Two Guys on a Bus Meme: Origin and Meaning

MemeMeet Editorial2026-09-0911 min read

Cartoon of two passengers on a bus: one looks sadly at a dark rock wall while the other smiles at a bright mountain landscape. — Featured image published with this MemeMeet Journal story.

A signed 2013 cartoon inspired by Genildo Ronchi’s commute became an international meme eight years later, then evolved through community reversals and spinoffs.

A bus winds along a mountain road. On one side, a passenger slumps beside a wall of dark rock. Across the aisle, another smiles into an open view of green hills and a glowing sky. They are riding in the same vehicle, in the same direction, yet their windows seem to contain different worlds.

That contrast made “Two Guys on a Bus” instantly readable when it swept through English-language social media in late 2021. Add one label above the unhappy passenger and another above the happy passenger, and the drawing becomes a compact argument: one habit versus another, one interpretation versus another, or one kind of person versus their opposite. The joke may concern work, fandom, food, social anxiety or a tiny everyday pleasure, but the visual grammar remains stable.

The meme did not begin as an anonymous template. It began as a signed motivational cartoon by Brazilian illustrator Genildo Ronchi. Its journey from a personal lesson about where to look, through years of circulation in Brazil, to an international remix format is also a lesson in how internet communities transform art—and how easily attribution can disappear along the way.

The view that inspired the drawing

Ronchi published the cartoon on his own site on August 24, 2013, under the Portuguese title “As vezes só depende de nós,” roughly “Sometimes it just depends on us.” His post says that life involves choices, including the pursuit of happiness. The image itself carries the uppercase line “ESCOLHA O LADO FELIZ DA VIDA!”—“Choose the happy side of life!”—and his signature appears at the lower right.[1]

The scene grew from Ronchi’s commute rather than from an abstract exercise in positive thinking. In a later interview reported by Folha de S.Paulo, he described passing an unpleasant vacant lot filled with vegetation, dirt and rubbish. He eventually noticed that looking the other way revealed the sunset; he went home and made the cartoon. Ronchi told the paper that the original was created on August 24, his birthday.[2] In another interview, reported by A Gazeta, he explained the bus as a vehicle for life and the two views as a choice between seeking happiness and remaining trapped in inner suffering.[9]

That backstory matters because the drawing’s simplicity can otherwise look like a claim that every hardship is solved by cheerful thinking. Ronchi later told Folha that the work was not intended to belittle suffering or deny the legitimacy of sadness. The newspaper also reported that he deliberately avoided fixing the passengers to a specific gender or region.[2] “Two Guys on a Bus” is the name internet users gave the format; “two passengers” is closer to what the drawing itself requires.

From motivational cartoon to meme template

The original post and the meme boom are separated by eight years. Correio reported that 9GAG shared the image in 2014, after which versions began to circulate.[7] By August 2019, a documented Brazilian Twitter edit had replaced the broad moral with a cigarette comparison: “doesn’t smoke cigarettes” on the scenic side and “smokes cigarettes” on the rocky side. Know Your Meme records that post as an early example of the image being used as an exploitable template, while The Mary Sue independently notes that Brazilian users were already remixing it before the later English-language wave.[4][5]

The decisive shift was not simply translation. Meme makers discovered that Ronchi’s composition could carry almost any binary comparison. The original tells viewers which outlook is preferable. The meme format lets the captioner decide what counts as preferable—and that decision can be wholesome, self-deprecating, absurd or knowingly irresponsible.

In November 2021, a post to Reddit’s r/me_irl paired the unhappy side with not using the bathroom before leaving home and the happy side with doing so. Know Your Meme dates the post to November 15, while Junkee’s archived report says November 16; the one-day difference may reflect display timezone, so it is safer to describe it as a November 15–16 post rather than force a false precision.[4][6] The edit helped establish the English wording pattern: two short labels, one for each passenger, with the allegedly better choice on the bright side.

Late that month, the template spread across Twitter and other platforms. Contemporary coverage from UOL, A Gazeta and The Mary Sue documented versions in multiple languages and contexts.[3][5][9] This was not the birth of the artwork or even its first meme use. It was the moment an older Brazilian cartoon became a widely shared international caption format.

How the format works

“Two Guys on a Bus” is an image macro and an exploitable: users keep the underlying composition while replacing or adding labels. Its power comes from four linked contrasts.

First is the scenery: stone wall versus sunlit landscape. Second is posture: one passenger folds inward while the other leans toward the window. Third is color: greys and purples collect on the unhappy side, while orange, yellow and green brighten the opposite side. Fourth is symmetry: the figures share one bus, so the caption compares responses within a common situation rather than unrelated before-and-after scenes.

Most versions use one of three structures. A choice comparison contrasts doing something with not doing it. A perspective comparison gives two readings of the same event. An identity comparison places rival tastes, fandoms, jobs or habits on opposite sides. The labels can endorse the obvious sunny option, reverse the moral by placing a questionable pleasure on the happy side, or collapse the distinction by revealing that both passengers represent the same person at different moments.

Because the picture already supplies emotional direction, captions can be extremely short. Readers do not need a setup and punchline in separate panels; they scan from gloom to delight and infer the joke. That low caption burden also makes the template easy to translate and adapt to niche communities.

Mutations: reversal, self-portrait and the phone edit

The most common mutation preserves the image and changes only the labels. Yet even this minimal edit can alter the original message. Some versions keep the motivational logic: preparation, generosity or a small comfort receives the scenic seat. Others make the happy passenger celebrate procrastination, indulgence or an inside joke. The sunny landscape then signals felt pleasure, not moral approval.

