Bad Luck Brian and Chicken Salad: What It's Like to Go Viral in Northeast Ohio

When a person becomes a meme or produces an online viral moment, it can change everything about their lives.

For Akron’s Kyle Craven, the “Bad Luck Brian” meme arose from a high school yearbook photo prank at Archbishop Hoban High School. It’s opened up a world of opportunities to travel to conventions and star in meme-filled commercials.

Meanwhile, Clevelander Nisha Godfrey went viral after simply posting a video of her chicken salad lunch on TikTok. Later, the audio was used in music placements and trending videos, and created a wave of recognition in Ohio and beyond.

We talked with both internet-famous Northeast Ohioans in an episode of The CLE Connection, Cleveland Magazine’s podcast that takes a look at Cleveland’s surprising ties to major pop culture moments. Below, read snippets of our conversations.

To hear more about their experiences, listen to the full episode.

Nisha Godfrey:
“I'm at a point where I had fun. I've done things I would have never thought that I'd be able to do, and I made it to Famous Birthdays. If I never go viral again, I'm okay with that. It's funny, though, because I stay viral on Instagram. I think I'm just at this place right now, where it's just like, I came, I conquered, I haven't won yet, but I saw. I definitely would like to get up to a million followers, because I like engaging with people on social media. It was a time. I had fun, and I'm just riding the wave while it's still there, basically.”

Kyle Craven:
“I always looked at it as extremely funny. I meet a lot of other memes, and some of them are very, or were very, resistant to it, and didn't want it, and didn't want the fame like that. They were seeking fame because some of them were stock images and whatnot, but a lot of them didn't like that it was a joke, and I've always looked at it as a very lucky situation I was in, and very, very funny.”

Hear more of Godfrey and Craven’s stories in our podcast, which is streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and more.

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