Well, it may surprise you to know that Success Kid is actually a legit human child called Sammy Griner, and he’s growing up fast!
Here he is now, age eight, with his mum Laney Griner. He recently reappeared to front a campaign to raise money for his dad’s kidney transplant, which has now reached an impressive $100,000!
Success Kid originally took off in 2007, when Laney uploaded a picture of a baby Sam trying to eat sand to Flickr. The picture initally birthed the “I hate Sandcastles” meme, before transforming into Success Kid. The popular image is a part of the “advice animals” series of memes, which according to Wikipedia is “where someone is put on a background, given a problem, and giving a solution to that problem.” Examples include Anti-Joke Chicken and Philsoraptor. Sammy claims he is embarrassed to be associated with the meme, although we can’t see why… Look at his little face!
Laney is the official license owner of the image, and after a lot of careful thought decided to use it in a GoFundMe campaign to help her husband Justin pay for a kidney transplant. Justin was diagnosed with kidney failure just before Sammy’s birth, and spends many hours a week on dialysis. The campaign raised $93,000 in seven days, with a significant portion of the donations pouring in via website Reddit. Although Justin has yet to find a donor, the campaign is a positive step in the right direction!
You’re looking at Success Kid in a totally new light now, aren't you?
Source: http://www.gosocial.co/this-is-the-ultimate-90s-kid-test/