Two Buttons

*sweats nervously*

On October 25, 2014, animator Jake Clark posted a comic to Tumblr. It depicted a distressed man wiping sweat from his brow while staring at two red buttons, each labeled with a contradictory statement. The struggle was palpable. The format was perfect.

Two Buttons—also known as Daily Struggle—became the meme for impossible choices, hypocritical positions, and the human condition of wanting two mutually exclusive things simultaneously. The sweating figure, inspired by the classic "Sweating Towel Guy" and a character from Timesplitters 2, captured that particular anxiety of being forced to commit.

"Support the troops" vs. "Oppose the war." "Want to sleep" vs. "One more episode." "Eat healthy" vs. "Emotional support pizza." The format exposed our contradictions with brutal simplicity. We are all, always, hovering over two buttons.

The meme exploded across Imgur and Reddit in early 2015, accumulating over a million views. It became the go-to template for political debates, relationship drama, and existential crises. If you had a dilemma, Two Buttons had a format for it.

In 2020, a new variant emerged: pressing both buttons simultaneously. It was the evolution the meme deserved—an acknowledgment that sometimes we don't resolve our contradictions so much as learn to live with them.

Two Buttons never truly died. It's still out there, still sweating, still unable to decide. And in that eternal indecision, we see ourselves reflected.

*continues sweating nervously*