Man behind ‘Hide The Pain Harold’ meme is in Singapore for crypto event

Andras Istvan Arato, the man behind the popular meme ‘Hide The Pain Harold’, is currently in Singapore for the crypto event Token 2049, as a guest of Web3-focused studio Memeland and NFT community Arc.
The 79-year-old gained viral popularity in 2011 after appearing in a series of stock images showing him with a pained smile.
In a post on his Instagram page on Sep 18, Arato is seen near the Singapore River with Marina Bay Sands in the background. An older post showed him visiting the SEA Aquarium at Resorts World Sentosa.
In an interview with British news outlet The Guardian, Arato revealed that he was first approached by a professional photographer to model for a few stock images.
“Over the course of two years, he took hundreds of pictures of me for photo libraries.
“I thought the pictures would just be used by businesses and websites, but I wasn’t expecting the memes. People overlaid text on my pictures, talking about their wives leaving them, or saying their identity had been stolen and their bank account emptied. They used my image because it looked as if I was smiling through the pain.”
He soon embraced his fame and created a fan page to update it with his own content. As a result, he was approached by multiple brands to appear in commercials and even gave a TED talk in 2019.
“I’m not actually a sad guy: I think I’m rather a happy one,” said Arato in the interview.