Overview

Urban Outfitters Controversies refers to backlashes against the American multinational clothing corporation Urban Outfitters for selling various products, many of which have been criticized for being tasteless, offensive and cultural insensitive.

Background

In October 2003, the presidents of the St. Petersburg and Hillsborough County Florida chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called for Urban Outfitters to stop selling copies of the “Ghettopoly” board game, in which players compete to become “the richest playa through stealing, cheating and fencing stolen properties” (shown below).^[1]

Notable Developments

2003: “Everyone Loves a Jewish Girl” T-Shirt

In 2003, Urban Outfitters began carrying a T-shirt with a print of the phrase “Everyone Loves a Jewish Girl” surrounded by dollar signs and handbags (shown below). In January 2004, the retailer discontinued production of the shirt, receiving praise from the Anti-Defamation League^[2] for the decision.

2008: “Victimized” T-Shirt

In May 2008, Urban Outfitters pulled a T-Shirt featuring a Palestinian boy carrying an assault rifle accompanied by the phrase “Victimized” from stores after receiving criticism from the American Jewish groups for promoting violence.

Urban Outfitter’s store operations manager Stacey Strober released a statement announcing the shirt’s removal and claiming the company did not mean to carry offensive items.

“Please understand that we do not buy items to provoke controversy or to intentionally offend. We have pulled this item in all of our locations and will no longer be selling it online either.”

2010: “Eat Less” T-Shirt

In June 2010, a women’s T-shirt with the phrase “Eat Less” printed on the front was placed for sale on the Urban Outfitters website (shown below, left). The shirt was subsequently criticized by many for promoting eating disorders. In protest, actress Sophia Bush launched a boycott of the store (shown below, right).

2012: St. Patrick’s Day T-Shirts

In March 2012, Irish American groups threatened to boycott Urban Outfitters for a line of St. Patrick’s Day shirts which depicted those of Irish descent as alcoholics.

2012: Jewish Star T-Shirt

In April 2012, The Anti-Defamation League denounced Urban Outfitters for selling a T-Shirt with a six-pointed star printed on the front, claiming it mimicked a star Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.

2014: Kent State Sweater

In September 2014, Urban Outfitters featured a sweater on their online store titled “Vintage Kent State Sweatshirt,” which appeared to have splattered blood on faded pink material (shown below), lead many to assume the item was mocking the 1970 Kent State University shootings where four students were shot and killed by the Ohio National Guard.

The item was heavily criticized in social media, leading the retailer to post an apology on their official Twitter^[4] account denying any intentional connection to the Kent State shootings.

“Urban Outfitters sincerely apologizes for any offense our Vintage Kent State Sweatshirt may have caused. It was never our intention to allude to the tragic events that took place at Kent State in 1970 and we are extremely saddened that this item was perceived as such. The one-of-a-kind item was purchased as part of our sun-faded vintage collection. There is no blood on this shirt nor has this item been altered in any way. The red stains are discoloration from the original shade of the shirt and the holes are from natural wear and fray. Again, we deeply regret that this item was perceived negatively and we have removed it immediately from our website to avoid further upset.”

Search Interest

External References

[This is a W.I.P.]

About

Perler Art, also known as bead art or beadsprites, is a form of pixel art that utilizes beads produced by Perler or a competitor company to produce replica images. Due to the relative ease of production, the art medium has grown a large fanbase which has created many works based on The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, My Little Pony, and many other brands or nostalgic items.

Origin

Though the actual perler medium used today dates back to the creation of the Perler brand, bead art itself is a form of beadwork which dates back to before 3100 B.C. and has been found in many cultures including the early Egyptians, Native Americans, and throughout much of Europe.^[1]

Spread

The subreddit /r/beadsprites was created January 11, 2011, and currently has just over 10,000 subscribers.^[2] The Facebook group “Perler Bead Sprites” was created April 14, 2010, and currently has 15,744 likes.^[3] The Perler company joined Pinterest in 2013 and has since gained 1,463 followers.^[4] The DeviantART group “Perler-Beads” was founded Dec 23, 2009, and currently has 1,409 watchers.^[5] Their gallery features many submissions which are broken down into categories such as cartoons, games, movies, and jewelry.

Notable Examples

Search Interest

External Links

About

Real Men Don’t Buy Girls is a social media campaign launched by American actors Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher which attempts to raise awareness of youth sex trafficking. The campaign began with videos featuring other well known actors asking others to stand up against sex trafficking.

Origin

On April 6th, 2011, the official YouTube page for DNA,^[2] the nonprofit founded by Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher (now called Thorn), published a series of videos for their “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” campaign. These videos, which featured celebrities such as Kutcher, Bradley Cooper, Sean Penn and Jamie Fox, jokingly introduces basic things “real men” do, such as their laundry, before explaining real men don’t buy girls. As of September 2014, the highest viewed video in the series, which features Sean Penn, has gained over 320,000 views.

