Origin of a meme

January 13, 2004 3:11 PM

What is the origin of the

1. Do one thing
2. Do another thing
3. ??????
4. Profit!

meme?
posted by jpoulos to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Here.
posted by kickingtheground at 3:14 PM on January 13, 2004

Yup..SouthPark--although they stole it from somewhere else originally. Maybe from somewhere like this? or an infomercial?
posted by amberglow at 3:50 PM on January 13, 2004

The Metafilter Wiki has an article listing In Jokes which includes the "Profit!" joke and some other potentially befuddling memes, often with earliest-known-sighting links.
posted by Aaorn at 3:57 PM on January 13, 2004

I've always had a vague recollection of a 'Far Side' with a somewhat similar premise. Damned if I can't be any more specific than this, however...
posted by mathis23 at 5:17 PM on January 13, 2004

I just figured it was a rip on the business plans of dot com companies back then, where they seemed to never bother figuring anything out beyond the initial premise of their business.
posted by Space Coyote at 8:30 PM on January 13, 2004

mathis23, there was a Far Side cartoon that involved car key gnomes.
posted by Cyrano at 6:55 AM on January 14, 2004