Minesweeper is a video game included on every version of Microsoft Windows between 3.0 and 7. In the game, players look at a grid of tiles and attempt to identify under which tiles are bombs. Other tiles are either blank or reveal a number saying how many squares touching the number are bombs, allowing players to mark which tiles they believe are bombs. Clicking a bomb results in a loss, and the game is over when all the tiles are clicked or marked. The ubiquity of the game has made it the subject of parodies online.
History
While variations of the core concept of Minesweeper have been around since the 60s,[1] the most well known version of Minesweeper, that which appeared on Microsoft Windows, was created by Curtis Johnson for OS/2, before being ported to Windows.[2] It was first released as part of Microsoft Entertainment Pack 1 in 1990. After becoming an iconic part of Windows, Microsoft discontinued having Minesweeper included in Windows with the release of Windows 8. However, a free version was available on the Windows Store, though to play it, the user would have to sit through a 30-second ad. To remove the ads, Microsoft offered a subscription service, which was criticized as greedy.
A completed Minesweeper board.
Online Parodies
The ubiquity and simplicity of the game has made it the subject of some notable online parodies. One of the most popular early parodies was Minesweeper: The Movie, a video by College Humor that was a fake gritty reboot of the game Minesweeper. Released on October 1st, 2007, the video has over 13 million views.
Melania Trump’s First Lady Portrait refers to the first official portrait of the First Lady of the United States Melania Trump, which was widely discussed and photoshopped online following after being posted to Twitter in early April 2017.
Origin
On April 3rd, 2017, Melania Trump tweeted[1] her official portrait as First Lady of the United States (shown below).[3] Within 24 hours, the tweet gained over 57,000 likes and 11,000 retweets.
Spread
That day, Redditor Steve-2112 submitted the portrait in a post urging viewers to “show this wonderful FLOTUS some love” to the /r/The_Donald[4] subreddit, where it gained over 9,100 (89% upvoted) and 220 comments in 24 hours. Meanwhile, Redditor Elelegante101 submitted the portrait to /r/photoshopbattles,[5] where several users replied with photoshopped versions of the picture (shown below).
Additionally, Redditor Djugdish posted a video of in the comment section featuring clips of Trump edited between shots of the portrait (shown below).[7] Also on April 3rd, NY Mag[2] published satirical instructions titled “How to Get Your Next Profile Picture to Look Like Melania Trump’s Official Portrait.”
That same day, Twitter published a Moments[6] page listing notable reactions to the portrait, many of which joked about the aesthetic of the photograph (shown below).
My Job Here Is Done is an 3-part exploitable picture from the Japanese animated series Sailor Moon, in which the character Tuxedo Mask dramatically leaves after attributing to himself some credits for a victory. This scene was exploited by many Internet users and edited to parody similar situations in different medias.
Origin
The text used for this exploitable isn’t actually said in the anime, but is rather a humorous exaggeration of Tuxedo Mask’s overall interventions in various episodes, as he usually makes dramatic entrances and encourages Sailor Moon from afar while she fights the villains instead of actually engaging himself into the battle. The pictures, they are screenshots taken from the first episode aired March 1992, Nakimushi Usagi no Kareinaru Henshint,[1] right after Sailor Moon’s first battle and Tuxedo Mask’s first intervention.
The comic was first posted to Tumblr by an account that has since been deactivated, so it is unclear when exactly it was posted.[6] It has garnered over 575,000 notes and was reblogged to popular Tumblr Ruined Childhood[7] on April 10th, 2014.
Spread
On April 11th, 2014, Tumblr user Beth Kernet published a redrawn version of the comic[3] featuring Michael and Ray from Roosterteeth instead of Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon. Posted on the Roosterteeth subreddit the following year,[4] it gained 3266 points and 93% positive votes.
On April 29, 2014, it was posted to /r/funny on Reddit,[2] where it gained 2888 points and 93% positive upvotes (shown below). However, the image has a watermark from 9GAG, meaning it was posted to that site sometime before it made Reddit.
The exploitable was since then used as a base for other parodies covering similar situations. On 9gag,[5] many edits appear with captions related to group projects, while others make video game references. The top edit on the site, shown below, is a “group project” edit that gained over 23,000 upvotes.
“SoundCloud vs. Bandcamp” refers to a series of side-by-side image comparisons, illustrating how one music streaming service is better than the other. The juxtaposition generally indicates that on the left, standing in for SoundCloud, is effortlessly cool, while the right image, standing in for Bandcamp, is trying to hard to be cool. In music terms, however, it denotes a separation between the hip-hop community and the indie rock community.
