‘Family Guy’ Cutaway Gag Character ‘Sneakers O’Toole’ Is Back In A Big Way On TikTok

About

Sneakers O’Toole is a character in a cutaway gag from the animated sitcom Family Guy^[1] whose main personality trait is his obsession with his sneakers and his refusal to take them off. He sings, “I’m not taking my sneakers off, I am Sneakers O’Toole,” in the scene. Two men stop him and tell him to take his sneakers off, but he says, “No!” and then runs away. The scene’s punchline is the two men saying, “Ah, let him go. We’ll never catch him, not in these shoes.” Sneakers O’Toole gained the ironic^[2] and unironic love from internet^[3] users years later, first surfacing on YouTube^[4] and Twitter / X^[5] in 2019. Sneakers O’Toole resurfaced in memes^[6] on TikTok^[7] in 2025, following a series of crude ViggleAI^[8] rotoscopes and AI videos^[9] that added new characters to the template like an exploitable^[10]. Sneakers O’Toole was sometimes mixed with Adrian Eeffoc Brainrot^[11] memes in mid to late 2025.

Origin

Sneakers O’Toole appeared in season 5, episode 15 of Family Guy titled “Boys Do Cry,” which aired on American TV on April 29th, 2007. YouTuber markdelete posted the scene on January 18th, 2011, gaining over 600,000 views in 14 years.

On February 23rd, 2019, YouTuber SynthCool shared a Sneakers O’Toole meme, called, “Anime^[12] Character Analysis: Sneakers O’Toole,” in which he discussed the character. Over six years, the video received over 94,000 views. The video is the first-known memetic use of the Sneakers O’Toole gag.

Spread

On April 9th, 2019, YouTuber SynthCool posted a video titled, ” ANIME DUB OF SNEAKERS O’TOOLE,” and the creator used a crudely recorded version of his voice as a punchline, countering the title’s claim. Over six years, the video received over 266,500 views and 16,000 likes.

In 2021, a gimmick account^[13] called @SneakersEvery21 started going viral on Twitter^[14], which shared the Sneakers O’Toole clip every day. By late June 2021, the account had amassed over 11,100 followers. The page has since been deleted.

The Sneakers O’Toole clip received more use in memes on TikTok a few years later. For instance, on March 30th, 2024, TikToker @memesandbigfunnys posted a parody^[15] Overstimulation Video^[16] using the Sneakers O’Toole clip, gaining over 73,000 likes in a year.

On April 24th, 2025, TikToker @pckschizopst posted a video, reminiscent of Lobotomy^[19] videos, using the Sneakers O’Toole clip and audio. Multiple overlays and tracks of Sneakers O’Toole walking and singing his song are seen distorting a meme that reads, “Wife / Husband / Women always stronger.” Over five months, the video gained over 359,700 likes.

On August 14th, TikToker @xialaxiongbenxiong posted a rotoscoped version of the video, using characters from Grand Theft Auto V^[28]. The clip also seemingly used an AI voice^[29] tool. The video gained over 155,700 likes in a month.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References