Damn Daniel began in February 2016 as a short Vine posted by Josh Holz, who filmed his friend Daniel Lara at school and repeatedly praised his white Vans. The clip was reposted widely after the original Vine gained millions of views, then spread to Twitter, YouTube and television appearances including Ellen. Its simple call and response format made it easy to quote, remix and reuse as a viral meme, and the phrase stayed in online slang long after Vine closed, kept alive by reaction edits and nostalgia posts.