Starting in early July 2019, the format saw an increase in popularity on Reddit. A February 21st, 2019, repost of an Apex Legends / Fortnite meme by iFunny user Freath received over 52,300 smiles in nine months (reupload shown below, left). The format saw a moderate spread online in the following months, with more examples of the meme appearing on Reddit, Imgflip and other websites. This image is the earliest known example of the format. Between January 7th and 27th 2019, imgflip user whosscruffylookin95 posted a two-panel format based on the GIF and referencing the post, with an additional caption added in (shown below, right). On December 10th, 2018, Redditor SwAg_LaMp posted a one-panel meme showing Phil Swift attaching Flex Tape captioned 'Back of laptop: *exists* / College girls with stickers:', with the meme receiving over 25,100 upvotes in six months. On the same day, the GIF was added to GIPHY. On January 29th, 2017, an unknown Redditor posted a GIF based on the video to /r/gif subreddit, gaining over 330 upvotes in three years (shown below, left).

The commercial accumulated over 17.8 million views in three years and, following a September 2017 review by YouTuber JonTron, achieved the status of a meme. In the commercial, company spokesman Phil Swift slaps a piece of Flex Tape onto a leaking water tank, stopping the leak. On January 12th, 2017, American adhesive manufacturer Swift Response uploaded a commercial for its tape product Flex Tape to YouTube.

Sero flex tape meme