Spread

On August 14th, 2011, the Facebook page^[6] for Real Men Don’t Buy Girls was created. As of September 2014, the page has gained over 5,000 likes. On May 8th, 2014, the hashtag #RealMenDontBuyGirls^[7]

Criticism

On April 12th, 2011, Pop Dust^[4] published an article titled “Why “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” Just Doesn’t Work” which asserts, amoung other criticims:

“They’re not that funny. Since the beginning of time, a whole lot of shit has been forgiven in the name of good comedy, and each of the above grievances could maybe have been looked over if these things were rip-roaring, gut-bustingly hilarious. But for the most part, these things are far stranger and more confounding than they are funny.

On April 14th, SheKnows^[5] published an article titled “Ashton Kutcher & Demi Moore’s Real Men Don’t Buy Girls PSAs Criticized” which covered the criticism being aimed at the PSAs by the executive director of anti-human trafficking organization.

On May 20th, 2014, The Huffington Post^[3] published an article titled “The Problem with ‘Real Men Don’t Buy Girls’” which addressed the campaign in the wake of its increased popularity after the #BringBackOurGirls

Notable Examples

Search Interest

External References

Will finish it someday. inb4 “+1 work” shitposters.

About

Crazy Ukrainian Kid, also known as No New Memes Kid, and Сашко (Sashko) is the name given to a Ukrainian kid from several YouTube videos, freaking out over his mom taking his computer away.

Origin

The kid originally appeared on the episode of a TV show Кохана, ми вбиваємо дітей (Honey, we’re killing kids in Ukrainian), which aired on December 6th, 2011. The episode was uploaded on Youtube on December 12th, same year.

Spread

Examples

Search Interest

External References

^[1]Google Search – Crazy Ukrainian Kid

^[2]Wikipedia – Honey, We’re Killing The Kids

About

Sailor Bubba is a nickname given to a large bearded man dressed in a girl’s colorful sailor suit as Usagi Tsukino, the heroine from 1992 anime show Sailor Moon. He became an early internet icon among fans of the show and, along with Man-Faye, introduced and influenced the style of cosplay known as crossplay^[1].

Origin

According to an August 11th 2011 article by Isaac Sher on website Threat or Menace and entitled Confession of a Con Staffer #1: Enter SAILORBUBBA!^[2], Sailor Bubba came to be at Anime Central, a famous anime convention in Chicago, in 1999, during the convention’s second year.
Sher states that he was a Master of Ceremonies for the Con’s Masquerade costume contest and that, backstage, another staff member, Jason “Jazz” Jensen, introduced him to a large man who was a security staff member at the event and who politely asked if he could take part in the contest for fun, dressed in a sailor moon costume. He went on stage as the last entry with the moniker of Sailor Bubba. The result:

Spread

As his popularity went on, Sailor Bubba Became doing recurring appearances at the con through out the years as is evidenced from photos taken at Anime Central 2002^[3]. In it, people were discussing photos of the cosplay during the 2002 convention. He also became a star on Deviant Art with photos of him taken at the 2004 and 2008 Anime Central conventions^[4].
On internet, this unusual view of a large bearded man doing a cosplay of a teenage magical girl caught attention of several websites, including metafilter in 2005^[5] or 4chan when a panel for the website was hosted at Anime Central in 2006^[6].
A few YTMND sites about him were made between 2005 and 2007^[7], as well as a Facebook fan page in 2008^[8] and he has is his own macro on Meme Generator. ^[9]

Sailor Bubba’s Bobblehead

Because of his evergrowing popularity both at the convention and on the web, the Anime Central staff decided to create and sell Bobblehead figures of the newborn star. It began during Anime Central 2004^[10] and it became a favorite merchandise ever since.

In the media

Sailor Bubba was referenced in saison 3, episode 3 entitled “The Inside Job” from tv show Leverage.

External References

^[1]Wikipedia – Crossplay

^[2]Threat or Menace – Confession of a Con Staffer #1: Enter SAILORBUBBA! / 8/11/2011

^[3]Sebby.org – Anime Central, April 19-21, 2002

^[4]Deviant Art – Sailor Bubba

^[5]Metafilter – Sailor Bubba / 11/16/2005

^[6]4chan BBS– 4chan at Anime Central

^[7]YTMND– Results for Sailor Bubba

^[8]Facebook – Sailor Bubba

^[9]Meme Generator – Sailor Bubba

^[10]bbboy.net – Cosplay Links

Overviews

The 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum refers to a vote taking place in September of 2014 in which Scottish citizens will decide if they want to remain a part of the UK.

Background

On September 18th, 2014, citizens of Scotland will vote on whether they will become an independent nation or remain a part of the UK. As of September 16th, 97 percent^[2] of Scottish citizen eligible to vote on the issue have registered to do so. Close polling data has kept interest in the referendum high, as of September 13th, UK newspaper the Telegraph^[3] reported voters are split 54/46 in favor of remaining a part of the UK.