Origin
While the debate between which streaming service musicians prefer has been waging since both sites launched, “SoundCloud vs. Bandcamp,” in its meme form started on Twitter.[4]
The first known instance appeared when Twitter user @yoyotaiyosun uploaded a visual comparison of the video games Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale under the caption “app soundcloud vs bandcamp” on March 12th, 2017.[1]
However, it wasn’t until March 30th, 2017 that the trend caught on, when Twitter user @jsmithyeet tweeted an image comparison with the caption “SoundCloud vs. Bandcamp.”[2][3] The first tweet received seven retweets and 13 likes, while the second received more than 9,000 retweets and 27,000 likes.
Spread
Following @jsmithyeet’s second tweet, other Twitter users began making their own versions. Several minutes after @jsmithyeet tweeted, another user @BBWslayer666 uploaded their own version of the comparison, receiving more than 1,500 retweets and 3,400 likes.[6]
Over the next few days, “SoundCloud vs Bandcamp” grew in popularity. On April 4th, 2017, Buzzfeed posted an article documenting the meme.[5]
Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi Ad refers to a commercial for Pepsi starring Kardashian family member Kendall Jenner in which Jenner joins a protest and offers a police officer a can of Pepsi. As soon it was posted online, the commercial was widely criticized and mocked online for its tone-deaf attempt to evoke the tense relationship between protest movements in America such as Black Lives Matter and police, which the commercial purports to ease via Pepsi.
Background
On April 4th, 2017, Kendall’s mother Kris tweeted the 30-second version of the advertisement, congratulating her daughter and thanking Pepsi. The tweet has since been deleted, and the ad has been removed from the internet. In the 30 second version of the ad, Kendall Jenner is doing a photoshoot in a blonde wig when she notices a protest happening outside. At the nod of a handsome protestor, Kendall takes off her wig, smears off her lipstick and joins the protest. She grabs a can of Pepsi and proceeds to hand it to a cop standing by. The cop sips it with a smile and the camera zooms in on Kylie’s face. The 2:40 version is shown below.
Developments
The ad was instantly criticized on Twitter. Among the many things people took issue with, some of the most popular were the sterile way Pepsi portrayed protests, the fact that it seems to suggest a Pepsi would bridge the gap between protestors and police, and the positioning of multi-millionaire Jenner as a leader of the counterculture. One tweet by @GrimmKardashian,[1] shown below, said “this is everything wrong with our culture in 30 seconds. may sound like an overreaction, but it’s not. every frame of this ad is poisonous.” His tweet gained over 7,500 retweets and 11,900 favorites.
Many other Twitter users offered detailed analysis of what the ad got wrong. For example, a popular series of tweets by Olivia A. Cole[2] mocked the racially tone-deaf nature of several frames of the ad (examples shown below).
Others mocked the ad by inserting cans of Pepsi into famous pictures of protests and instances of police brutality (examples shown below).
Other users mocked and criticized the disconnect between the wholesome way Pepsi portrayed a protest by comparing it to actual Black Lives Matter protests and the general racial tension between black Americans and the police.
Pepsi at first defended the ad saying it conveyed an “important message of harmony” (below, left). However, amid continued backlash, they pulled the ad the following day (shown below, right).
Media coverage of Twitter’s reaction was widespread. Twitter Moments,[3] People,[4] Washington Post,[5] and many more.
Chemical Brothers Video Comparison
Some Twitter users noted that the entire controversy was reminiscent of the music video for “Out of Control” by The Chemical Brothers.[6] In the video, actress Rosario Dawson drinks a cola during a standoff with Mexican police forces. The camera then pans back to reveal the commercial is being played in a store outside of which actual violent protests are happening.
The Scroll of Truth is an exploitable image series based on a web comic by artist Tate Parker, in which an explorer discovers a scroll that provides various unpleasant or unsettling truths, causing him to angrily toss the parchment away.
Origin
On February 2nd, 2017, Parker posted a webcomic titled “Truth” on Tumblr,[8] featuring an archaeologist who finds a “Scroll of Truth” that proclaims “no one reads your rants on your Facebook page,” causing him to through it away while yelling “nyehhh” (shown below). Within two months, the comic gained over 930 notes.
