About

“Store” is a 2016 pop song by Carly Rae Jepsen, which is frequently used in a series of remix videos on Vine containing footage of people walking down the street or dancing in public places.

Origin

On August 26th, 2016, the track “Store” was released on Jepsen’s second EP Emotion: Side B (shown below). In the song, Jepsen sings “I’m just goin’ to the store” in lyrics describing a painful breakup (shown below).

Spread

On August 27th, 2016, the Goth Girls Club Vine channel uploaded footage of four women twerking in a grocery store while the chorus of “Store” plays in the background (shown below). Over the next two weeks, the video received upwards of 1.7 million loops and 750 likes.

The following day, Viner T. Kyle uploaded a short clip of a woman strutting down a sidewalk while the chorus of “Store” plays in the background (shown below, left). Within two weeks, the video gained over 1.2 million loops and 800 likes. Also on August 28th, Viner eauprah uploaded a clip of a woman dancing in a shopping cart dubbed with the Jepsen song (shown below, right).

The following day, Jepsen posted a clip from the 1987 romantic comedy film Mannequin with “Store” dubbed over the background audio (shown below). Within 10 days, the tweet gathered upwards of 1,400 likes and 500 retweets. In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the remix series BuzzFeed,^[1] The Atlantic^[2] and Revelist.^[3]

2. Various Examples

Search Interest

External References

About

Dr. Hibbert Mirror Punch refers to a specific moment in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons where the character Julius Hibbert punches another character with a mirror (Which turns out to not have any reflection). The scene has inspired a variety of images where Dr. Hibbert uses the same trick on a different character.

Origin

In the “The Thing and I” segment of the seventh annual “Treehouse of Horror” episode, Bart discovers his long-lost twin (Named “Hugo”), who has plans to sew bart and himself together in order to regain his sanity. In order to stop that from happening, Dr. Hibbert appears and shows Hugo a mirror to see his own face in, but Hugo notices that the mirror has no reflection, and Hibbert punches Hugo in the face, knocking him out.

Spread (WIP)

One of the earliest images featuring a photoshop edit was on a Facebook group.^[1]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References

^[1]Reddit – What’s with the sudden influx of Dr Hibbert punching people pictures on Facebook? / 08-20-16

W.I.P.

About

“Mad” (often called as MAD) is an American animated sketch comedy produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The series was based on Mad magazine, where each episode is a collection of short animated parodies of television shows, movies, games, celebrities, and other media using various types of animation (CGI, claymation, stopmotion, etc.) instead of the usual animation style that Warner Bros. Animation is known for. The series premiered on the evening of September 6, 2010 on Cartoon Network. The series ended its 3-year run on December 2, 2013.

History

Written almost entirely by Harvey Kurtzman, the first issue also featured illustrations by Kurtzman himself, along with Wally Wood, Will Elder, Jack Davis and John Severin. Wood, Elder and Davis were the three main illustrators throughout the 23-issue run of the book; Severin, a mainstay of Kurtzman’s EC war comics, left the comic book by the tenth issue. Kurtzman included his own finished art only sporadically, primarily on covers. However, he was known as an exceedingly “hands-on” editor and a visual master, and thus many Mad articles were illustrated in strict accordance with Kurtzman’s detailed layouts. A handful of other artists also contributed to the original run, including Bernard Krigstein, Russ Heath and most conspicuously among the non-regulars, Basil Wolverton. The first two issues of Mad spoofed only comic books and movie genres of romance, horror, sports and science fiction, without overtly specific references. However, with issue #3, Kurtzman turned to direct parodies, targeting two well-known radio programs with parodies of Dragnet and The Lone Ranger,^[2] and he soon began satirizing selected comic strips (“Little Orphan Melvin!”), comic books (“Superduperman!”), books (“Alice in Wonderland!”), films (“Hah! Noon!”) and television programs (“Howdy Dooit!”).

