The True Origin of 'What Are Those?': Fact-Checking the History Behind the Viral Roast

On a sunlit afternoon in June 2015, outside a convenience store in Berkeley, California, a man pulled out a smartphone and aimed its lens at an arresting officer's feet. What followed was six seconds of unscripted comedic timing: a slow pan downward, a dramatic vocal wind-up, and an explosive, theatrical howl targeting the officer's clunky, matte-black utility shoes. Within forty-eight hours, the phrase entered the digital lexicon, transforming into an unstoppable auditory weapon that redefined sneaker culture and online roast comedy for a generation.

A decade later, digital folklore has warped the history of the clip. Many online users mistakenly attribute the soundbite to scripted sketch comedy, a basketball camp confrontation, or commercial sneaker marketing campaigns. In reality, tracking internet folklore back to primary records demands the same scrutiny investigative watchdogs bring to viral misattributions, such as those documented in a classic FactCheck.org Report. Separating the myth from the reality reveals a bittersweet narrative of viral fame, street-level humor, and the unresolved economics of creator compensation.

📌 Key Takeaways:

• The True Origin: Berkeley resident Brandon Moore, known online as "Young Busco," filmed the original six-second video on Vine on June 14, 2015, roasting an arresting police officer's unbranded work shoes.
• The Mainstream Migration: The viral audio soundbite rapidly moved from micro-video loops into global sports culture and Hollywood, famously appearing in a Michael Jordan youth camp roast and Marvel's 2018 film Black Panther.
• The Creator Deficit: Despite the phrase generating millions in corporate and entertainment value, Moore received virtually zero direct monetization before his death in November 2018 at age 31.

The Berkeley Arrest That Spawned an Internet Shorthand

The original clip did not happen at a sneaker convention or an athletic showcase. It unfolded during a tense street interaction. Brandon Moore, an East Bay comedian who uploaded short clips under the handle "Young Busco," observed local law enforcement carrying out an arrest. Rather than escalating hostilities, Moore chose an age-old social tool: the verbal roast.

Approaching the scene with his phone camera lowered, Moore asked with faux-politeness, "Excuse me, officer, I have one question for you." As the officer turned, Moore snapped the lens down to the pavement, zooming in on standard-issue, orthotic-style law enforcement oxfords. Then came the guttural, melodic roar: "What are thooooose?!" The police officer footwear roast caught fire because it weaponized a fundamental rule of street style: no matter your authority or uniform, questionable shoes leave you vulnerable to immediate public mockery.

The clip debuted on Vine on June 14, 2015. It accumulated over 30 million loops within weeks. Viewers did not just rewatch it; they copied the cadence. The joke relied heavily on Moore's vocal modulation, beginning with an innocent, formal inquiry before sliding into an octave-shattering punchline that demanded answers from the soles up.

Debunking the False Origin Myths Behind the Phrase

As the video crossed platforms into Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, its provenance fragmented. Three persistent myths emerged, clouding the actual internet meme history.

The earliest myth claimed the phrase originated during an NBA game, allegedly shouted by an audience member at a referee wearing generic running shoes. Archive searches prove this chronology backwards; court-side fans were merely quoting Moore's clip after it went viral. A second misconception suggested the meme was a planned marketing stunt created by an independent sneaker boutique looking to spark footwear debates. Moore himself repeatedly debunked this theory in local radio appearances, explaining that the scene was entirely spontaneous.

The most pervasive myth credited the trend to a viral summer camp exchange involving NBA icon Michael Jordan. In August 2015, two months after Moore's initial upload, a bold teenager at the Michael Jordan Flight School basketball camp in Santa Barbara pointed at Jordan's feet and shouted the catchphrase. Jordan, wearing an unreleased pair of low-top Air Jordan XX9 sneakers, looked down in genuine confusion, asking the crowd, "What are those? These are XX9 Lows." While that video generated millions of views across sports blogs, it was an echo, not the genesis.

From Vine Loops to Marvel Studios: Tracking the Catchphrase

Between 2015 and 2018, the catchphrase evolved from local slang into global corporate shorthand. Its trajectory tracks the lifecycle of 2010s viral culture: early organic adoption on Vine, appropriation by mainstream athletics, and final canonization by Hollywood screenwriters.

