Modest Web Site Is Behind a Bevy of Memes. Creating viral videos and concepts has become a keystone for many businesses marketing online.
Such Web phenomena are known by technophiles as "memes." Coined by biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book "The Selfish Gene," a meme is a unit of cultural information -- an idea, a practice, a phrase, or an online video --that's passed on virally. Although sometimes frivolous, every word-of-mouth marketer dreams of creating memorable memes that will catapult their product or client to fame.