The Best "They Changed The Hollywood Sign" Memes

In the wee hours of the morning on New Year's Day, Los Angeles' iconic Hollywood sign received a makeover by an ambitious prankster, changing it to read “Hollyweed." The sign was quickly restored, but the prank now lives on as a strange and glorious meme. It’s difficult to pick the best Hollywood sign memes out of the many that have flooded Twitter over the few days, but one thing is clear: if given the opportunity, the people of the internet will milk a good joke for all its worth. The odes to the message that started it all have run the gamut from sports, to music and from political statements to movie spoilers, showing that it's clear people have quite a lot to say — and what better way to get their messages across than in blazing letters over L.A., or at least a Photoshopped version of it?

This is by no means the first time vandals have changed this historic landmark. Since the Hollywood sign was first constructed in 1923, there have been five other times that the sign has been altered (not including changing it from the original ad campaign slogan “Hollywoodland”). This is, however, the first time that changing this symbol of the entertainment industry has captured the imagination of the Internet, immortalizing it as one of the first (and surely best) memes of the new year.

While this one may be the first real viral meme of 2017, however, Twitter users are already fed up with its many iterations. In an ironic twist, the backlash to the simple joke has made for even more memes based around the Hollyweed incident. But whether you love this trend or think it's jumped the shark, the New Year has certainly started off on an amusing foot, and we have one thing to thank for that. So let's celebrate 2017 with some of the best "They changed the Hollywood sign" memes that surely will go down in history: