ABSTRACT
Internet memes—mutant, user-generated content—are among the preferred vehicles of communication in the Web 2.0 environment. They have made it possible to assimilate those allusive techniques that were the main features of post-modern language, from pastiche to remake, into an accessible and democratic form of creativity. The topics undergoing such treatment range from personal experiences to media and political commentary, from the characterization of human types to civic engagement. This chapter investigates, within a discourse analytical framework, the critical stance expressed by Internet users through this format toward a selection of global brands. More specifically, it focuses on what delegitimizing function can be served by Internet memes in relation to the discourse of brand marketing. The study indicates that the selected Internet memes can be framed within the four basic delegitimization strategies highlighted by van Leeuwen (2007): authorization, moral evaluation, rationalization and mythopoesis.
