Distracted Boyfriend

Three roles: the thing you have, you, and the thing tempting you.

The only three-role format most people can read instantly. Left is what you already have and should be loyal to; centre is you; right is the new thing you should not be looking at.

It has one property no other format shares: the girlfriend's expression. She is not merely present, she is visibly appalled. That means the left-hand label works best when it is something that would have a right to be offended — a language you already know, a partner, a project you promised to finish.

Label all three. Two-label versions are common and always weaker, because the middle figure is the one making the decision and leaving him unlabelled removes the person the joke is about.

Where the captions go

Common mistakes

• Leaving the boyfriend unlabelled, so nobody knows whose bad decision this is.
• Using it for a straight preference. It is about disloyalty, not choice — if nothing is being betrayed, use Drake.
• Long labels. Three simultaneous captions means each has to be readable at a glance.

Where it comes from

A 2015 stock photograph by Antonio Guillem, sold through iStock. It is a posed, licensed image rather than a candid one — which is why it is unusually crisp for a meme template.

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