The Pink Palm Springs Shirt Diva is a queer Italian man who became a meme and reaction gif after posting a viral TikTok video. The gif shows him having an animated conversation with a couple in a shop in a vibrant outfit with a bright pink shirt advertising the city of Palm Springs.
In late June 2024, people on Twitter began to use the gif to represent a lively and engaging conversation, posting it with a simple text caption.
Who is the pink Palm Springs shirt diva?
The diva himself is Francesco Nozzolino, an Italian TikToker with over 600,000 followers. He's known for dressing in flamboyant outfits paired with bright red lipstick and a gold watch, often with black leggings or jean shorts and brightly colored shoes. All of his videos are done in Italian.
According to an Italian news source, Nozzolino is 32 years old and has appeared on the nation's free-to-air TV channel Canale 5. He also has a YouTube channel and an Instagram account, and has earned the title of influencer for his large following.
In the past, he became known for his catchphrase "I like zucchini," which comes from a video in which he sang a little song that translates roughly to "I like zucchini, she is my gasoline. And I don't care if you're with me. I like it in the morning, I feel naughty. It's just the right diet for me-e."
What is the pink Palm Springs shirt diva meme?
The meme itself shows Nozzolino in the iconic shirt talking to a couple in a coffee shop or bakery as he points and gestures at each of them in turn while speaking rapidly and putting on a very interested and animated face.
People were impressed with how well this man seemed to be holding a conversation, holding it up as an ideal example of how to interact with friends.
It wasn't long before people began to add false translations to the footage or using it to compare how they themselves speak with others as a reaction gif.
Francesco Nozzolino goes viral
Nozzolino posted the original TikTok video on May 20, 2024, gaining a decent number of views at over 381,000. Its first appearance on Twitter as a gif and a meme looks to have been on June 14, when user @lnthemood4Iove posted it with a false translation as the caption.
"Should we do a little key? Should we have a little line?" the user wrote as a reference to doing cocaine.
Meme spread
The day after this first meme popped up on Twitter, user @o38o38o8o reposted the gif with the caption "me introducing people i just met at the bar to each other." Around 10 days later, the footage of Nozzolino really began to take off, with some posting the full video just to marvel at the camera work and the acting.
The gif became so popular that Twitter users tracked down the original TikTok account and started to post clips from his other videos to admire and use as memes.
Some of the best Pink Palm Springs Shirt Diva memes
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