioning it. However, it holds significance as a progenitor of AI-based memes that use deepfake technology to superimpose a person's face onto a video, making them "sing" for humorous effect.

The 'Damedane' meme originated from the karaoke song 'Baka Mitai (ばかみたい)' from the Japanese game series 'Yakuza'. 'Baka Mitai' means 'like a fool,' and the meme's Korean name, 'Damedane,' comes from the first line of the lyrics, 'It's no good (だめだね).' This meme is primarily used by deepfaking a specific person's photo or video to make them appear to be singing this song. The melancholic atmosphere of the original song combined with the strangely distorted faces ironically satirizes sad situations or is used as a "public sentiment gauge" to mock disappointing actions by celebrities.

It was mainly popular among internet community users and viewers of online broadcasts. It was consumed by a general user base familiar with internet culture, not limited to a specific age group or gender.

• It is used to mock celebrities whose image has fallen by deepfaking their faces.
• It is sometimes inserted as background music to humorously depict physics engine glitches or plot holes within the 'Yakuza' game series.
• Parody videos were created applying deepfake technology to various people, characters, and even animals or objects, making them sing the song.
• In 'Yakuza 8,' Kazuma Kiryu even made a dad joke, an adaptation of the 'Damedane' meme, by saying 'Samedane (サメだね)' when seeing a shark (サメ).

Due to its nature of distorting faces using deepfake technology, this meme can be perceived as humorous by some, but others may find it bizarre and unpleasant. Particular caution is advised when applying this meme to politically or socially sensitive figures or events, as it can cause controversy or offense.