A TMU Freshman is challenging an established burger chain over memes.

Brett Roeloffs worked at In-N-Out before beginning school this Fall.

The meme connoisseur began in April 2018 when he was hired immediately following the interview.

“I liked it a lot,” Roeloffs says. “I was there today, and I saw all my old coworkers and friends. It was fun.”

Roeloffs began a meme page for In-N-Out associates nearly a year into working there.

“I was in my Spanish III class, and I decided to open a meme account called associate memes. The girl next to me in class was the first follower,” Roeloffs says.

According to the influencer, it was slow at first, but within the first couple of months, he was getting hundreds of followers a day.

“It’s kind of cool walking into an In-N-Out knowing one in three associates inside follow my account,” Roeloffs says.

In-N-Out has about 28,000 employees nationwide. He left Instagram with a little over 9,000 followers.

“Brett is famous for many things, but memes are his thing,” Caleb Phillips, a junior business major, says. “I think the reason for Brett’s rapid success comes from the speed and relatability with which he produces content.”

According to the In-N-Out policy, making content related to In-N-Out Burger, anything with the logo or store associates is against company policy.

It states, “In-N-Out Burger, in its sole discretion, will determine whether a particular blog or social media posting violates company policy.”

Roeloffs was continuing his daily work routine with no suspicions from anyone. He didn’t tell anyone about the page but may have hinted at it.

“Someone snitched on me. I think it was one of the lower-level managers that I was friends with. I knew if someone found out I’d get fired,” Roeloffs continues. “So, I got a call from the divisional manager, who oversees about 30 stores in the area, to set up a Starbucks meeting with me.”

Roeloffs showed up to Starbucks in high-top Nike blazers, a hoodie and some Lulu Lemon joggers.

“I wasn’t there to impress anyone with my looks—I mean, I own a meme account. He complimented my blazers though,” Roeloffs says.

His divisional manager offered to pay for the coffee but Roeloffs declined. After discussing the recent Travis Scott shoe that dropped, they began the real conversation.

Roeloffs continues, “We made small talk before he introduced the topic of me being the sole proprietor of the meme page he hated.”

The divisional manager claimed Roeloffs was posting vulgar things on the private page. The post was a photo of a tomato on the kitchen floor, and the manager expressed that it gave the company bad publicity.

“Memes pack a powerful punch. They communicate messages that evoke emotions from the reader,” Professor Frields, a professor for a social media and communication course, says. “Memes are satirical, and that makes them funny to some but harmful to others. They are dangerous because they only tell partial truths or give one perspective. Either we laugh and agree with them, or we disagree and become upset by them.”

According to Roeloffs, his purpose for the account was to build a community and bond between employees at the fast-food chain.

“The meeting was pretty unproductive because I kindly rejected his pleas to have me shut the account down,” Roeloffs says.

After reaching a position of level four associate, the divisional manager suspended his job for two weeks. Roeloffs received a call during orientation that if he didn’t delete the account, he’d be fired.

He posted expressing the account was at its end and received many DM’s concerning how he built the community and relationship between employees.

One message says, “I just wanted to tell you that when I matched with my girlfriend on a dating site, the first thing we talked about was your meme page. You’ll always be a legend to every In-N-Out associate.”

Another saying, “Thanks for all the laughs and making us relate to one another.”

According to the National Labor Relations Board, the National Labor Relations Act was passed in 2010 to protect employees. This protection also includes work-related conversations that happen on social media.

Unfortunately, a meme page does not constitute a work-related conversation, so Roeloffs could not look to them for help.

“I would really like the page to continue being a place where associates can laugh at themselves and with each other over relatable work experiences.” Roeloffs continues, “It’s been such a fun community in the past, and it continues to make me smile every day.”

Roeloffs is currently pursuing action with In-N-Out and will provide updates.