Talking Ben the Dog was released by Outfit7 in 2011 as part of the Talking Tom and Friends series of talking pet apps. Players could poke Ben, talk to him and watch him repeat words in a gruff voice, and his short laughs and yes and no answers were widely recorded and shared. Clips of Ben spread through YouTube, Vine and later TikTok and Discord soundboards, where his ho ho ho chuckle became a shorthand reaction for dry amusement that still fits short meme edits.