On March 26th, 4chan user meme distributor submitted a blank template of the comic to /pol/,[6] leading others to reply with photoshopped variations of the image (shown below).
Precursor
On September 7th, 2016, artist Nathan Pyle tweeted a comic in which Indiana Jones discovers a “crystal which utters only truth,” that tells him"some of your problems are your fault" (shown below).[1]
Spread
On March 26th, Redditor Watashi_o_seiko submitted a photoshop of the comic in which 9gag discovers a scroll with the phrase “you will never be dank” to /r/dankmemes[5] (shown below, left). Meanwhile, Redditor Goodguykarlmarx submitted a version of the comic in which Tumblr discovers a scroll proclaiming “there are only 2 genders” to /r/dankmemes, where it garnered upwards of 2,700 votes (94% upvoted) within 10 days (shown below, right).
On April 2nd, Redditor poopf4rt submitted a version of the comic in which the phrase “Snipers are supposed to camp” is written on the scroll (shown below, left). Within 72 hours, the post received more than 1,900 votes (94% upvoted) and 140 comments on /r/battlefield_one.[3] On April 3rd, Redditor ChaseObserves submitted a post asking if Scroll of Truth memes were a “safe or risky investment” to /r/MemeEconomy.[4] On April 4th, 2017, Redditor mrsexman69 submitted a photoshop in which the scroll proclaims “Some of your problems are your own fault” to /r/funny, where it gathered upwards of 1,000 votes (95% upvoted) within 24 hours (shown below, right).
“CHINESE” is a phrase said by Colonel Noodle from PaRappa the Rapper 2. Although not much remixes were made due to this meme, many has commented the word in every video relating to the seventh stage of the second game.
Origins
On April 5, 2002, Parappa the Rapper 2 was released on Europe. In the game’s seventh stage, the player encounters Colonel Noodles, the son of the Burger Master and raps the song “Noodles Can’t Be Beat” with him as a form of a rap battle.
Yeah, (Yeah) Yeah, we’re (Haha) gonna bring it down like this y’all. (Yep yep.)
I’m gonna let my man PaRappa know (Word.) that noodles rule the world.
Yeah, yeah, that lil’ slippery thing tastes so good all the time.
Yeah, yeah, that’s right. (Aight)
It goes a little something like this. Stay with me now, (Yea) here we go. (Like dis, like dis)
In parenthesis, let me stress the fact clearly.
No matter what the deal, I crave for this dearly.
The so-called noodles you find in spaghetti, are sweeter than idols, do damage like machetes.
Without a doubt, I got da flow, comin at ya live, bring the place alive, every single day I jive.
With the thought, comes my direct actions.
Ask my followers, they’ll say it’s an addiction.
Slurp it, suck it, I know you all like it.
(Slurp it, suck it, I know we all like it.)
Smell it, taste it, pasta in a market.
(Smell it, taste it, fruit in a basket.)
Chinese, Italian, Thai or Jamaican.
(Mexican, Egyptian, English, Korean.)
Anything goes, even Hawaiian.
(Anything goes, even Alaskan.)
Long, and chewy (uh-huh uh-huh), occasionally gooey.
The best things in life taste good with chop (chop) suey! (suey!)
8 minutes to boil, and 2 minutes to eat. (uh-huh)
Admit it kid, you know noodles can’t be beat. (oooooo)
Roll it on your spoon, create your own boom.
(Roll it on my spoon, create my own boom.)
I betcha didn’t know; Noodles’ the rules.
(I betcha didn’t know; There are no rules.)
Sushi, burgers, they all taste good.
(Pizza, burritos, they all taste good.)
As long as they got noodles, the king of all foods.
(As long as they love food, then any thing’s cool.)
Hip hop music (Hip hop,) with an old school (hip hop.) twist.
I keep the place intact and do a rap like this. (Like this.)
You can use a spoon, fork, knife or even chopsticks.
Come on kid, get down with the mix. (uh.)
N. double O. D. L. E. S.
(C. double O. K. I. E. S.)
Great tasting pasta, blow to your chest.
(Great tasting sweets, blow to my chest.)
Ramen, udon, soba, you name it.
(Brownies, a pie, a shake, you name it.)
Any type of noodles you like, yes I got it.
(Any type of sweets you like, yes I got it.)
Whatever your thoughts may be, I’m bound to be
The king of all foods, with noodles as the key. (as the key.)
Full of pride, and glory way up above,
Cuz here I come y’all, full of noodles and love!