Spread

By mid-1953, William Gaines had made plans for expansion. After nine bi-monthly issues, Mad became a monthly with the April 1954 issue. At that same time, EC Comics launched another satirical bi-monthly, Panic, edited by Al Feldstein. Since this new title also used Kurtzman’s core trio of artists (Davis, Elder, Wood), the peeved editor felt that Panic sapped and diminished the creative energy necessary to meet Mad’s production schedule.

Rated Memes

Search Interest

About

The Italian Chef Kiss refers to a stereotypical gesture made by cooks of European descent that indicates perfection or deliciousness. Online, pictures of the Chef Kiss or simply typing “Italian Chef Kiss” is used to either earnestly react to good content or used to sarcastically respond to content that has an excess of negative qualities.

Origin

According to WikiNapoli,^[1] the “kiss fingertips and toss away” gesture is of Italian origin, and is meant to mean “Belissimo,” or “Wonderful!”

Spread

The stereotype of the Italian, mustachio’d chef emerged around the mid-20th century, when Kraft used the character to sell pastas^[2] and U.S. chain restaurants utilized it to create the image of an authentic Italian dining experience.^[3] One of the more popular examples of the stereotypical Italian chef in popular culture is Chef Boyardee.

In 1975, Jim Henson’s Muppets introduced Swedish Chef, who would become one the most iconic fictionalizations of the European chef character.^[4]

Online Presence

Online, the “Italian Chef Kiss” is used mostly to signify a reaction to “perfect” content.^[5] An image of Swedish Chef, shown below, became one of the most popular shorthands to signify the “Italian Chef Kiss.”

Another popular Italian chef used as a forum weapon on threads of particularly cringeworthysocial justice-centric posts is the Discourse Chef. Shown below, the image originated on Tumblr when blogger ladygolem^[6] suggested that Pepe and feels guy were problematic and the new alternative should be Discourse Chef.

On Twitter, “Italian Chef Kiss” is generally used to signify when something is “Extremely Good” (which in Twitter parlance, tends to mean “bad”). A tweet by @Lubchansky,^[7] shown below, was described by The Daily Dot as “the platonic usage of a sarcastic chef kiss.”

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable

External References

About

Friendship ended with X is an exploitable image series based off a 2015 Facebook post. It is used to express mainly either the changing relationships of real life politicians or fictional characters.

Major w.i.p.

Origin

On 13th September 2015, Facebook user ‘Asif’ posted an image of himself standing with his proclaimed best friend ‘Salman’, while images of his previous best friend ‘Mudasir’ where imposed in the bottom corners and crudley crossed out. The weirdness and over dramatic nature of the picture meant it was picked up in an article on gawker^[1]. A question concerning the nature of the drama between the three would latter be published to /r/OutOfTheLoop^[2].

Various Examples

Search Interest

About

“All I Wanted Was a Pepsi” is a line from thrash band Suicidal Tendencies song ‘Instutionalized’. The meme revolves around lines from the song, often because

Overview

The Carolinas Clown Sightings refers to a reports that people dressed as clowns were attempting to lure kids into the woods in various locations in South and North Carolina. After police began receiving the reports in late August 2016, many internet users speculated the sightings were a viral marketing campaign for the upcoming 2017 remake of the 1986 horror film It.

Background

In late August 2016, rumors began circulating that clowns were attempting to lure children in the woods behind an apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina, leading to increased police patrols in the area. One woman claimed her son had seen clowns in the woods, who whispered and flashed green laser lights before running off. According to another report, a group of children claimed they were approached by clowns who tried to bring them into the woods by showing large amounts of money.^[8] In a letter to the residents of the building, the property manager stated that children should not be allowed to wander unsupervised at night (shown below).^[1]

Developments

On September 1st, 2016, Greenville, South Carolina Police Chief Ken Miller announced that people warning clown costumes and scaring locals would be arrested:^[6]

“The clowning around needs to stop. It’s illegal, it’s dangerous, it’s inappropriate, it’s creating community concern.”

On September 5th, the North Carolina news station WXII 12 aired a segment about clown sightings near a wooded area in Winston-Salem (shown below).