Notable Developments

Twitter Hashtags

In the month leading up to the vote many hashtags related to the vote became popular on Twitter. #BetterTogether,^[11] the slogan of the those against independence was tweeted out over 140,000 times in the month, #ScotDecides^[12] was tweeted out over 100,000 times and #Indyref^[13] was tweeted out over 2.5 million times. Buzzfeed used the hashtags to create lists of humorous reactions to the vote including “24 Times The Internet Responded Hilariously To Scottish Independence”^[1] and “The Internet’s Funniest Responses To The Scottish Independence Debate.”^[14]

Celebrity Opinions

On July 11th, 2014, The Telegraph^[4] published a statement from author JK Rowling against Scottish independence, saying:

“The more I have read from a variety of independent and unbiased sources, the more I have come to the conclusion that while independence might give us opportunities – any change brings opportunities – it also carries serious risks.

Rowling reiterated^[5] her opinions on the referendum again on September 6th, when she tweeted^[6] out the hashtag #bettertogether, the slogan of the supporters of voting to remain a part of the UK.

On September 16th, soccer player David Beckham came out^[7] in support of Scotland remaining a part of the United Kingdom, saying:

“We want to let you know how very much we value our relationship and friendship. Of course regardless of your decision that will never change, however, my sincere hope is that you will vote to renew our historic bond which has been such a success over the centuries and the envy of the entire world. What unites us is much greater than what divides us. Let’s stay together.”

Celebrities who support Scottish independence include Doctor Who actor David Tennant and Susan Boyle.^[8]

Viral Videos

On September 12th, 2014, Fox’s Animation Domination YouTube channel^[9] uploaded a video titled “Willie’s Views On Scottish Independence” which featured the Scottish The Simpson’s character supporting Scottish independance. In less than a week the video gained over 3.2 million views. On September 14th, Last Night With John Oliver’s YouTube channel^[10] posted a clip from the show in which Oliver explained the referendum. Within 48 hours, the video gained over 1.3 million views.

Search Interest

External References

About

Amy Poehler is an American actress and comedian best known as an alumni cast member of NBC’s late-night live TV comedy program Saturday Night Live and for portraying various characters in a number of comedy films and TV shows, most notably as Leslie Knope in NBC’s mocumentary-style TV sitcom series Parks and Recreation.

Acting Career

Poehler had her first television role in the TV movie Escape from It’s a Wonderful Life^[1] in 1996. After a handful of parts in the late ’90s she starred in the sketch TV show Upright Citizens Brigade from 1998 to 2000. In 2001 she joined the cast of Saturday Night Live where she stayed until 2008. In 2009 she joined the cast of Parks and Recreation, starring as Leslie Knope. The final season of the show will air in 2014. Poehler also had major roles in several comedies throughout the 2000s including Wet, Hot American Summer (2001), Mean Girls (2004) and Baby Mama (2008).

Online History

On February 23rd, 2007, the YouTube Channel Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls^[6] was created. The channel focuses on advice and guides for pre-teen and teenage girls. In addition to the Poehler the videos often boast famous guest stars such as Chris Pratt and Paul Scheer. Video series within the channel include “Ask Amy,” which features Poehler answering questions sent in by her young viewers, and Boy’s Minute, which features famous male guest stars.

As of September 2014, the channel’s two most popular videos are “I Love You Boston: Ask Amy” which was uploaded on April 18th, 2013, and has gained over 600,000 views and “Bodies: Ask Amy” which was uploaded on September 9th, 2012, and has gained over 580,000 views.

Fandom

As of September 2014, DeviantArt has over 300 fan art submissions tagged Amy Poehler. Fan run Tumblr blogs include amypoehler^[3], tinafeyandamypoehler^[4] and fuckyeahfeyandpoehler.^[5] Buzzfeed has published several lists dedicated to the Poehler fandom including “19 Flawless Pieces Of Life Advice That Amy Poehler Gave Us In 2013”^[7] and “30 Lessons We Learned From Amy Poehler In 2012.”^[8]

Search Interest

External References

About

“Walking While Black” is an expression referring to the racial profiling of black pedestrians using a play on words derived from the United States criminal offense of driving while intoxicated. Variations of the phrase include “driving while black,” “learning while black,” “shopping while black” and “eating while black.”

Origin

The earliest known use of the phrase “walking while back” was printed in a New York Times^[4] article about New York City law enforcement on February 12th, 1999, claiming that black people are often racially profiled by the NYPD:

“But his numbers, however accurate, cannot reflect the anger felt by people stopped and frisked by the police each day only because they are W.W.B. -- Walking While Black.”

Spread

On October 31st, 2007, conservative author Thomas Sowell wrote an editorial column titled “Driving While Black,” which criticized those who automatically assume they are being racially profiled by police. On August 19th, 2008, Jezebel^[10] published a review titled “Traveling While Black” of the travel essay book Go Girl. In May 2009, ABC News aired a social experiment titled “Shopping While Black,” in which an actor portraying a shopping clerk pretends to racially profile a black actress to test the reactions of nearby shoppers (shown below).

On June 23rd, 2012, the Tumblr^[9] blog “Cosplaying While Black” was created, which highlights photographs of black cosplayers.

