The hat spawned its very own Twitter feed and became fodder for online news sites and viewers alike, but nobody capitalized on the meme as well as Arby's, the fast-food franchise whose logo happens to bear a striking resemblance to Pharrell's fashion statement. The brand's tweet asking for its hat back was retweeted more than 80,000 times.
Y'all tryna start a roast beef? ???? "@Arbys: Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back? #GRAMMYs"
- Pharrell Williams (@Pharrell) January 27, 2014
Fast-forward a little more than a month, and Pharrell's famous hat is up for sale on eBay, just in time for him to perform at Sunday night's Academy Awards. You'll never guess who stepped up with the winning bid of $44,100.
.@Pharrell You're welcome. We're HAPPY to support a great cause & get our hat back. Good luck at the #Oscars tonight! pic.twitter.com/2oA7qDPX9z
- Arby's (@Arbys) March 3, 2014
Pharrell will donate the money Arby's paid for the hat to From One Hand To Another, a nonprofit he created to fund learning centers for children in at-risk communities. The first one is already up and running in Pharrell's hometown of Virginia Beach, Va.
As for the Oscars? Pharrell rocked a new hat of the same style in his performance of "Happy" from the "Despicable Me 2" soundtrack.