Origin. "Florida Man" headlines became a meme with the @_FloridaMan account, launched on 26 January 2013. On 16 May 2021 a user posted "Grand Theft Auto VI should be set in Florida", which collected about 143,000 likes. When Trailer 1 arrived on 4 December 2023, IGN pointed out real Florida moments in it, and on 6 December Know Your Meme listed nine real viral videos the trailer seems to echo.
How people use it. Side-by-side "game vs reality" posts and "this is just Florida" captions. A fan site joked that an alligator wanted $1 million for appearing in the trailer.
Example. An alligator strolling into a store, labeled "GTA 6 NPC".
Most of those clips show real people, so it is kinder to retell the joke than to repost their faces.
Sources
- 1 Know Your Meme: every reference to real-life videos in the GTA VI trailer (6 December 2023) knowyourmeme.com
- 2 X, @IGN: the GTA VI trailer references real Florida moments (5 December 2023) x.com
- 3 X, @DonnyAzoff: "Grand Theft Auto VI should be set in Florida" (16 May 2021) x.com
- 4 Know Your Meme: Florida Man knowyourmeme.com
- 5 X, @GTABase: the alligator's $1 million joke (9 December 2023) x.com