--- title: Sean Spicer Pepsi United Airlines Meme: Chris Melberger Q&A description: Meet the man who trolled Sean Spicer, Pepsi and United Airlines in one meme canonical: https://time.com/4737034/sean-spicer-united-airlines-pepsi-meme-2/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-12T20:33:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:42:45.585Z og:title: Meet the Man Behind the Spicer, Pepsi and United Airlines Meme og:description: We talked to the Sparta, N.J.-based comedian about his trolling with Photoshop og:url: https://time.com/4737034/sean-spicer-united-airlines-pepsi-meme-2/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4dd1181bd924c47b/6988c25ca988ca7aa06bbae7/sean-spicer-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: sean-spicer-transcript og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the Man Behind the Spicer, Pepsi and United Airlines Meme twitter:description: We talked to the Sparta, N.J.-based comedian about his trolling with Photoshop twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4dd1181bd924c47b/6988c25ca988ca7aa06bbae7/sean-spicer-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet the Comedian Who Trolled Sean Spicer, United Airlines and Pepsi in 1 Meme > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=787d3a8d-0daa-481a-b311-d53b1c7ff05e&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Apr 12, 2017 8:33 PM UTC  White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes reporters' questions during the daily press briefing at the White House March 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes reporters' questions during the daily press briefing at the White House March 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla—2017 Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Apr 12, 2017 8:33 PM UTC The second [Chris Melberger](https://www.youtube.com/user/ChrisMelberger), 26, learned why White House press secretary Sean Spicer was trending on Twitter Tuesday evening, he instantly opened Photoshop and started [making a meme](http://time.com/4736157/sean-spicer-united-airlines-pepsi-meme/) that would combine [three recent controversies](http://time.com/4726500/pepsi-ad-kendall-jenner/). Spicer’s [incorrect comments about Hitler](http://time.com/4735650/sean-spicer-sheldon-adelson-holocaust/) during a press briefing Tuesday — for which Spicer has since apologized — had caused an outcry. In 15 minutes, the Sparta, N.J.-based comedian edited Spicer’s face onto the body of a United Airlines pilot, and Pepsi’s logo onto a stock image of a soda can, using the magic wand and erase tools. He wanted it to be realistic enough, but above all, quick. > [](https://twitter.com/chrismelberger/status/851928818017239041) “It was like every day was a PR nightmare,” he tells TIME. “He \[Spicer\] was having one of his rougher weeks, and with Pepsi and United’s really big flubs, I wanted to combine all three into this manifestation of three trending topics on Twitter’s mind in human form.” Melberger says he thought using Spicer’s face would make the image skyrocket. “You can’t really put a face on United, and you can’t put a face on Pepsi because people don’t really want to see a Kardashian or a Jenner in there,” he says. “He’s so recognizable that I knew he was the one who would really take off.” Melberger says his girlfriend took one look and said, “that’s funny.” As many as 21,000 people who liked the image — including many journalists — agreed, and the internet was quick to chime in. A self-described liberal who got his viral comedy start on Vine, Melberger tackled politics before, notably in his series, [If Donald Trump Had YouTube](https://twitter.com/chrismelberger/status/825017942127603712?lang=en). The Marist graduate, who studied digital media, says people are already asking for more memes, and he’s open to a series. But the events may not align. “I don’t know if we’ll ever have this much of a crazy week,” Melberger says. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4737034/sean-spicer-united-airlines-pepsi-meme-2/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4737034/sean-spicer-united-airlines-pepsi-meme-2/"},"headline":"Meet the Comedian Who Trolled Sean Spicer, United Airlines and Pepsi in 1 Meme","datePublished":"2017-04-12T20:33:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:42:45.585Z","description":"In 15 minutes, the Sparta, N.J.-based comedian edited Spicer’s face onto the body of a United Airlines pilot, and Pepsi’s logo onto a stock image of a soda can","url":"https://time.com/4737034/sean-spicer-united-airlines-pepsi-meme-2/","keywords":["Newsfeed","politics","viral","memes","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4dd1181bd924c47b/6988c25ca988ca7aa06bbae7/sean-spicer-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4dd1181bd924c47b/6988c25ca988ca7aa06bbae7/sean-spicer-transcript.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"sean-spicer-transcript","caption":"White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes reporters' questions during the daily press briefing at the White House March 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. 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