The scream comes from a viral Vine in which a young man filming in a school hallway spots a police officer's battered shoes and unleashes the now-famous 'WHAT ARE THOOOSE?!' It became one of Vine's defining memes and a universal shorthand for calling out terrible footwear, spreading through YouTube compilations, TikTok edits and meme soundboards. It still thrives because the delivery is instantly recognizable, and it sits comfortably beside other reaction clips such as Shocked sound on every meme soundboard worth its salt.