The 'Don't Judge' Phrase Shortening Meme

Progression of the phrase 'Don't judge a book by its cover' shortening to 'Don't' with corresponding angry pitchfork mobs reacting to each iteration

A 4-panel meme where each panel is split into left and right sections. The left sections feature a simple stick figure standing on the edge of a cliff with progressively shorter text bubbles: initially 'Don't judge a book by it's cover', then 'Don't judge a book', followed by 'Don't judge', and finally 'Don't'. The right sections show identical angry mobs of stick figures holding pitchforks and torches, each labeled with different groups: 'Book cover artists', 'Book critics', 'Judges', and 'Nike'. The humor stems from the absurdity of shortening the original phrase to the point where it elicits an angry reaction from an unrelated brand (Nike), playing on the contrast between the shrinking statement and the consistently hostile mob response.

This meme is sourced from 9Gag, a user-generated content platform focused on memes and humor. It appears to be a remix of the popular 'pitchfork mob' reaction meme template, where a character's statement triggers an angry mob response. The creator likely used image editing software (such as Photoshop or a mobile meme editor) to modify the text bubbles and mob labels, adapting the template to create a wordplay-focused joke. The watermark 'imgflip.com' in the bottom left corner indicates the meme may have been created or hosted using Imgflip, a common meme creation tool.