The Dr. Ally Louks 'Olfactory Ethics' meme centers on the viral spread of a real Cambridge University PhD thesis title: 'Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose.' It gained massive traction on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok in 2024, where it became a symbol for the incredibly specific and high-concept nature of humanities research. While some internet users initially shared it to mock the perceived obscurity of academic studies, it quickly evolved into a badge of honor for the 'dark academia' aesthetic and a defense of intellectual curiosity. The meme is now widely used to represent anyone diving deep into a seemingly minor topic or to celebrate the absurdity and brilliance of hyper-specialized doctoral work.