A second mutation turns the binary into a self-portrait. Both labels describe the same person under different conditions: before and after opening an inbox, weekday and weekend, expectation and experience. This softens the format’s judgment. Instead of dividing the world into optimists and pessimists, it admits that one person can occupy both seats.

A third mutation edits the drawing itself. In “Happy Guy on a Bus Showing Sad Guy His Phone,” the smiling passenger moves beside the unhappy passenger and presents a phone screen whose content can be replaced. Know Your Meme traces an early template post to December 12, 2021, while cautioning that the poster may not have created it; the reference site records a renewed wave of use in early 2025.[8] This spinoff changes the action from comparison to intervention: one passenger tries to cheer, shock or inform the other.

Other transformations include redraws, animations and musical interpretations. UOL and Correio both embedded Kevin Temmer’s November 26, 2021 “Two Guys on a Bus Meme (The Musical),” evidence that participation quickly moved beyond captioning a still image.[3][7] These remakes work because the core scene remains recognizable even when medium, style or wording changes.

A meme built by communities

The template’s history crosses several kinds of community labor. Ronchi supplied the authored image and its initial message. Brazilian users translated, reposted and converted it into a comparison template. Reddit users helped an English-captioned version travel. Twitter users, fandoms and brand accounts localized the joke further. Artists then redrew or animated the scene, while reference communities documented examples and attempted to reconstruct dates.

This chain is creative, but it is not frictionless. UOL reported Ronchi’s concern that some edits removed his lower-right signature; he said circulation benefited his work but that keeping the signature was important.[3] Folha likewise reported that missing signatures caused discomfort and noted that commercial users had contacted him for authorization.[2] A shareable template can look ownerless after enough crops and reposts, even when the source is a living artist’s clearly signed work.

For editorial history, the recognizable original can be shown with attribution and a link back to Ronchi’s post under MemeMeet’s stated editorial permission. That permission does not clear merchandise. Printing the composition, characters or a close redraw on products would require a separate rights review and likely direct permission from the creator. A meme’s availability online is not evidence of a commercial license.

What the meme means

At its most direct, “Two Guys on a Bus” visualizes framing: attention changes how a shared situation feels. The bus keeps moving, and neither passenger controls the road, but each window selects a different part of the surroundings. That is why the image works for optimism and pessimism without needing those words.

Internet remixing complicates that moral. The captions often acknowledge that happiness is not always noble or rational. A snack, an avoided task, a fandom obsession or a private ritual can occupy the beautiful side. The joke comes from treating a small preference with the visual seriousness of a life philosophy.

The format also invites criticism of oversimplified positivity. Junkee observed that the cartoon presents a stark view of happiness and depression that cannot account for every factor shaping a person’s circumstances or mood.[6] Ronchi’s own later clarification—that the work was not meant to invalidate suffering—helps keep interpretation anchored.[2] The meme lasts because it can carry both the motivational reading and the parody of that reading.

Its cultural value therefore lies in tension. It is sincere art and ironic template, local Brazilian cartoon and multilingual internet object, binary comparison and confession that the same person can feel both ways. Every new caption asks the same visual question—what is on each side of the bus?—while letting communities supply endlessly different answers.

Concise timeline

August 24, 2013: Genildo Ronchi publishes “As vezes só depende de nós” on his website with the message “Choose the happy side of life!”[1]
2014: Correio reports that 9GAG reposted the cartoon; circulation and adaptations followed.[7]
August 14, 2019: A documented Brazilian Twitter edit uses the image for a smoking/non-smoking comparison.[4][5]
November 15–16, 2021: An English-captioned r/me_irl post helps establish the format’s late-2021 English-language wave; sources differ by one day.[4][6]
Late November–December 2021: News outlets document multilingual remixes, musical adaptations and Ronchi’s response to the sudden attention.[2][3][9]
December 12, 2021: The earliest currently documented “showing his phone” template is posted to Reddit, although its original editor remains unconfirmed.[8]
Early 2025: The phone-showing spinoff receives a new burst of use across social platforms.[8]

The meme’s premise can be read in a second, but its history should not be flattened into a nameless template. It began with a specific artist, a specific commute and a signed drawing. The most faithful way to keep remixing it is also the simplest: preserve the credit, distinguish documented evidence from internet folklore, and remember that editorial sharing is not a commercial-use license.

Visible FAQ copy

Who created the Two Guys on a Bus meme image?

Brazilian illustrator and cartoonist Genildo Ronchi created the original artwork. He published it on his website on 24 August 2013 under the title “As vezes só depende de nós.”[1]

What did the original Two Guys on a Bus cartoon say?

The image says “ESCOLHA O LADO FELIZ DA VIDA!”, meaning “Choose the happy side of life.” Ronchi’s accompanying post describes happiness as something people must seek among life’s choices.[1]

Did the Two Guys on a Bus meme originate on Reddit?

No. The original cartoon appeared on Ronchi’s website in 2013, and a documented Brazilian Twitter edit used it as a comparison meme in 2019. A Reddit post on 15–16 November 2021 helped drive its later English-language spread.[1][4][6]

What does the Two Guys on a Bus meme mean?

It usually contrasts two choices, perspectives or identities within the same situation. The unhappy passenger faces a rock wall, while the happy passenger sees an open landscape, giving captioners an immediate visual shorthand for pessimism and optimism.

What is the meme where the happy bus passenger shows the sad passenger a phone?

It is a spinoff called “Happy Guy on a Bus Showing Sad Guy His Phone.” The earliest currently documented template post is dated 12 December 2021, but the reference source cautions that the poster may not have been the original editor.[8]

Sources

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