On September 7th, the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina published a Facebook post reporting that two clown sightings had been “investigated and found to be false” (shown below).

That day, the distributor of director Rob Zombie’s upcoming clown-themed horror film 31 claimed that the film was not involved in the “creepy clowns and costumed characters found roaming the South.”^[7] On September 8th, several posts about the clown sightings were submitted to the /r/OutOfTheLoop^[2][3][4] subreddit, where many speculated that the reports were part of a viral marketing campaign for the upcoming horror film It.

Search Interest

External References

Overview

9/11 Mattress Ad Controversy refers to the reaction surrounding an advertisement by mattress store Miracle Mattress in San Antononio, Texas promoting their “Twin Towers Sale.” The advertisement drew criticism from blogs and social media users for what many considered its tasteless approach to the events of September 11th, 2001.

Background

In the beginning of September, 2016, Miracle Mattress released a commercial promoting what they called a “Twin Towers Sale,” where they would sell mattresses of any size for a twin price. Manager Cherise Bonanno says there’s “no better way to remember the September 11th attacks,” while two employees stand behind her in front of two towers of mattresses and an American flag. At the end of the ad, Bonnano swings her arms, knocking over the employees who then knock over the mattress towers. Bonnano turns to the camera, laughing, and says “we’ll never forget.”

Miracle Mattress originally posted the ad to their Facebook page in a post that has since been deleted. However, a corresponding post on their Twitter page^[1] indicates that the video went up on September 7th, 2016.

Notable Developments

The ad spread quickly, and was instantly met with backlash. The above video has almost a million views as of September 9th. On Reddit, a thread about the video received 5,207 points in one day.^[3] On September 8th, local San Antonio news station WOAI^[2] ran a story on the outrage the video caused, along with a video that features Bonnano tearfully apologizing as she professes, “We are not hate. We are love. We make miracles happen.”

The same day, Miracle Mattress published to Facebook a letter from their owner, Mike Bonnano, who profusely apologized and took responsibility for the ad.^[4]

The story gained international attention, and was picked up by Huffington Post,^[5] New York Post,^[6]CBS,^[7]CNN,^[8] and more.

External References

Marcianito 100% Real No Fake (spanish from ‘Little Martian 100% Real No Fake’) is a series of GIF’s related memes and parody videos based on a 90’s internet publicity GIF, showing a green skin alien dancing.

The popularity of this GIF was begins In 2012, when the GIF was posted first in Tumblr, later in Facebook and 4Chan initially knowed as “AYYLMAO”.

In 2014, the YouTube user CreepyPasta CriticasLoquendo uploads a video on January 8th of 2014 entitled “Marcianito 100% real bailando cumbia.wmv”, featuring Marcianito dancing with a portion of the famous song “Nunca me faltes” of the argentinian cumbia musician Juan Antonio Rios.

The meme was very popular in Taringa forums or webpages associated with pirated softwares entries, showing the GIF of Marcianito dancing below the download links with the labels “100% real”, “no fake”, assuming the software works fine when installed or it’s included the crack, patch or serial. Others labels used are “libre de virus” (virus free), “1 link”, “full”.

Pages like Jaidefinichon.com uploads memes, videos and parodies of the GIF featuring Marcianito and other cumbia songs.

About

Wicke is the assistant branch chief of the Aether Foundation’s Aether Paradise in the upcoming video game Pokémon Sun and Moon. Online, the character is often illustrated in sexually explicit fan art, where she is depicted as extremely curvaceous and described as “thicc”.

Origin

On September 6th, 2016, The Official Pokémon Channel submitted a video titled “Ultra Beasts and the Aether Foundation Debut in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon!” to YouTube, which introduced the characters Lusamine, Faba and Wicke as staff members of the Aether Foundation, a fictional Pokémon research and care organization (shown below). Within 72 hours, the trailer gained over 3.1 million views and 13,000 comments.

Spread

The same day, the Pokemon Blog^[8] published an article about the Aether Foundation, which included an official illustration of Wicke (shown below).