Noodles are the best no doubt can’t deny, taste better than water, but don’t ask me why.
(Noodles are the best no doubt can’t deny, taste better than water, but don’t ask you why.)
But then again, many things can be tasty, corn bread, potatoes, rice and even pastries.
(But then again, many things can be tasty, corn bread, potatoes, rice and even pastries.)
Then why do I, love noodles so dearly? It makes no sense. I must’ve sounded real eerie.
(Then why do you, love noodles so dearly? It makes no sense. You must’ve sounded real eerie.)
Thanks brother, for lettin’ me understand that a man must understand to keep his options open.
(You’re welcome brother, for lettin’ you understand that a man must understand to keep his options open.)
Spread
On October 9, 2012, channel Ambassador Fox uploaded a video simply called “chinese,” which features two players playing versus mode of various stages. One part of the video shows the second player spamming “CHINESE.”
4 years later, on April 16, 2016 and later on, June 18, 2016, channel SiIvaGunner uploaded two rips of Noodles Can’t Be Beat, one being a Beta Mix and other a Gamma Mix.
On December 5, 2016, channel Khirbee Derp uploaded a video called “Parappa the Rapper 2 – Chinese can’t be beat,” which is a full edit of the song Noodles Can’t Be Beat, with most words replaced with Colonel Noodle saying “CHINESE.” The video gained over 100,000 views.
Harry Styles Flying refers to a picture of pop singer Harry Styles being held aloft by a rope strapped to a helicopter while filming the music video for his single, “Sign of the Times.” It was subject to various photoshops and jokes on Twitter after it surfaced.
Origin
On April 4th, 2017, The Sun[1] published behind-the-scenes photos of Harry Styles filming the video for his upcoming single, “Sign of the Times.” Several photos caught Styles strapped to a rope that was attached to a helicopter (shown below).
Spread
Shortly after the pictures surfaced, they became the subject of jokes on Twitter. One of the early popular jokes was made by @harryftjade[2], who photoshopped Styles to look like the popular children’s character Mary Poppins (shown below). Her tweet gained over 1,700 retweets and 2,900 likes.
Many more photoshops and jokes were made about the photo on Twitter over the following day. The jokes made Twitter Moments[3] and were covered by Time[4] and Teen Vogue.[5]
Will Now Have Stories is a photoshop meme featuring pictures of various objects with “Stories” icons from various social media platforms superimposed on top of them.
Origin
In October 2013, Snapchat launched a “Stories” feature on the messaging app, allowing users to post video segments accessible to others for only 24 hours. On August 2nd, 2016, Instagram launched a similar “Stories” feature, allowing users to share slideshows of images and videos taken throughout the day as a single post, which also expire after 24 hours. In January 2017, Facebook introduced its own “Stories” video sharing feature for iOS and Android devices, which allows users to post videos that expire after 24 hours. On April 3rd, 2017, Twitter user @memeprovider[5] posted a picture of a calculator with Facebook Stories superimposed at the top, along with the message “calculators in 2017 now have stories” (shown below). Within 48 hours, the tweet gained over 107,000 likes and 77,000 retweets.
Spread
On April 4th, the @FreeMemesKids[4] Twitter feed tweeted a picture of a banana with Instagram Stories pasted across the peel (shown below, left). Meanwhile, Twitter user @MattPostSaysHi[2] tweeted a picture of a pregnancy test with Instagram Stories photoshopped over the results (shown below, right). Within 24 hours, the posts gathered upwards of 8,000 likes and 4,000 retweets.
That day, the @WillHaveStories Twitter feed began posting variations of the photoshop meme. The following day, a screenshot of the @MattPostSaysHi tweet was submitted to /r/MemeEconomy,[3] along with speculation that the Will Now Have Stories memes were “on the rise” but had a “high risk of normalization.” Meanwhile, the KFC United Kingdom Facebook[6] page posted a Will Now Have Stories photoshop along with the message “KFC 2017 will now have stories,” which gathered upwards of 4,700 reactions and 4,400 shares within eight hours (shown below).
“Because Your Mother Loves”, also known as “Enough Questions”, refers to an exploitable meme in which a parent tells their child that another family member is named after a piece of culture, only to reveal that their own child is also named after a pop-culture reference.
