The use of stonks in a stock market war over the stock of the video game retailer GameStop in late January 2021 drew the attention of mainstream media. In response to GameStop stock being a popular target for short sellers, the stock market subreddit /r/WallStreetBets encouraged users to invest heavily in the stock. The stonks meme was popular on the subreddit, and it was frequently mentioned in conjunction with posts about GameStop stock. This war quickly erupted, and social media users began to show solidarity by posting stonks and other memes popular on /r/WallStreetBets. This reached a climax when billionaire Elon Musk, a longtime fan of the stonks meme, appeared to support /r/WallStreetBets by tweeting Gamestonk!! and linking to the subreddit.