On June 5th, 2013, the ACLU^[8] reported that a 14-year-old boy was arrested for “playing with a puppy while black.” On July 15th, 2014, Viner rashid polo posted a Vine video showing a convenience store employee following him around (shown below). On July 19th, Redditor angryblackmann submitted the video in a post titled “Shopping while black yes it exists!” to the /r/videos^[7] subreddit, where it gained over 3,000 votes (74% upvoted) and 3,600 comments in the next two months.

Daniele Watts Detained

On September 11th, 2014, actress Daniele Watts was briefly detained by police officers in Los Angeles, California after witnesses reported seeing her performing lewd acts in a car passenger seat with her boyfriend. That evening, Watts wrote a post on Facebook^[6] about the incident, claiming her wrist was hurt by the officer’s handcuffs and recounting her family’s history with racial profiling:

“As I was sitting in the back of the police car, I remembered the countless times my father came home frustrated or humiliated by the cops when he had done nothing wrong. I felt his shame, his anger, and my own feelings of frustration for existing in a world where I have allowed myself to believe that “authority figures” could control my BEING… my ability to BE!!!!!!!

I was sitting in that back of this cop car, filled with adrenaline, my wrist bleeding in pain, and it occurred to me, that even there, I STILLHADPOWEROVER MY OWNSPIRIT."

On the following day, Watts’ boyfriend Brian Lucas posted a photograph on Instagram^[5] showing Watts crying while being detained (shown below).

On September 14th, The Daily Dot^[3] published an article titled “Actress Daniele Watts detained by LAPD after kissing husband in public.” On September 15th, TMZ^[2] published an article claiming that witnesses at a nearby Art Directors Guild office told police Watts was seen having sexual intercourse with her boyfriend in a car passenger seat with the door open. The article contained audio in which Watts accuses police of targeting her for being black, refuses to give them identification and informs them she is an actress with a publicist.

The eyewitnesses said the guy was sitting in the seat, she was straddling him and it was for everyone to see. One eyewitness told cops they cleaned themselves up afterward with a tissue.

Search Interest

External References

About

Major League Gaming, often abbreviated as MLG, is a New York-based professional electronic sports organization which holds video game tournaments at various locations in the United States and Canada. In addition, the company operates the online broadcast network for professional competitive gaming MLG.tv.

History

MLG was founded on September 30th, 2002 by Sundance DiGiovanni and Mike Sepso. In 2006, the MLGHalo 2 Pro Series became the first televised gaming league in the United States. In February 2009, MLG changed the format for the 2009 pro circuit to allow semi-pro teams to gain pro status in the leagues. In March 2010, fighting games were reintroduced to the pro circuit with Tekken 6 and the return of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The 2011 circuit featured competitions for the games Halo: Reach, Starcraft 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops and League of Legends. In 2012, Starcraft 2 became the league’s main competition and seasonal events were introduced. That year, MLG partnered with the Korean eSports Association and CBSi to broadcast on GameSpot.com. In 2013, both Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Call of Duty: Ghost were added to the league.

PewDiePie

In September 2014, MLG announced that YouTuber PewDiePie would be airing his “BroKen” podcast exclusively on MLG.tv.

Online Presence

On June 19th, 2005, Urban Dictionary^[3] user Host3ntropy submitted an entry for “MLG.” On December 13th, 2006, the “Major League Gaming” YouTube^[4] channel was launched, garnering more than 36.8 million video views and 259,000 subscribers in the next eight years. On December 10th, 2007, a Facebook^[1] page titled “Major League Gaming” was created, receiving over 700,000 likes in the first seven years. In August 2008, the @MLG^[2] Twitter feed was launched, gathering upwards of 638,000 likes over the next six years.

Related Memes

420 MLG Montages

420 MLG Montages are a series of remix videos parodying the “video game montage” subgenre on YouTube, which is characterized by quick-paced edits and looped footage, as well as heavy use of loud dubstep music and squeaker sounds in the background. While this style of editing initially rose to popularity through highlight reels of impressive gameplay released by e-sport teams in the MLG.

Search Interest

External References

About

Hamsters are a type of small rodent often kept as a pet, similar to Guinea Pigs. Because of their small size and ability to cram large amounts of food into their mouth, they are often used in viral videos.

Online History

One of the earliest examples of hamsters online was the Hamster Dance website. The original Hampster Dance website was created by Canadian Deidre LaCarte, an art student at the time, during a competition between her best friend and sister to see who could generate the most web traffic.^[20] Using the web hosting service GeoCities^[19], LaCarte created an homage to her pet hamster, Hampton, featuring 392 animated hamster sprites doing different dances^[16] in August 1998. She paired the GIFs with a 9-second WAV file that contained a sped-up sample from the song “Whistle Stop”^[17] by Roger Miller, written for the 1973 Disney cartoon Robin Hood.^[18] Though the original site is now gone, mirrors were put up by WebHamster in February 1999 and educator Lee Sonko^[19] in 2002.