Also on September 6th, several Wicke thread were created on the /vp/ (Pokémon) board on 4chan, where many users posted adult-themed fan art illustrations of the video game character.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

The following day, the internet humor site Dorkly^[9] published an article about the online reaction to Wicke , which highlighted several fan arts of the new Pokémon character (shown below). Also on September 7th, an entry for Wicke was created on the Pokémon wiki site Bulbapedia.^[1]

In the coming days, several sexually explicit rule 34 illustrations of Wicke were posted on the /r/rule34 and /r/pokeporn subreddits.^[2]

Search Interest

External References

{W.I.P.}

About

Dolan Dark is a YouTuber from New Zealand who first gained popularity for his montage parodies. but has since gained a reputation for his shitposts on Twitter and Youtube

Origin

Dolan first created his account on February 24th, 2011. He uploaded his first video:“Meet me in the Swamp – Skrillshrex (DJ SHREKEXTRAPREMIX)”(shown below, left) a trap remix of All Star, on June 22, 2013, which has over 70,000 views. On October 11, 2014, he uploaded his first fully fledged montage parody “TURNDOWNFORWOT?”(below, right) which has over 200,000 views.

Spread

Dolan’s reputation on YouTube grew as he kept making videos, with most of the videos on his channel gaining views in the hundreds of thousands. As of the time of this article his most viewed video is a montage parody mocking the release of the iPhone 7, recalling previous high-profile security breaches.

Notable Videos

Secondary Channel

Dolan has a second channel named “Dolan Darker” which is mainly a hub for his shitposts.

Search Interest

w.i.p.i.p. gimme a couple days it’ll look great

About

Image Quotes are quotes overlaid onto images. They are typically meaningful statements from philosophers or influential people.

About

Could you play that song again? is a scene that has been parodied with other songs and music similar to Hey Plankton! Can our first song go like this?

Origin

The scene originated from the first half of Season 3 Episode 9 of Spongebob Squarepants titled Krab-Borg, that was originally aired on March 29, 2002. In the scene, Mr. Krabs is asking for the song “Electric Zoo” to be played again and gets in an argument with the person on the other end of the call on how the song went.

Spread

W.I.P.

Various Examples

Search Interest

About

Seth Rollins is a professional wrestler notable for his time as a member of WWE’s roster since 2012, during which he has ascended to a top-level performer in the industry.

Online History

Rollins has built up a large following online. He has around 1.55 million followers on Twitter, where he can be found @WWERollins^[1], and 1.8 million on Instagram (also @wwerollins).^[2]

Leaked Nudes Controversy

On February 9, 2015, Rollins’ social media accounts were targeted when a nude image of NXT wrestler Zahra Schreiber was posted on them.^[3] Since WWE’s official social media accounts rehost all content posted by their contracted performers, this image was spread further. Rollins then suffered his own nudes being leaked, allegedly by his angry fiancée. Rollins apologised for the “private photos that were distributed without [his] consent”.^[4] Schreiber has since been released from contract by WWE.

On the August 29, 2016 edition of Raw, fellow wrestler Big Cass told Rollins that “size does matter”. Although this may have simply been a remark concerning Cass’ own 7-foot-tall build, the fact that he directed this comment towards Rollins caused many to believe it was meant to double as a reference to the nudes.

Reputation

Rollins built a reputation prior to WWE through his work in Ring of Honor, and other independent promotions, under previous ring name Tyler Black. Fan discussion ran rampant in August 2010 upon his signing with WWE.^[5]

Rollins has also appeared in the fourth film in the Sharknado series.^[6]

Related Memes

Crossfit Jesus

Rollins is often referred to by fans as “Crossfit Jesus”, due to his associations with the training regimen CrossFit, combined with his look, which often resembles traditional depictions of Jesus Christ. The exact origin is unknown, but one Reddit commentator suggested it began after Summerslam 2015, because Rollins wore a completely white set of ring gear on that show.^[7]

On r/SquaredCircle, an “Explain Like I’m Five” thread^[8] asked where this came from, to which the top response was simply:

Looks like Jesus, does Crossfit

On August 9, 2016, Urban Dictionary received a submission^[9] for the term “crossfit jesus” as follows:

A person who is obsessed with crossfit and metalcore music. They are so talented at crossfit, they feel the need to participate in it almost every day, even when injured. Also known as WWE Superstar Seth Rollins.

