About
#Slipgate is a photoshop meme featuring a cutout image of a man wearing a T-shirt and briefs while aggressively wielding a shovel. The photograph widely circulated on the French web after being tweeted by the Agence France-Presse in November 2015.
Origin
On November 9th, 2015, the French Agence France-Presse (AFP) tweeted several photos of a man in his underwear attacking activists from the Bird Protection League at a cornfield in Audon, France (shown below).[1][2][3] According to the AFP,[6] a man came out of his house and began beating reporters and activists with a large shovel after seeing them destroy traps set for finches.
Spread
That day, Twitter user @Tristan_Brtloot[4] tweeted a photoshopped image of the man with the shovel on a beach with a sandcastle (shown below, left). Shortly after, Twitter user @Imrage[5] posted a photoshop of the man wielding a lightsaber weapon from the Starwars franchise (shown below, right).
Meanwhile, Gawker[8] published an article about the incident titled “Don’t Fuck With These Finch Traps Unless You Want to Fight a Shovel-Wielding Underwear Man.” Also on November 9th, BuzzFeed[9] published a compilation of notable slipgate photoshops, referring to the man as the “French Shovel Guy.” On the following day, the IBI Times[7] published an article about the photoshop meme.
Various Examples
Search Interest
Not available.
External References
[4]Twitter – @Tristan_Britloot
[6]Liberation – Landes des militants de la LPA et des journalistes
[7]IBI Times – Frenchman in underpants is internet sensation for spade attack on activists
[8]Gawker – Dont Fuck With These Finch Traps Unless You Want to Fight a Shovel-Wielding Underwear Man
[9]BuzzFeed – People Cant Stop Photoshopping This Guy Who Attacked Journalists With A Shovel