포브스가 선정한~

Origin

Forbes is an American business magazine known for its ranked lists — the world’s richest people, the most powerful figures. The meme borrows that authority intact and replaces only what follows with something absurd.

The whole point is picking a subject Forbes would never rank: ‘Forbes-selected best background music for falling asleep in a study room’, and so on. The humour is the gap between the name of a global business magazine and a triviality nobody would ever rank at all. It spread mainly through YouTube video titles and forum post titles.

Spread

The most entertaining turn was Forbes Korea’s response. When the joke appeared in a YouTube video title, an administrator of Forbes Korea left a comment on it stating that they had selected no such thing.

Afterwards, however, Forbes Korea began attaching the phrase ‘Forbes-selected’ to the titles of its own YouTube videos. The party whose name was being borrowed recognised the joke and treated it as brand exposure.

Usage

• Dressing a trivial or ridiculous list in borrowed authority
• Stating a personal preference as though it were a ranking
• Deliberately attaching false credentials to an unsupported claim

It assumes the listener knows perfectly well that Forbes selected nothing. It is not an attempt to deceive but a joke that borrows only the form of authority, which is why the more trivial the subject, the better it works.

Sources

• Namuwiki, ‘Forbes (company)’ — the nature of the joke; the Forbes Korea administrator’s comment; how Forbes Korea came to use the phrase on its own videos
• Careet, ‘Forbes-selected’ — how the phrase is used, with examples