The European mind cannot comprehend this: How the U.S. clapped back at viral memes

The phrase ‘The American Mind Cannot Comprehend’ began a few years ago by Europeans as a header for memes posted on social media pointing out the cultural differences between Europe and the US. The saying gained traction and not to be out done, it was taken up by their American counterparts but changed to ‘The European mind cannot comprehend’.

While the back-and-forth has had its moments over the interim, it got a breath of new life recently with the posting of a group of young people enjoying a drink and cigs at an outdoor café in the south of Spain. The post has been viewed over 80 million times and provided fodder for the ongoing jesting.

How the US clapped back at viral memes

The meme posted by Cigarette Nostalgia shows a young woman standing next to a table smoking a cigarette with friends enjoying a pint of beer. In the background, you can see plenty of outdoor seating with tables set up along the street. According to Newsweek, the picture was taken in Marbella, a popular tourist town in the south of Spain.

The meme was posted on X on 26 April, and by happenstance, just two days later most of the Iberian Peninsula suffered a massive power blackout affecting both Portugal and Spain. That same day YIMBYLAND took a swipe at the Europeans by posting a doctored version of the viral picture with the image darkened as if the lights had been turned off.

While one user on X didn’t think it was a coincidence, the Spanish government confirmed on Tuesday that there was no sign of a cyberattack.

Other versions have come out of the picture retouched using artificial intelligence to poke fun at what outdoor dining looks like in strip mall America and others giving the lean youths in the original post a serious obesity problem.

Still others have tried to recreate the image in other parts of Europe, from France to Italy with a young woman similar outfitted in a tight fitting dress, standing by a outdoor seating table smoking a cigarette.

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