Origin
The meme’s text comes from a joke that has been spread around the internet as far back as 2010. On March 30th, 2010, user anon posted this Rage Comic appeared on Joyreactor.[1]
Spread
A variation on the joke appeared on Twitter, when user @teenstweethis tweeted a variation on December 16th, 2011 (shown below).[7] Additionally, User @Pluume_ posted the joke without image on January 4th, 2012[2]
The tweet appeared again when @DARKSKlNDRAKE tweeted the joke, receiving more than 300 retweets and 64 likes.
Later that year, on March 26th, 2012, the same jokes was Tweeted again by @ComedyPosts to more than 1,400 retweets and 320 likes.[5]
The joke continued in this form, appearing on the /r/Jokes subreddit on September 4th, 2016.[4] Later that year, the joke changed, replacing “Rose” to “Jude.” The earliest known instance of this is from Twitter user @InfinitelySY on October 29th, 2016.[6] The Tweet received more than 240 retweets and 130 likes.
Over the next few days, users shared the meme frequently, changing the text to fit their own interests. On April 4th, 2017, Redditor Lazy_Titan50 posted one of a father and son.[8]
Mask Off Challenge refers to the practice of recreating the 2017 hip hop track “Mask Off” by Future with various musical instruments. On social media platforms, recordings of the musical covers are often shared along with the hashtag “#MaskOffChallenge.”
Origin
On February 17th, 2017, rapper Future released his fifth studio album Future, which featured the track “Mask Off” written by Navyadius Wilburn, Leland Wayne and produced by Metro Boomin (shown below).
On March 2nd, Twitter user @ricelozano tweeted the hashtag “#maskoffchallenge”[3] along with a video of himself looking into a mirror and taking a pair of sunglasses off to reveal another pair of sunglasses while “Mask Off” can be heard playing in the background (shown below).
On March 7th, 2017, Twitter user @ThatTrumpetGuy_ posted a video of himself playing “Mask Off” on a trumpet along with the hashtag “#MaskOffChallenge” (shown below). Over the next month, the tweet garnered more than 7,000 likes and 4,500 retweets.
On March 24th, YouTuber xoete uploaded a compilation of people playing the tune along with “Mask Off” (shown below).
On March 28th, Twitter user @Sleazy_WaltP uploaded footage of a woman playing the song on a flute (shown below). Within one week, the tweet received upwards of 31,900 likes and 20,900 retweets.
On March 29th, Twitter user @_blackDICE uploaded a video of their aunt performing the challenge (shown below). On March 31st, the hip hop news blog HotNewHipHop[1] published an article about the challenge series.
On April 3rd, Twitter user @iamezinma posted a video clip of herself playing the violin along with “Mask Off,” which received upwards of 22,700 likes and 13,900 retweets over the next 48 hours on the social networking site (shown below). On April 4th, Entertainment Weekly[2] highlighted several notable examples of the challenge.
“Park Ranger’s Face” refers to a photograph of a park ranger accepting a donation from President Donald Trump shortly after Trump proposed cutting the Park’s Services budget. The photograph of the Park Ranger went viral, inspiring tweets and photoshop battles.
Origin
On April 4th, 2017, Donald Trump donated $78,333, his first-quarter salary, to the National Park Service, during the daily press briefing, making good on Trump’s campaign promise to donate his salary if elected president.[1]
National Park Service representative Tyrone Brandyburg, a superintendent at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park, accepted the donation. As he held the check for a picture, Brandyburg appeared to give a stern look.
Spread
The picture went viral after Twitter user @KevinMKruse posted the photo, receiving more than 41,200 retweet and 65,600 by April 5th, 2016.[2]
Photoshop Battle
On April 4th, 2017, Redditor TIGHTSHIRT posted the photo to the subreddit /r/PhotoshopBattles. The thread received more than 15,500 point (87% upvoted) and 365 comments in the first 24 hours.[3]
Mankind Threw Undertaker Off Cell In A Hell is a copypasta often seen on Reddit and Facebook, which is typically altered to fit the context of the post it is responding to. Redditor shittymorph is often credited with popularizing the message within various subreddits.
Origin
The exact origin of the copypasta is unknown. While many cite Redditor shittymorph with creating the copypasta, the earliest examples were found in a post on the NFL Memes Facebook page published on January 8th, 2017.[7]
Spread
On January 19th, 2017, Redditor shittymorph replied to a post on /r/pics[6] highlighting a portrait of Salt Bae made out of salt, urging readers:
“don’t let this man distract you from the fact that in 1998, Mankind threw Undertaker off Cell In A Hell, and plummeted 16 ft through an announcer’s table.”
