LOOK Is your brand trying to #BeLikeBill?

For better or for worse, the Internet has spoken again, this time advocating for Bill and his habits.In true internet passive aggressive form and format, Bill lives in a meme: He is a strawman drawing dispensing pocket style “advice” on how to behave on social media and sometimes in real life.Please don't do it for likes #BelikeBill pic.twitter.com/aanqUQg3wU— Be like Bill (@belikebilI) January 8, 2016Time to drop a bomb. Be like Bill. Posted by Be like Bill on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 The Be Like Bill Facebook page was created by a self-professed "internet entrepreneur," Eugeniu Croitoru, and a colleague, Debabrata Nath. Croitoru told the BBC that the character “can be anyone who is smart and has common sense and doesn’t do annoying things.”Like it or not, its Facebook page has garnered over 1.3 million likes. Unsurprisingly, some brands have jumped on board to use Bill as an unofficial spokesperson for their marketing messages:Be like Bill and get up to 4GB data FREE when you sign up for Easy Mobile: https://t.co/z5DViD5cF9 #belikebill pic.twitter.com/ER7ksGB3X9 — Singtel (@Singtel) January 15, 2016#BeLikeBillPosted by Sengkang Neighbourhood Police Centre on Wednesday, January 13, 2016#BeLikeBill and consider making a CPF nomination to ensure that your CPF savings are distributed to your intended beneficiaries in the event of your demise. Find out more at ayr.sg/CPFnominationPosted by CPF Board on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 Malaysia-based TheLorry has adopted the Bill format and culturally assimilated him into a Zul, arguably a Malaysian version of an average Joe or Bill as we know it:Jadilah seperti Zul, dia bijak#TheLorryPosted by TheLorry.com on Friday, January 15, 2016 Bill has since transformed into more than just an innocuous strawman: he now embeds marketing messages within the meme.  Still, is it always a good idea to pounce on viral content?Commenting on brands' decision to jump on the Bill bandwagon, Jeffrey Lim, general manager of Carbon Interactive, said: "We are already bombarded by thousands of sales and advertising messages everyday, everywhere as it is. Such messages are also creeping onto social media more and more with brands hiding agendas behind each post. Personally, I believe the online audiences crave for authenticity and genuinety - Being Yourself and Be Yourself. That’s why it’s going viral."Lim said that marketers can make use of this opportunity to show the human and genuine side of the brand's beliefs.Preetham Venkky, head of digital, KRDS Singapore agreed with Lim's views. He laid out three factors that has made the meme an online success thus far: 1. Basic Internet meme structure - The visuals are so basic and crass that they are good​. They follow the now popular internet meme structure with Impact Font style and childish line-drawings.2. Mocks the Internet - Most internet users are fed-up of unsavoury baseless discussions on comments. They are fed-up of trolls. They are fed-up of another silly selfie. They are fed-up with another stupid status message from their friend. BeLikeBill plays into this well and uses humour to make a point. Mocking the internet itself can make content go viral.3. Reminds you of your childhood - Remember how your parents would compare you to your classmates and/or neighbours kids? The meme follows the same structure, making it that much more hard-hitting."​Experimental brands which don't mind being a little tongue-in-cheek can definitely benefit from the meme structure," Venkky said.Meanwhile, the combination of logical leaps and deadpan humour that has inspired this cult-like Be like Bill movement is reminiscent of a Cannes favourite from DirecTV. The campaign was created by Grey New York.See it for yourself:https://youtu.be/NZ80SVOHKoo