The peak of its cultural infiltration arrived in February 2018 with Marvel's Black Panther. In a laboratory scene, Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright) looks down at King T'Challa's (Chadwick Boseman) traditional open-toed sandals and unleashes Moore's exact phrasing: "What are those?!" The line drew massive theater laughs worldwide, but it also sparked critical discussions about meme longevity. Film critics pointed out that while the joke felt timely when director Ryan Coogler shot the scene in early 2017, its inclusion in a billion-dollar blockbuster illustrated how corporate media often harvests organic street slang right as internet subcultures move past it.

The Economics of Going Viral Without Direct Royalties

The success of the phrase exposed an ongoing structural inequity in digital entertainment. Brandon Moore created intellectual property that lived rent-free inside global consciousness, yet he saw almost none of the financial spoils. Vine, owned by Twitter, offered no native ad-revenue sharing model for creators during its peak years. Unlike modern TikTok or YouTube partner ecosystems, viral success on Vine rarely translated directly into ad checks.

Moore faced legal hurdles and personal setbacks following his online notoriety. While athletic wear brands ran television commercials echoing the joke and merchandising outlets printed unauthorized t-shirts, Moore lacked the formal copyright protections and management infrastructure necessary to capture licensing fees. In interviews given between 2016 and 2017, Moore spoke openly about the frustration of hearing his own voice blasted across sports arenas and television networks while his personal financial reality remained virtually unchanged.

This dynamic illustrates a broader pattern across social media history. Black digital creators repeatedly engineer viral vocabulary, dances, and cadence formats that fuel platform engagement. Yet, without clear attribution frameworks or formal sound-licensing pipelines, external commercial entities regularly profit while the original innovators receive little more than ephemeral notoriety.

Brandon Moore’s Legacy and the Footwear Culture Shift

When news broke that Brandon Moore passed away in his sleep on November 25, 2018, leaving behind five children, sneaker communities paused to reflect on his contribution. Moore had achieved something rare: he created a permanent, universally recognized piece of auditory shorthand.

Before Moore's 2015 clip, critiquing someone's choice of sneakers, known in urban slang as "checking" or "busting", required situational insults and back-and-forth banter. Moore compressed that entire social ritual into three words. He altered the way sneaker collectors, high school students, and casual shoppers looked down at feet in public spaces. The phrase made everyone hyper-aware of their footwear silhouette, turning obscure shoe designs into immediate comedic liability.

His creation remains embedded in internet archives alongside the greatest Vine artifacts of all time. It proved that a six-second video shot on a budget mobile phone could outlast multi-million-dollar marketing rollouts, shaping popular vernacular long after the platform hosting it shut its doors.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: Who originally created the 'What Are Those?' meme?
A1: The meme was created by Brandon Moore, an East Bay resident known online as "Young Busco." He recorded the six-second roast on Vine on June 14, 2015, while witnessing an arrest in Berkeley, California.

Q2: Did Michael Jordan invent or inspire the phrase?
A2: No. Michael Jordan was asked "What are those?" by a camper at his basketball camp in August 2015, roughly two months after Brandon Moore's video had already gone viral across the internet. Jordan was unfamiliar with the catchphrase when it was directed at him.

Q3: Why was the phrase featured in Marvel's Black Panther?
A3: Director Ryan Coogler, who grew up in Oakland, California, incorporated the line into the film's 2017 production as a nod to contemporary youth culture and Bay Area slang. Shuri says it to T'Challa in her laboratory when teasing his traditional footwear.

Q4: Did Brandon Moore earn money from the catchphrase?
A4: Moore received very little financial compensation. Vine did not offer a creator monetization program, and because the phrase was widespread slang rather than a trademarked commercial asset, external companies and creators used the line without paying licensing royalties.

The Lingering Lessons of the Six-Second Video Era

The journey of "What Are Those?" offers a case study in how modern language is manufactured, distributed, and detached from its originators. Brandon Moore captured raw street humor and turned an otherwise tense public interaction into pure comedic theater. The soundbite's survival, persisting across sports stadiums, gaming communities, and Hollywood cinema, underscores the unmatched punch of early short-form video.

Yet the story serves equally as a sobering reminder of digital media's extractive nature. The platforms and commercial brands that thrived off Moore's vocal inflection moved on, leaving his family to crowd-fund funeral expenses in late 2018. Remembering the true origin of the roast is more than just internet trivia; it is an act of cultural attribution for an East Bay creator who permanently reshaped how the world looks at sneakers.