On July 6, 2019, four friends in their
mid-twenties from Birmingham, England, met up for a night on the town.
Two of them — Alex Lacey and Jamie Phillips — had known each other since
high school. Jamie and Kevin Rooney met through work, and the fourth —
tattoo artist Connor Humpage — got to know them through their shared
love of the gym. As they made their way out, they asked a passerby to
take a photo of them in their skinny jeans. The next day, Kevin uploaded
the photo to social media, where it was liked by their friends and then
forgotten about. The four never imagined what was about to happen, or
how big of an impact that innocent photo would have on their lives. A
few months later, it had gone viral on Facebook, and before long memes
were popping up all over the place. First they were mocked for their
fashion sense, but then things took a darker turn. They were unfairly
deemed to be shallow and self-absorbed. In a wise move, the four came
out in public to show that they were decent men who knew how to laugh at
themselves. They did a tour, appearing in nightclubs, and signed
commercial deals with fast-food chains and beverage companies. A statue
of them was even erected outside the All Bar One, where it all began.
Nearly 5 years later, the men posed again for a photograph with their
updated looks — now sporting baggy jeans and cargo pants, the trendy
thing today. The one thing they learned is that it pays — literally — to
be a good sport.