One of the first viral videos to star a hamster was uploaded on March 23rd, 2007, by YouTuber lumpymangos’s channel^[7] titled “Hamster Vacuum!” which features a hamster quickly eating a line of seeds. As of September 2014, the video has gained over 6.2 million views. A similar video titled “Smoke – The Amazing Hamster Storing Food” was uploaded by YouTuber soundorphan^[8] on August 11th, 2007. As of September 2014, the video has gained over 4 million views.

On May 29th, 2008, YouTuber ksdrummergirl^[23] uploaded a video titled “Swimming Hamsters.” As of September 2014, the video has gained over 3.7 million views. On December 8th, 2008, YouTuber katklub^[22] uploaded a video titled “Skateboarding hamster!!” As of September 2014, the video has gained over 8 million views.

On February 27th, 2009, YouTuber ParryGripp^[21] uploaded a video titled “Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom Nom – Parry Gripp” which features a hamster eating quickly, as of September 2014, the video has gained over 22.8 million views. On August 29th, 2012, YouTuber Vinícius Arantes^[24] uploaded a video titled “2 Hamsters 1 Wheel.” As of September 2014, the video has gained over 5.7 million views.

On May 25th, 2012, the YouTuber Athanasius Mike^[9] uploaded a video titled “Adorable Hamster gets Shot and pretends to be dead.” The video was covered by many websites including The Huffington Post^[10] and ABC News.^[11] As of September 2014, the video has gained over 11.2 million views.

Fandom

As of September 2014, a search query for “hamster” on YouTube^[1] yields more than 2.1 million results. On June 3rd, 2011, the r/hamsters subreddit^[2] was created, as of September 2014, the subreddit has gained over 2,000 readers. On November 20th, 2011, the fan run Tumblr blog hamster-tastic^[4] was created and on June 20th, 2013, Tumblr blog hamsters-in-cups ^[5] was created. As of September 2014, there are over 110,000 fan art submissions on DeviantArt^[6] tagged hamster.

Related Memes

Hamster Dance

Hampster Dance is one of the earliest single-serving sites, featuring rows of dancing hamster GIFs set to a sped-up sample of the song “Whistle Stop” by Roger Miller. The site became popular in the late 90s through e-mail, blogs and bait & switch pranks.

Hamster on a Piano

Hamster on a Piano is a viral video first uploaded by a YouTube user named arcobalenoverde in February 2007. The minute-long clip, which shows a white hamster lying on top of piano keys and eating popcorn, became so popular that it gave way to several spin-off videos of animals doing other cute things.

Hamster Butts

Hamster Butts is a Japanese photo fad highlighting the buttocks of the furry rodents from the rear side view, which was inspired by a book with the same name published in March 2014.

“All in all, Hamuketsu is the best.”

Hamsters Eating Tiny Food

On April 29th, 2014, YouTuber HelloDenizen^[12] uploaded a video titled “Tiny Hamsters Eating Tiny Burritos – Episode 1.” The video was covered by many websites including The Huffington Post^[13] and Gawker.^[14] As of September 2014, the video has gained over 8.4 million views.

On May 7th, YouTuber AprilsAnimals^[15] uploaded a video titled “Tiny hamster eating a tiny pizza.” As of September 2014, the video has gained over 2.5 million views. On September 16th, HelloDenizen uploaded a video titled “Tiny Hamster vs Kobayashi (Ep. 3).” The video gained over 370,000 views within 48 hours.

Search Interest

External References

About

Fark is an online community and news aggregation website which features a wide range of news articles and other topically relevant content submitted by its users. Upon its launch in 1999, Fark quickly grew into one of the major hubsites for open discussions of current events and a prominent breeding ground for internet memes, particularly during the early to mid-2000s.

History

Fark.com^[1] was registered in September 1997 by Drew Curtis, then-the owner and operator of an internet service provider (ISP) based in Frankfort, Kentucky, who says he coined the term as a chatroom-safe euphemism for “fuck” or from an accidental misspelling while he was intoxicated.^[10] Curtis officially launched the website in 1999 to share interesting news articles with his friends without having to send the links via email.

In August 2004, Internet entrepreneur Jason Calcanis^[6] published a blog post claiming that a Fark salesman offered to give his articles preferential placement on the site for the price of $300 to $400. Curtis subsequently fired the salesman and denied selling placement for articles on the site. On January 17th, 2007, the video series Fark TV was launched, with the first episode featuring a parody commercial for the beverage “Meth Coffee.” On April 25th, Fark unveiled its first major redesign (shown below).

It’s Not News, It’s Fark

In May, the book It’s Not News, It’s Fark: How Mass Media Tries to Pass off Crap as News by Curtis was released, which criticized mass media for reporting various types of “soft news.” In November, Curtis filed a trademark for the phrase “not safe for work”,^[7] which was abandoned the following year. On January 31st, 2008, Curtis incorporated the website as Fark Inc. In May, the Cartoon Network programming block Adult Swim purchased the Fark TV video hosting site SuperDeluxe, subsequently removing Fark TV. In 2009, the newspaper USA Today became the exclusive sponsor of the “Geek” page on Fark, which highlights tech news articles. In 2012, the iPhone app “Hey! on Fark” was released, which allows users to comment on Fark submissions and provides notifications for stories submitted with specific topics and keywords.

