Daily Struggle

Origin

The image is a two-panel comic drawn by animator Jake Clark, who posted it to his Tumblr on October 25, 2014. The top panel shows a gloved hand hovering between two red buttons; the bottom panel shows a man sweating profusely and dabbing his brow, paralyzed by the choice. In Clark’s original, the buttons were labeled ‘BE A DICK’ and ‘DON’T BE A DICK’ — the joke being that the ‘struggle’ is over a decision that should not be hard at all. Clark has said he drew inspiration from the older ‘Sweating Towel Guy’ illustration and from Hank Nova, a character in the video game TimeSplitters 2.

What it means / how it’s used

The comic became one of the internet’s most durable exploitable templates. Users relabel the two buttons to depict a dilemma, and the humor usually comes from the gap between the labels and the sweat. Classic variations include two genuinely tempting but conflicting options; two buttons that secretly say the same thing (mocking a false choice); or a trivially easy decision presented as agonizing. Because the sweating man visibly cannot just pick the obvious answer, the format is perfect for exposing hypocrisy, self-deception, or a group’s refusal to do the obvious right thing. The tone is self-aware and satirical, and the format reads instantly even with no caption experience.

How it spread

The comic’s breakout came on February 1, 2015, when Imgur user Robban39 reposted it under the title ‘Daily Struggle,’ a version that pulled well over a million views. Redditor AcerRubrum cross-posted it to r/funny, where it collected thousands of upvotes, and from there the blank template spread across meme generators. The format is now known interchangeably as ‘Daily Struggle’ or, more commonly in later years, simply ‘Two Buttons.’ It saw a major second wind in 2018-2019 as one of the most-used object-labeling formats on Reddit and Twitter, routinely landing in ‘best meme formats of the year’ roundups.

Notable examples & variations

• The original ‘BE A DICK / DON’T BE A DICK’ labeling.
• Versions where both buttons are identical, satirizing a fake dilemma.
• Edits that add a third or fourth button to escalate the joke.
• Political and fandom uses where the sweat reveals which choice someone will really make.

Legacy / cultural impact

‘Two Buttons’ endured where many 2010s exploitables faded because it captures a universal feeling: decision paralysis and the quiet hypocrisy of pretending a choice is hard. It has been endlessly parodied, including meta-versions where the two buttons themselves are impossible to read, and it remains a common shorthand in political and workplace humor alike. More than a decade after Jake Clark first drew it, the sweating man remains a staple reaction format, restocked with fresh labels for every new controversy or relatable dilemma, and blank templates are still among the most-downloaded on major meme-generator sites.