What In The World Does 'Cocky Want Boing Boing' Mean? The Dan Hentschel Meme Inspiring Major Fan Art Explained

Dan Hentschel is possibly the greatest satirist of our generation, and he's been having a generational run online every since his untimely ban from TikTok. After all, Hentschel is not one to let minor road bumps (like his biggest social media profile getting nuked) stop him from being as erratic and insane as ever.

Toward the start of April, Hentschel unleashed yet another chaotic character into the internet ether, posting an image of himself face tuned to look totally bald, set against a pristine beach ocean. The uncharacteristically wholesome image came with a not-so-wolesome caption. Hentschel wrote, At the beach – Where the hoes at? Cocky want boing boing! and the rest was history.

Here's a recap of the redraw trend the single post launched on Twitter, as well as the follow-up message from Hentschel where he laments about getting fired from his job due to all the kerfuffle surrounding "Cocky Want Boing Boing."

What Is The Origin Of 'Cocky Want Boing Boing'?

Dan Hentschel posted the image of his bald alter-ego all by himself on April 10th, 2024, gathering over 35 million views and 100,000 likes in just a few weeks.

It's not clear what exactly it was about this image that drew in some people, and in other cases repelled them. Perhaps it's Hentschel's smirk or his lack of eyebrows, but most likely it was his brazen request for "boing boing" that did people it.

What Did People Think Of 'Cocky Want Boing Boing'?

Some initial reposts of the tweet just noted the splendor of the phrase "cocky want boing boing," while another user joked about Hentschel's striking resemblance to a Harkonen warrior from the then-recent film Dune Part Two.

But the meme really started taking off when people made crude redraws of Hentschel, turning him into the Spot from the Spiderverse movies, or a character from Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning.

What Are Some More 'Cocky Want Boing Boing' Redraws?

What Was The Aftermath Of 'Cocky Want Boing Boing'?

Later in April, Hentschel posted an image of him, still bald, leaving a Target while wearing a Target shirt. He wrote, "I’m glad you guys liked 'cocky want boing boing' cause it got me fired," and showed his hand clutching a black and white print out of his own tweet, as though he was just handed a copy by a bewildered HR lady right before she fired him.

But Hentschel's fans were undeterred by this devastating news; they only saw his new post as more meme redraw fodder. The latest iteration of the meme now shows Hentschel as a former Target employee and Hentschel as pictured in a print out both being edited to look like various characters.

For the full history of "cocky want boing boing," be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.