Ban on Misogyny

On August 18th, 2014, Curtis posted an announcement^[4] about adding “misogyny” to the Fark moderator guidelines, revealing that rape jokes, referring to women as “whores” and “sluts” and suggesting that women who suffered a crime were “asking for it” were now bannable offenses on the site. On the following day, the news blog Slate^[5] published an article about the new guidelines by staff writer Amanda Hess, who argued that the new policy would be difficult to enforce, especially when determining if a comment is misogynistic or satirical.

Features

Tagging System

Users can place their story submissions under a variety of tags, including “stupid,” “interesting,” “obvious” and “dumbass.” Tags for digitally manipulated content including “photoshop,” “audioedit” and “videoedit.”

TotalFark

In 2002, the TotalFark subscription service was launched for a fee of $5 per month, allowing users to view a special TotalFark news feed, the ability to upvote and downvote headlines, early submission for Photoshop contests and participate in a special TotalFark discussion forum.

Highlights

UFIA

UFIA is an acronym commonly used on the site which stands for “Unsolicited Finger in Anus,” which became popularized in March 2004 after a news story with the headline “Judge determines unsolicited finger in anus is crude, but not criminal” was highlighted on the homepage of the site.^[8]

Ric Romero

In October 2006, the KABC-TV consumer specialist Ric Romero became a subject of ridicule on the site after publishing an article about blogging which many readers found oblivious.^[9]

Glenn Beck Rape & Murder Hoax

“Did Glenn Beck Rape And Murder A Young Girl In 1990” is an Internet hoax and grassroots smear campaign which began as a comment by Fark user oddweevil in August 2009.

Why haven’t we had an official response to the rumor that Glenn Beck raped and murdered a girl in 1990?

I Can’t Fap to This

“I Can’t Fap to This” is an expression indicating that a person is unable to masturbate using a specific stimulus. The phrase is often used to comment on YouTube videos and as a caption for image macros. The earliest known posting was submitted by Fark^[3] commenter KickahaOta on September 10th, 2008.

What You Think You Look Like vs. What You Actually Look Like

What You Think You Look Like vs. What You Actually Look Like is a two-pane image macro series illustrating the discrepancy between one’s own self-image and outside perceptions of physical attractiveness. The first image typically approaches the subject’s self-idealized image while performing a certain act in a positive or attractive way, followed by a second image portraying the subject in an unflattering manner. On July 20th, 2008, FARK^[2] user Control_this commented in a thread about the state of casinos in Illinois with a photograph of a young woman playing a slot machine followed by a photo of an older woman smoking while playing another gambling machine.

Identifying Wood

Identifying Wood refers to the cover photograph of the book with the same name in which a middle-aged man is shown examining the texture of a wooden panel with a microscope. On May 22nd, 2007, a thread^[3] was posted on the community website FARK requesting photoshops of the book cover. The thread, receiving 36 replies prior to being archived, produced several notable examples of the meme.

Traffic

Fark received over 50,000 page views within one year of launch. In 2000, Fark rose to one million page views for the year. In January 2008, Curtis announced the site was averaging 52 million page views per month with four million unique visitors.^[3] As of September 2014, Fark has a global rank of 3,159 and a United States rank of 1,315 on the traffic analytics site Alexa.^[2]

Search Interest

External References

About

Sign Bunny is a Twitter meme featuring an ASCII art rabbit holding a sign with customized words and phrases. While it appears to have originated among Brazilian Twitter users, tweets containing the rabbit saw a resurgence among English speakers in September 2014.

Origin

On August 13th, 2013, Twitter user @okumaurso^[1] posted a tweet (shown below, left) featuring an ASCII cat holding a sign containing a rabbit head and the Portuguese word “PROCURA-SE” (“Wanted” in English). On August 22nd, Twitter user @O_Raul^[3] posted a tweet (shown below, right) in which the cat was replaced with a rabbit and the phrase “Cadê o porquinho” (“Where is the pig?” in English).

Spread

On September 16th, 2014, Tumblr employee Amber Gordon posted a tweet^[2] with a sign bunny holding the phrase “Gurl Please” to The Daily Dot editor Cooper Fleishman (shown below).

According to The Daily Dot,^[9] Gordon’s followers subsequently began tweeting their own versions of the sign (shown below).

That day, the Twitter feeds for BuzzFeed,^[5] the restaurant chain Denny’s,^[6] the news site The Huffington Post^[7] and the pizza restaurant chain Pizza Hut^[8] posted their own sign bunny variations (shown below, clockwise).

According to the Twitter analytics site Topsy,^[4] the ASCII sign bunny was tweeted over 150,000 times in the previous 30 days. In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the ASCII rabbit, including Mashable,^[10] Metro^[11] and The Daily Edge.^[12]

Search Interest

Not available.

