“Friendship ended with Mudasir”: The viral meme that inspired countless iconic remakes, sold for nearly $70,000.
Friendship ended indeed. On September 10 2015, Mudasir Ismail Ahmed reported a Facebook pic from his then-best friend, Raza Asif Raza.
However, Mudasir’s reporting led to him becoming the star of a viral meme, created by a none other than a pissed-off Raza.
Using some simple photoshop skills, Raza created a pic to announce that his friendship with Mudasir had ended, and that he had been quickly replaced by Salman.
Mudasir was a good friend until 10 September he report my pic on facebook and now he is alone and I have so many friends
Because I was right— Rana Asif Raza (@Asif_Raza_Rana) September 17, 2015
Living is peace is the best one can ever dream for and after leaving selfish friend I am living in peace
— Rana Asif Raza (@Asif_Raza_Rana) September 17, 2015
Salman told me the real definition of Friendship
— Rana Asif Raza (@Asif_Raza_Rana) September 17, 2015
The pic began circulating Facebook, and quickly gained upwards of 10,000 likes.
Raza, who lives in Pakistani city Gujranwala, quickly created a Facebook fan group for himself named “Prince Asif Raza Rana”. It accumulated more than 4,000 members by the end of 2016.
In October 2015, Raza created a post to let his fans know that his friendship with Mudasir had been rekindled.
Gawker published an article on the news soon after, and included a heartwarming statement from Raza:
“I am friend to all world who would be friend to me. I left friendship with Mudasir because of his attitude and arrogant but Asif Raza Rana is NEVER proudy or attitude to forgive old friend Mudasir“.
Yesterday, the meme was auctioned off as an NFT, and was sold for a price of 20 Ethereums ($69,731 AUD). The sale was conducted by Pakistan-based startup, Alter.
Speaking with VICE, Raza said:
“I would never have known that [the post] would go so viral and that it would spread all over the world. So many news agencies interviewed us. We’ve even had a cartoon made about us…The people of Poland love it so much. I received Polish visa offers from two or three people. They even wrote my name on the walls there.”
On Sunday, Raza shared a photo with Mudasir to show that their friendship is still going strong.
