The Chill Guy Plagiarism Hoax

The “Chill Guy” meme first made its debut in October 2023. Created by artist Phillip Banks, it features an anthropomorphic dog standing in a casual pose, smirking at the viewer.

The meme was not an instant success. However, in the late summer of 2024, the meme began to go viral, particularly on TikTok. This led to a meteoric rise for Chill Guy, with USA Today calling it one of the best memes of 2024.

With that popularity came commercialization. In late November 2024, someone launched a meme coin, CHILLGUY, based on the character. However, this was done without Banks’ permission, leading to him registering the copyright in the work and threatening copyright takedowns.

This led to widespread harassment of Banks, eventually resulting in him deactivating his X (formerly Twitter) account.

However, the campaign against Banks reached a new low. Over the past week, users began to allege that Banks plagiarized the character from a Thailand (or Vietnamese) children’s magazine cover. This forced Banks to return to X to dispel the rumor, saying that the opposite was true, that his creation inspired the magazine.

But the explanation didn’t come fast enough. The CHILLGUY coin dropped at least 20%, and a competing memecoin was launched, further eroding the value. Banks himself wasn’t likely hurt in the hoax, but other people were.

It’s a reminder of just how dangerous false plagiarism allegations can be.

Understanding What Happened

According to Know Your Meme, the saga began on December 24. That was when Redittor Kaito8008 posted an image to the CHILLGUYCOIN subreddit alleging that Banks plagiarized Chill Guy from a Thailand children’s magazine.

The magazine cover features a human boy standing in the Chill Guy pose beside a dog with Chill Guy’s face. The similarities are obvious, prompting many to accuse Banks of Plagiarism. Several of the comments from the original thread openly mock Banks, calling him a plagiarist and a “fraud.”

However, there was and is a significant problem with those allegations.

As some users realized, the magazine was released in the last week of 2024. In short, it came out well after not just the creation of Chill Guy, but after his rise to popularity. The magazine, famous for lampooning famous characters on its cover, paid homage to Chill Guy.

But that didn’t stop others from sharing and resharing the image as a false example of Banks’ plagiarism. Before it was debunked, other subreddits picked up the story, and multiple cryptocurrency sites began to cover the story. It wasn’t until Banks released a statement on X that the truth began circulating.

However, an even darker element of the falsehood came to light as the truth became known.

The allegations were used to promote a competing meme coin that, ultimately, ended up being a rug pull. As a now-sticked comment on the original Reddit post highlights, many comments were deleted for shilling and spam. Not only did the original CHILLGUY token lose significant value, but investors in the competing token also lost significantly.

However, the warning signs were always there. This was a completely preventable hoak. Instead, it’s an example of people believing what they want to believe.

Why the Hoax Was Effective

To be clear, this hoax never should have worked. There were warning signs from the very first posting.

First, the facts were unclear. The original photo was heavily cropped, omitting any information about the magazine itself. Second, it was claimed to be from Thailand despite featuring Vietnamese characters (easily testable using automatic translation tools). Finally, it was unclear how old the image was.

There was plenty of reason to be suspicious of the allegations from the start. However, many did not treat it critically.

The reason, most likely, is because the CHILLGUY memecoin supporters already dislike Banks. His move to copyright the character and effort to protect his creation created a massive backlash from the crypto community. This story fits their preconceived notions of Banks and would further justify their use of the meme without the creator’s permission.

Because of this, crypto news sites were among the first to jump on the allegations. Though most have since updated their posts, it helped lend credibility to the claims. In the fast-moving world of crypto, others had plenty of time to exploit the opportunity.

To be clear, this isn’t unique to crypto. When others have a disposition to dislike someone, whether for political, personal, or other reasons, allegations against them often are believed unchecked. This includes plagiarism allegations.

Crypto is just unusually vulnerable to others exploiting that kind of misinformation.

Bottom Line

Right now, two things are clear. First, Banks did not plagiarize Chill Guy from either a Thai or Vietnamese magazine. Second, that the hoax did real damage to some people.

What is less clear is whether this was intentional or not. Did Kaito8008 perpetuate this knowingly, or did they believe in what they were saying? There’s no way to know for certain.

It’s entirely possible that Kaito8008 made a mistake and posted the image. Others were just opportunistic and capitalized on the situation. However, given the false information, the deliberate cropping of the cover, and what followed the original posting, I find that difficult to believe.

If it was accidental, it was still incredibly reckless. At best, there was an extreme disregard for the truth.

Banks, for his part, seems to be a pretty chill guy about the situation. After posting his explanation, he clarified that he was not mad at the magazine for the usage. He says he doesn’t hold any ill will toward them and don’t want others to use it to harass the magazine.

In the end, this is another example of someone making bad-faith plagiarism allegations and others, predisposed to disliking the subject, believing the accusations without any examination.

The only difference is that, with most politically/socially motivated plagiarism allegations, there is at least some nuance or room for discussion. Here, the allegations are objectively false. There is no nuance. The allegations are and always were untrue.

Hopefully, others can learn from this story and remember to check their own biases. Scammers don’t prey on the intellect of others. They prey on emotions.