External References

About

“I’m not a scientist” refers to a flippant remark Republican Senator Marco Rubio made in response to a question regarding the age of the earth. Online, the term became a way to poke fun at someone’s ignorance or avoidance of a topic they were ignorant of, especially conservative politicians.

Origin

In November of 2012, GQ^[2] published an interview with Senator Marco Rubio. Within the interview Rubio is asked, “How old do you think the Earth is?” a reference to the same question stumping Rick Perry, the then Governor of Texas, in August of 2011.^[1] Rubio replied:

“I’m not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that’s a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I’m not a scientist.”

Spread

The quote was covered by several sites in November of 2012, including Politico^[5], the Telegraph^[6] and Science Blogs.^[7]

On February 5th, 2013, Buzzfeed’s YouTube channel^[4] posted a video clip from their Buzzfeed Brews interview with Rubio titled “Marco Rubio Not Concerned About Climate Change.”

The following day The Atlantic^[3] published an article titled “Is Marco Rubio a Scientist or Not, Man?”

On May 30th, 2014, New York Magazine^[8] published an article titled “Why Do Republicans Always Say ‘I’m Not a Scientist’?” which explains:

“I’m not a scientist” allows Republicans to avoid conceding the legitimacy of climate science while also avoiding the political downside of openly branding themselves as haters of science. The beauty of the line is that it implicitly concedes that scientists possess real expertise, while simultaneously allowing you to ignore that expertise altogether.”

On June 4th, The Daily Show featured a segment covering the trend of conservative politicians saying they aren’t scientists. The following day the segment was covered by The Wire^[12] and Yahoo.^[13]

“I’m Not an Evolutionary Biologist”

On September 16th, 2014, Bobby Jindal, the Governor of Louisiana,^[9] told a reporter:

“I’m not an evolutionary biologist.”

When he was asked if he believed in evolution. The quote was covered the same day by many websites including The New Republic^[10] and Raw Story.^[11]

Search Interest

External References

WIP, Feel Free to Apply for Editorship

See more on Know Your Meme

About

Wasted is a term introduced by the Grand Theft Auto series to denote the death of the player character should they run out of health.

History

First appearance in the GTA (1997)

About

Passenger Shaming is a Facebook page and Instagram feed which highlights photographs of public transit and commercial transport passengers violating various rules of public etiquette.

Origin

In January 2013, flight attendant Shawn Kathleen launched the Passenger Shaming Facebook^[1] page. The first photo was uploaded to the page on February 8th, featuring a barefoot airline passenger placing their feet in between the seats in front of him (shown below).^[2]

Precursors

On June 10th, 2007, the “single topic blog”;http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/single-topic-blogs Flights From Hell^[7] was created, which contains stories about flight experiences with terrible passengers.

On August 10th, 2010, the single topic blog Going With Eddie^[3] was launched, which highlights photos of subway passengers committing various faux pas while riding the train (shown below)

Spread

On March 25th, 2013, the news site Today^[7] published an article about the Passenger Shaming Facebook page. On October 6th, the Passenger Shaming Instagram^[6] feed was created. On September 14th, 2014, BuzzFeed^[5] highlighted several notable examples from the Passenger Shaming Facebook page. On September 17th, CNN aired a segment on Passenger Shaming photographs (shown below).

In the coming days, several other news sites published articles about Passenger Shaming, including Yahoo News,^[8] Complex,^[9] UpRoxx,^[10] The Daily Mail^[11] and Jezebel.^[12]

Notable Examples

Search Interest

Not available.

External References

About

PostModern Jukebox is a series of YouTube videos created by Scott Bradlee which covers contemporary pop songs in the style of 1940s and 1950s popular jazz.

Online History

On April 17th, 2009, musician Scott Bradlee uploaded his first video to his YouTube channel ScottBradleeLovesYa^[1], which features Bradlee playing a “A Night in Tunisia” on the piano. As of September 2014, the video has gained over 34,000 views.

Bradlee uploaded the first PostModern Jukebox video, titled "Postmodern Jukebox Ep. 1 – “Paparazzi” by Lady Gaga – ft. Emma Walker, Brandee Younger" on February 22nd, 2010. As of September 2014, the video has gained over 210,000 views.

The first PostModern Jukebox video to go viral was a cover of Macklemore’s“Thrift Shop” which was uploaded on February 11th, 2013. The cover was featured on many sites including The Laughing Squid^[2] and ViralViral Videos.^[3] As of September 2014, the video has gained over 5.7 million views.

As of September 2014, the series’ two most popular videos are a 1950s cover of Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop,” which was uploaded on September 3rd, 2013, and has gained over 10.3 million views, and a cover of Lorde’s Royals which was uploaded on October 31st, and has gained over 8.6 million views.

Social Media Presence

As of September 2014, PostModern Jukebox’s Facebook page^[4] (shared with Bradlee) has gained over 57,000 views and its Twitter account^[5] (also shared with Bradlee) has gained over 9,000 followers.