On February 6th, 2017, Redditor ScienceLivesInsideMe replied to a photograph of a dog on the /r/aww[1] subreddit with Scooby Doo-themed variation of the copypasta. In response, Redditor shittymorph replied explaining that the message was something he had been posting for weeks:
It is something I have been posting for a few weeks – I usually adjust the statement to whatever the post is related to. I have been getting a laugh out of doing it and other people have seemed to enjoy it too – Anyway – since this is my post and I have been going around making variations of this comment people are now showing up here on my post with their own variations of the comment. I hope that clarifies things…. but please do not let this extensive clarification distract you from the fact that in 1998, Mankind threw Undertaker off Cell In A Hell, and plummeted 16 ft through an announcer’s table.“”footnote" id="fnr2">[2]
The following day, Redditor pujolsrox11 submitted a post asking about the copypasta meme to /r/OutOfTheLoop.[4]
On Februrary 11th, shittymorph replied with a “Cash Me Ousside” variation of the copypasta in response to a post highlighting her second appearance on Dr. Phil submitted to /r/videos.[3] On February 15th, Redditor MadDrewOB submitted video of Mankind throwing Undertaker off the top of the Cell in a Hell from WWE to /r/videos[5] (shown below).
On February 12th, a subreddit dedicated to the copypasta was created, gaining over 1,500 subscribers in less than two months.[8] On March 28th, shittymorph posted on r/shittymorph a gif version of a man reacting to the copypasta, originally created by reddit user ohyouresilly, gaining over 490 points in less than two days.[10] The next day, an edited version of the gif was uploaded to Imgur, gaining over 2.3 million views in less than 24 hours (shown below).[9]
Search Interest
[direct use of the Google Trends embed code is no longer allowed]
A girl at an unknown school got her pencil stolen by a class mate. She then called the kid a “Hanzo Main” as in the character from Overwatch. Twitter user @abrekke83 posted a tweet with a picture of the letter written by the teacher. The note says quote, “Another student took her pencil and she referred to him as a ‘Hanzo Main’ I have no idea what this means, howver it was clearly meant as an insult.”
Work In Progress My Life as a Teenage Robot is an American television series created by Rob Renzetti for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on the adventures of a robot girl named XJ-9 or “Jenny”, designed and programmed as a 16-year-old by her creator and “mother” Dr. Nora Wakeman and intended for the sole purpose of protecting Earth from various threats, though tending to be more interested in attempting to live like a regular teenage girl.
History
Work In Progress My Life as a Teenage Robot made its debut on August 1st, 2003 at 8:30 PM,[1] premiering as a short in Frederator’s Oh Yeah! Cartoons.[2] The show had a short run after it was cancelled on October 17th, 2005 due to low ratings.[3] On October 4th, 2008, Nicktoons featured the unaired completed season 3 until its finale which was on May 2nd, 2009. The overall series has a total of forty episodes and one TV movie.[4]
Reception
My Life as a Teenage Robot received a total of 12 major nominations, consisting of eleven Annie Awards from 2004, 2005, and 2006, and one Golden Reel Award in the following year of 2007. The show had its fair share of gains winning all 4 of its awards in the same year of 2004: one Primetime Emmy Award, one OIAF Award, and two BMI Cable Award.[5] The series earned a rating of 6.8 on IMDb.[6]
Gay Clown Putin refers to a series of photoshopped images depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin as a clown wearing garish makeup. The images were widely circulated online following reports that the images had been banned in Russia in early April 2017, leading many to cite the spread of the images as an example of the Streisand Effect.
Origin
In April 2013, the Tumblr blog Putin A Rainbow[9] was launched, featuring photoshops of Vladmir Putin edited with rainbows made in protest of the Russian gay propaganda law, which would include a ban on the LGBT rainbow flag.[8] On April 9th, a picture of Putin titled “Drag Putin a la Warhol,” in which he is shown wearing makeup in front of a rainbow, was posted to the blog (shown below).[10] The Putin A Rainbow blog has since been removed from Tumblr.
Spread
On August 23rd, 2013, Getty Images photographer Denis Doyle photographed a demonstrator outside the Russian embassy in Madrid, Spain holding a sign in which Putin is shown wearing colorful makeup in front of an rainbow with the words “Stop Homofobia” written on his forehead (shown below, left).[7] On October 31st, 2015, several photoshops on Putin were posted on the Russian Wordpress blog Kosmologelei, included an image of Putin wearing blush and eye shadow (shown below).
