I am pretty sure that Pepe already was a few years old when I first heard “old” persons use the word “meme” (apart from the ancient internet founding fathers that helped invent memes in the first place).
And was anyone seriously mocking them instead of just telling them how to pronounce it?

I swear to god if you imply that we’re supposed to say “Peep”…

They grew up with Pepe LePew so no excuse.

It’s funny how “old” people literally invented the Internet and the word meme.