Fan art of Seth Rollins often jokingly portrays him as Jesus.

Artists are credited on the image pages; click an image to view

Rollins himself acknowledges the Crossfit Jesus meme on occasion^[10], as do other performers in WWE. At a WWE live event in Manila on September 9, 2016, professional wrestler Kevin Owens referred to the Crossfit Jesus meme during a match with Rollins by yelling “I’m Crossfit Jesus” and sardonically performing a series of star jumps in the middle of the ring.

Personal Life

Rollins was born and raised in Iowa. He lives and is billed from Davenport, IA. He opened a wrestling academy with former tag team partner Marek Brave in 2014.^[11]

Search Interest

Search interest for “Seth Rollins” has grown steadily since 2012, during his ascent in WWE. There is a notable spike at February 2015, when the nude photos controversy occurred.

External References

About

“Taylor Swift is a Satanist Clone is a celebrity conspiracy theory which posits that the American singer-songwriter is a clone of Zeena Schreck, a Berlin-based American artist and musician who had served as the High Priestess and the spokesperson of the Church of Satan, mainly due to the perceived resemblance between the two.

Origin

The apparent likeness between Swift and Schreck had been noted by fans of Taylor Swift and conspiracy theorists online since as early as 2011, after several TV interviews with the-then spokesperson of the Church of Satan began surfacing on YouTube (shown below).

However, it didn’t come under the social media spotlight until May 10th, 2013, when BuzzFeed highlighted several screenshots of Zeena Schreck, the daughter of the founders of the Church of Satan and its former ranking member and spokesperson, from an interview with Good Morning L.A. in 1988 in a tongue-in-cheek article titled “Proof That Taylor Swift Is Actually A Satanist.”

Spread

On May 13th, 2013, celebrity gossip news site The Superficial picked up on BuzzFeed’s article. On August 1st, the screenshot of Zeena Schreck from her 1988 TV interview was submitted in an /r/funny post titled “Here we see Taylor Swift as a satanist in her previous life,” garnering more than 2,000 points (91% upvotes) and 400 comments prior to being archived. On August 3rd, The Huffington Post reported on Reddit’s making of a bizarre celebrity doppleganger conspiracy theory, giving further boost to the mainstream exposure of the meme.

On November 13th, 2014, Instagram user @sarahwoloszyn uploaded a side-by-side image of Taylor Swift and Zeena Schreck with a comment underscoring the doppelganger-like resemblance between the two.

On June 17th, 2015, YouTube conspiracy theorist Vrillex uploaded a slideshow video featuring side-by-side comparisons of Swift and Lavey, along with the hashtag #STOPHUMANCLONING and a lengthy description implying that the Grammy Award-winning pop singer is a secret clone of the former high Priestess of the Church of Satan.

On June 12th, 2016, Instagram user @GeminiTwins uploaded a side-by-side comparison image of Taylor Swift and Zeena Schreck. In early August 2016, the resurgence of the conspiracy theory began on Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram.

Search Interest

External References

Early Days

The Lore

YouTube Career

Reddit

Beefs

Daniel the man liao (dtmliao) is a young Youtuber who gained fame with his top tens and qna series. His videos like “top ten funniest laughs” have gained thousands of views, and he has had a shoutout from GoMedia Geoff himself. Danman has been a small meme in the youtube community, and people have considered him a meme for a while. He is also enemies with ChaoticHyper, a hater who doesn’t like danman’s content. Danman is also a proud christian and a famous cook, and he wishes to be like Ainsley Harriott, the best chef in the world (obviously).