Russia Ban
On March 30th, 2017, the Justice Ministry of Russia listed the images of Putin in their “Federal List of Exremist Materials.”[1] That evening, REdditor GorillaS0up submitted a Gay Clown Putin image in front of an LGBT flag titled “This image is now illegal in Russia” to /r/pics,[4] where it gathered upwards of 279,000 votes (76% upvoted) and 4,100 comments in 14 hours (shown below, left). Meanwhile, the image reached the front page of the /r/ImGoingtoGulagforThis[5] and /r/ImGoingToHellForThis[6] subreddits. On April 6th, the /r/GayClownPutin[3] subreddit was launched, with the first post submitted by Redditor TheDavyStar featuring a picture of Putin with yellow hair, teal eye shadow and pink lipstick (shown below, right).[2] Within seven hours, the post gained over 1,800 votes (81% upvoted).
Also on April 6th, Redditor NUDEandCONFUSED uploaded a Gay Clown Putin photoshop in which he is shown riding the Bearsharktopus to /r/MemeEconomy[11] (shown below).
Oh Joy Sex Toy’s “Cuck” Comic refers to a comic produced by the sex-positive webcomic Oh Joy Sex Toy, written by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan, that attempts to explain and destigmatize the kink of cuckolding. It became the subject of jokes and exploitable variations after its publication.
Origin
On April 4th, 2017, Oh Joy Sex Toy[1] posted a comic titled “What the Fuck’s a Cuck?” The comic attempts to explain the kink of cuckolding as well as the role each participant plays and what they get out of the kink (shown below). In the comic, the characters are represented by Joe (the cuckee), Kate (the lady), and Craig (the cucker). Oh Joy Sex Toy also posted a blog post talking about the comic and the kink itself.
Spread
The comic was instantly mocked on Tumblr, in addition to being criticized for ignoring the racial and homophobic origins of the kink.[3] Many panels of the original comic were turned into exploitable images on Tumblr as well. Some of the most popular include “Joe Shut Up I’m Going to Fuck Your Wife!”, the “Awww, ok” text message reaction, and the Cucker’s explanation panel.
On April 5th, popular YouTuber Shoe0nHead[2] tweeted a link to it to her 144,000 followers, saying "im the last person that should kink shame but damn this is hilarious damage control for “cuck” becoming an insult" (shown below).
Above the Influence Talking Dog PSA was a 2007 anti-marijuana commercial created by the Above the Influence campaign in which a teenage girl is scolded by her talking dog for smoking marijuana. The ad’s premise was widely mocked online for exaggerating the effects of cannabis, which typically does not cause realistic visual and auditory hallucinations.
Origin
In 2007, the Office of National Drug Control Policy and Partnership for a Drug Free America released a public service announcement as part of their Above the Influence campaign, in which a teenage girl is confronted in her kitchen by a talking dog, who asks her to stop smoking marijuana (shown below). On September 9th, 2007, YouTuber Lucky Stephens uploaded the commercial to YouTuber, where it gathered upwards of 1.1 million views and 6,500 comments over the next 10 years (shown below).
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On January 8th, 2007, YouTuber Ryan Gallagher uploaded animated parody of the PSA titled “Stop Looking At Me” (shown below, left). On May 22nd, 2008, CollegeHumor uploaded a parody titled “Anti-Drug Dog,” in which actress Aubrey Plaza is repeatedly confronted by her dog for being high (shown below, right).
On March 20th, 2009, the marijuana news blog HailMaryJane[2] listed the PSA as one of “8 Awful Anti-Drug PSA’s That Make ME Want to Smoke More.” On April 29th, 2011, Ad Week[3] referenced the original commercial in a listicle titled “Anti-Drug Ads That Make You Want to Take Drugs.” On July 7th, 2012, a description of the commercial was added to the “Narm / Advertising” entry on TV Tropes.[1] On November 11th, 2016, the Joe Rogan – Topic YouTube channel uploaded an audio clip of comedian Joe Rogan performing stand-up comedy routine about the PSA (shown below, left). On April 5th, 2017, YouTuber Zebra Corner uploaded a parody in which the character Mahk reacts with excitement after discovering his marijuana is potent enough to make him hallucinate a talking dog (shown below, right). Within 24 hours, the video garnered more than 255,000 views and 360 comments.
