The Brief: Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing intergenerational rivalry, some Millennials and Gen Z-ers have been referring to Coronavirus as "Boomer Remover."
DEEP DIVE
Some people, mostly young people, have taken to referring to Coronavirus (COVID-19) as “Boomer Remover.” The name references both the disdain that many young people have for Baby Boomers and the fact that older people are more susceptible to severe illness and death from Coronavirus.
This highly insensitive name highlights the deep-seated anger many young people feel towards older generations about their politics, failure to act on climate change, and other generational differences. It also reveals just how willing some Millennials and Gen Z-ers are to make dark jokes during this pandemic, be it out of malice or out of the need for comic relief.
On TikTok, videos associated with the hashtag #BoomerRemover have been viewed over 42,000 times, a relatively low number, perhaps indicating that this nickname is a bit too dark to become as widespread as other memes like Ok Boomer did.
‘Boomer Remover’ Memes
Memes and tweets use this term with varying degrees of seriousness while others criticize the harsh implications of the phrase.
Today, one of my fifth graders called the coronavirus “Boomer Remover”. Just thought I’d share that.
— TJ Gledhill (@TJay_G) March 12, 2020
Boomers to Millennials: aren’t you worried about Coronavirus?
Millennials: are you worried about climate change?#BoomerRemover
— Shady Arms Dealer (@AlykhanPabani) March 11, 2020
An expanding brain meme:
Boomer Remover from meme
A Surreal Meme Man “panik” meme:
The boomer remover from memes
A Drake No/Yes meme:
A woman yelling at cat meme:
@joshsturgis🤷🏼♂️ ##PlayWithLife ##writethelyrics ##MacysProm ##petparent ##boomerremover ##fyp ##comment ##stopscrolling ##okboomer ##xyzabc♬ sleepwalk – 緒に