Do You Love the Colour of the Sky? Unpacking the Viral Internet Meme

The phrase “Do You Love The Colour Of The Sky?” is more than just a question; it’s an invitation to explore a visual journey. It refers to a distinctive style of long, scrolling images that showcase the mesmerizing gradient of the sky as it transitions through a full 24-hour day. Originating online, these images, particularly on platforms like Tumblr, quickly evolved into a meme format. The elongated nature of the images became a canvas for internet humor, often featuring unexpected characters or comical imagery appended at the bottom, creating humorous parodies. Notably, in May 2020, this meme experienced a resurgence, becoming intertwined with the “Stretched Instagram Posts” trend, further cementing its place in internet culture.

The Genesis of the Sky Gradient

The origin of the “Do you love the colour of the sky?” meme can be traced back to January 31st, 2012. Tech blog 2dayBlog.com, in its humor section, published a now-iconic long-form image titled with the very question: “Do you love the color of the sky?” This original image presented a smooth, continuous gradient, meticulously capturing the sky’s hues from the bright daylight to the deep shades of night. Adding a touch of whimsical charm, the bottom of the image featured the endearing, slightly misspelled text “i Love it the Colour of Sky Very Much!!!” accompanied by a hand-drawn smiley face and a pair of fluffy clouds. This simple yet visually appealing creation laid the foundation for a meme that would resonate across the internet.

Original “Do you love the colour of the sky?” image displaying a 24-hour sky gradient with a handwritten text at the bottom.

From Blog Post to Viral Sensation

The image’s journey to virality began shortly after its initial release. On February 2nd, 2012, it found its way to MemeCenter, a popular platform for meme sharing. Just eight days later, it was shared on 9gag, another prominent internet humor site. Within a year, the 9gag repost alone garnered over 84,000 views, indicating its growing appeal. Throughout 2012, the image’s presence expanded to Pinterest, where users shared it multiple times, sometimes using the American spelling “color,” showcasing its adaptability across different online communities.

A significant turning point occurred on March 6th, 2013, when Imgur user IAmNoTreeIAmAnEnt re-uploaded the image with a new title, “For artists, writers, etc.” This version adopted a different typeface for the introductory text and replaced the original bottom text with a simple question, “Which one?” This iteration quickly gained traction, amassing nearly 65,000 views in just four days, suggesting a broader appreciation beyond just humor, appealing to creative individuals as a color reference. The following day, March 7th, 2013, Tumblr user boywonder99 shared the image on Tumblr. Crucially, to accommodate Tumblr’s photo set format, the user divided the long image into multiple parts. This seemingly minor adaptation inadvertently sparked a new wave of engagement. Within a mere 72 hours, the Tumblr post exploded in popularity, accumulating over 512,000 notes, highlighting Tumblr as the key platform for the meme’s widespread dissemination.

However, the very length that contributed to its visual appeal on Tumblr also became a source of internet humor. Users soon began playfully complaining about the excessive scrolling required to get past the image on their Tumblr dashboards. This user frustration, inherent to the image’s format, paved the way for the meme’s next evolutionary stage: parody. Within hours of the complaints surfacing, the first parody emerged, created by Tumblr blogger catsymaxxie, featuring the perpetually unimpressed Grumpy Cat. This marked the birth of the parody trend, leveraging the original image’s recognizable format for comedic effect.

The 2020 Instagram Revival

In May 2020, the “Do You Love The Colour Of The Sky?” meme experienced an unexpected resurgence as part of the Stretched Instagram Posts trend. This trend exploited an Instagram anomaly that allowed users to post unusually stretched images. The sky gradient meme, with its inherently long and thin format, was perfectly suited to this trend. A particular version, sized at 31 by 1600 pixels, gained immense popularity, demonstrating the meme’s ability to adapt and find new audiences within evolving internet trends.

Notable Parodies and User Reactions

The enduring appeal of “Do you love the colour of the sky?” meme lies not just in its aesthetic beauty but also in its capacity for humor and parody. Numerous parodies and text posts expressing amusement or exasperation with the image’s length can be found across Tumblr and other platforms. These parodies often retain the sky gradient format but inject unexpected and humorous elements, such as inserting pop culture characters, adding absurd text at the bottom, or directly commenting on the scrolling fatigue it induces. The meme tags “Do you love the colour of the sky?”, “Do you love the color of the sky?”, “colour of the sky”, and “color of the sky” on Tumblr serve as repositories for these creative variations and user reactions, showcasing the meme’s dynamic and evolving nature within internet culture.

michael-the-lion 。 Do you love the colour of the sky? Why yes, yes I do. Now kindly STOP making my scrolling experience a living HELL #stahp #stop it #scrolling #blog #tumblr #followers #follow #ilove you #ash icanseeyouinthesouthernsky+ 8 Post: Do you love the colour of- Me: NO THIS ISN
A parody image expressing frustration with the long scrolling nature of the “Do you love the colour of the sky?” meme on Tumblr.

Do you love the color of the sk-
Another example of a parody, cutting off mid-sentence to humorously represent user impatience while scrolling.

i came out of the ocean becouse you need to stop
A surreal parody featuring an ocean creature emerging to plead for an end to the long sky gradient posts.

Do you love the color of the sky? What sky?
A minimalist parody posing a question about the sky, humorously implying the image is too long to even reach the sky part.

Conclusion

The “Do you love the colour of the sky?” meme is a fascinating case study in internet humor and meme evolution. Starting as a simple, aesthetically pleasing image, it quickly morphed into a versatile meme format. Its journey from a tech blog to viral spread on platforms like Tumblr and its unexpected revival on Instagram demonstrate the dynamic and often unpredictable nature of internet trends. The meme’s humor is multifaceted, stemming from its visual appeal, its inherent length (leading to scrolling fatigue parodies), and its adaptability to incorporate diverse comedic elements. Ultimately, the “Do you love the colour of the sky?” meme endures as a testament to the internet’s capacity to transform simple content into complex and evolving cultural phenomena.