Things to know before you outsource your IT project

Outsourcing your IT project to a company is one of the most important processes of your business. If you are running a small business you might not have a full-time IT staff. Outsourcing the IT project to a company has multiple advantages in terms of quality and cost. There are many important things that you need to consider for your project. Here we are providing some important points that you should consider before outsourcing your IT project to a company:

Know your Goals and search for professionals

You may think that it’s better to have a detailed plan before assigning your project to an IT consultant you might lose the expertise of professionals who can offer you better alternatives to achieve your desired goals. It’s always better to outsource your project upfront when a plan is formed. In this way, the plan determines the procedure that you and your IT consultant would follow to make and implement a solution for your project.

Know the expectations of your employees

Your new project will bring some changes in your business and your employees will need to accept and follow the same. They will be required to change the ways in which they currently work on the tasks associated with your project. You need to discuss your new project and your goals with your staff through meetings, bulletins and training sessions. This will let your employees comfortably and easily accept the changes associated with your project. A follow-up session may also be required after the completion of your project in which employees can ask questions and will be more acceptable to the transitions that take place with the implementation of the new project.

Look for an experienced and certified IT consultant

Small companies consider price as an important factor, but this should not be the only factor to consider. Other things include the expertise and experience of the consultant you are going to hire for your project. There are certified companies like Zero Effort Networking in Sydney which is certified by Microsoft for providing IT services to small businesses. These certifications are the proof that your IT consultant has undergone through complete training to offer solutions meeting industry standards.Moreover, you should always check your IT partner’s work history and feedback from its clients. You can also look for client reviews and testimonials on the internet.

Create an agreement with your IT consultant

After selecting your IT service partner you will be required to discuss your goals and objectives expected from the project that will provide a clear picture of the scope of the project. When you start to implement your plan for the project it is likely to happen that one thing will lead to another. So be prepared for the things and changes that are about to happen while implementing your strategy. You may discover some essential things in the middle of the project that are necessary and will be required to be dealt with immediately. Although you and your IT consultant may have done thorough research on minor details and requirements, these things will be discovered midway and may incur additional costs. Moreover, you should have a plan for such additional things and costs to avoid the frustration that occurs when these things suddenly come out.

Planning and implementing are the most important factors for successful completion of your project and making a healthy relationship with your IT partner. Although this may need some spending and goal setting by you, the time and money spent by you will pay for the system you will depend on for your daily business activities.

Zero Effort Networking is a company that provides fully managed it services Sydney. To know about our it services sydney you may call us at 1300 93 94 95 or email us at info@zen.net.au or and we will be happy to assist you.

About

Door Hinge, which refers to a mechanical bearing that connects a door to the frame of the doorways, is a popular subject of circlejerking and shitposting on Weird Facebook pages, usually in the form of image macro and photoshopped images.

Origin

On August 27th, 2012, Redditor Maized uploaded an image macro titled “Scumbag Door Hinge,” featuring a picture of a metal hinge captioned with a joke about the mechanical bearing emitting a loud noise when operating late at night (shown below). Prior to being archived, the post received upwards of 1,200 votes (85% upvoted) on /r/adviceanimals.^[2]

Spread

Over the next several years, memes involving door hinges were sparsely created. On July 2nd, 2015, the Door Hinge Memes Facebook^[1] page was launched, which highlights photographs and image macros of door hinges. Within one year, the page gained over 36,200 likes.

On December 21st, Twitter user @clinvstowell^[3] tweeted a picture of Shrek next to a door hinge, adding that door hinge memes were “the weirdest thing out of tumblr since stealing human bones for witchcraft” (shown below, left). The following day, the browncardigan Instagram^[4] page reposted a photoshopped picture of DJ Khaled dressed in a Jedi robe and wielding a door hinge lightsaber (shown below, right). Within nine months, the post gathered upwards of 1,900 likes.

On February 12th, 2016, YouTuber shadowknife392 uploaded a Dimitri Finds Out remix in which he is told about door hinge memes for the first time (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References

Overview

Hillary Clinton’s “Basket of Deplorables” Gaffe refers to statements made by 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton referring to many of Donald Trump’s supporters as “deplorables” in early September 2016.