Notable Videos

Search Interest

External References

About

DILFs of Disneyland is an Instagram account which features pictures of attractive men with their children at Disneyland theme park.

Origin

The Instagram account DILFs of Disneyland^[1] uploaded its first photo on August 19th, 2014. Within a month the account had gained over 100,000 followers and uploaded over 50 pictures. Its most liked photo has gained over 8,000 likes.

Spread

On September 16th, the LAist^[2] published a post titled “‘DILFs Of Disneyland’ Is Our Favorite New Instagram Account.” The Instagram account was covered by several websites the following day including Buzzfeed^[3], Refinery29^[4] and EliteDaily.^[5] The account was covered on September 18th, by many sites including Thought Catalog^[7] and Complex.^[8]

Notable Examples

Search Interest

External References

About

*Don’t Do the Thing, I’m Going to Do the Thing" is a popular template for Tumblr post which summerizes a popular TV show or movie by asserting that the plot is driven primarly by one character doing something he is advised against. This formula can also be worded “(main character name) no,” “(main character name) yes.”

Origin

On May 21st, 2013, Tumblr user sorion^[2] published a text post including the “Don’t Do the Thing, I’m Going to Do the Thing” formula, applying it to the Star Trek franchise. As of September 2014, the post has gained over 40,000 notes.

Spread

On May 26th, Tumblr user hesitant-satan^[2] published a similar Star Trek post using screenshots. As of September 2014, the post has gained over 200 notes.

On August 9th, Tumblr user jordan-the-optimist^[3] published a cartoon depicting Star Trek’s use of the formula. As of September 2014, the post has gained over 100 notes. On January 25th, 2014, reddit user slightlyfunnyposts^[4] posted the image to the r/funny subreddit, as of September 2014, the post has gained over 1,000 points.

On December 28th, 2013, Tumblr user ntlibrary^[5] published a post titled “Harry Potter: A Summary” which reads:

“Everyone: Harry No.
Harry: Harry Yes.”

As of September 2014, the post has gained over 240,000 notes.

On July 15th, 2014, Tumblr user leeeeeeeeeegooooooooolaaaaaaaaas^[6] published a post featuring GIFs from The Hobbit captioned:

“everyone: thORIN NO!

thorin: THORINYES!

As of September 2014, the post has gained over 6,000 notes. On August 11th, Tumblr user captain-foulenough^[7] published a post on Captain American which reads:

“Bucky: Steve NO

Steve: Steve YES

Bucky: sighfurious cursing Bucky also yes"

As of September 2014, the post has gained over 15,000 notes.

On

Search Interest

External References

Will finish it eventually. Nobody’s paying me so…

About

He Does It For Free is a phrase used to make fun of moderators of a site, who take their job too seriously, despite having no monetary gain from it. Is it often associated with images featuring John Morris from a cartoon show Arthur.

Origin

The earliest known example of the phrase used in this context can be dated back to September 28th, 2013, on 4chan’s /sp/ board^[1].

Spread

Examples

Search Interest

External References

About

Sam Spratt is an illustrator known for creating art for Gawker and its other websites, as well as creating a “realistic meme series.” His art often becomes popular and is widely shared on Tumblr.

Online History

Spratt was hired by Gawker media in 2010, shortly after he was granted a BFA in illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design.^[6]

YouTube Channel

Spratt created his self titled YouTube channel^[7] on February 7th, 2011. As of September 2014, the channel has gained over 3,000 subscribers. As of September 2014 the channel’s two most popular videos are “Smoker,” uploaded on February 8th, 2014, which has gained over 38,000 views and ‘Realistic X all the Y Meme’ which was uploaded on February 20th, and has gained over 33, 000 views. Both videos featured screen captured, time lapse videos of Spratt’s digitally illustrating.

Realistic Memes

On July 18th, 2011, Spratt posted a series of realistic looking reaction faces titled “The Art of Internet Memes.” As of September 2014, the post has gained over 3,000 notes.

On August 31st, 2012, The Laughing Squid^[8] published a collection of Spratt’s realistic Angry Bird illustrations.

Media Coverage

On April 20th, 2012, The Daily Dot^[1] published an interview with Spratt, in which he explains his interacts as an artist with the Tumblr community, saying:

“I think Facebook, Twitter, and especially Reddit -- are amazing places to pick up nuggets of news, inspiration, ideas, and so on. But Tumblr, because it is so image-centric, will always be the best for just casually absorbing content--Not even picking out individual things you like, just scrolling and pausing and scrolling and pausing, letting the Web trickle into your brain.”

On September 9th, 2013, Pitchfork^[9] featured a article on Spratt’s artistic process for the cover art he produced for singer Janelle Monae’s album Electric Lady.

Social Media Presence

As of September 2014, Spratt’s Facebook page^[2] has gained over 39,000 followers and his Twitter account^[3] has gained over 13,000 followers. His Instagram account^[4] has gained over 14,000 followers.

Search Interest

External References