Background

On September 8th, 2016, Clinton was interviewed on the Israeli television, where she said that Trump supporters are in “two big baskets,” one of which contains “deplorables” who consist of “racists” and “haters” (shown below, left). The following evening, Clinton made a similar statement while speaking at a private fundraiser, where she said “you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call ‘the basket of deplorables’” (shown below, right).

“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic -- you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.”

Developments

Donald Trump’s Response

On September 10th, 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump published a press release denouncing Clinton’s “deplorables” statement, which accused her of “showing bigotry and hatred for millions of Americans.”^[8]

“Isn’t it disgraceful that Hillary Clinton makes the worst mistake of the political season and instead of owning up to this grotesque attack on American voters, she tries to turn it around with a pathetic rehash of the words and insults used in her failing campaign? For the first time in a long while, her true feelings came out, showing bigotry and hatred for millions of Americans. How can she be President of our country when she has such contempt and disdain for so many great Americans? Hillary Clinton should be ashamed of herself, and this proves beyond a doubt that she is unfit and incapable to serve as President of the United States. I will be President for all of the people, and together we will Make America Great Again.”

Clinton’s Response

That day, Clinton released a statement expressing regret for saying “half” of Trump supporters were “deplorable,” and accusing Trump of building his campaign “largely on prejudice and paranoia.” Additionally, Clinton promised she “won’t stop calling out bigotry and racist rhetoric in this campaign.”^[9]

“Last night I was ‘grossly generalistic,’ and that’s never a good idea. I regret saying ‘half’ – that was wrong. But let’s be clear, what’s really ‘deplorable’ is that Donald Trump hired a major advocate for the so-called ‘alt-right’ movement to run his campaign and that David Duke and other white supremacists see him as a champion of their values. It’s deplorable that Trump has built his campaign largely on prejudice and paranoia and given a national platform to hateful views and voices, including by retweeting fringe bigots with a few dozen followers and spreading their message to 11 million people. It’s deplorable that he’s attacked a federal judge for his ‘Mexican heritage,’ bullied a Gold Star family because of their Muslim faith, and promoted the lie that our first black president is not a true American. So I won’t stop calling out bigotry and racist rhetoric in this campaign. I also meant what I said last night about empathy, and the very real challenges we face as a country where so many people have been left out and left behind. As I said, many of Trump’s supporters are hard-working Americans who just don’t feel like the economy or our political system are working for them. I’m determined to bring our country together and make our economy work for everyone, not just those at the top. Because we really are ‘stronger together.’”

#BasketOfDeplorables

Meanwhile, the hashtag #BasketOfDeplorables^[10] began trending on Twitter, where many critics of Clinton denounced her statements regarding Trump supporters (shown below).

Also on September 10th, Redditor ToTheRescues submitted a photoshopped picture of Pepe the Frog in a basket along with the caption “On my way to The White House in my / #BasketOfDeplorables” to /r/The_Donald^[7] (shown below).

“The Deplorables” Parody Poster

Meanwhile on September 10th, Donald Trump Jr. posted a photoshopped movie poster on Instagram of the 2010 action film The Expendables, which features various prominent conservatives and Pepe the Frog with the title “The Deplorables” (shown below).

The following day, NBC News^[1] published an article about the photoshop, which referred to Pepe the Frog as a “popular white nationalist symbol” based on a statement made by Southern Poverty Law Center’s Heidi Beirich. That day, several news sites published articles referring to Pepe as a “white supremacist meme” and “white national symbol,” including The Hill,^[2] Vanity Fair,^[3] Talking Points Memo^[4] and CNN (shown below). On September 12th, a post mocking the NBC article reached the front page of /r/KotakuInAction.^[5]

Deplorables Commercial

On September 11th, the Team Trump YouTube channel posted a pro-Trump ad titled “Deplorables,” which accused Clinton of “viciously demonizing hard working people” (shown below).

Search Interest

External References