mandag 19. mars 2012
mandag 5. mars 2012
Casually pepper spray everything cop - by Harald Smedal Stamsoe
Sociology 167
Harald Smedal Stamsoe
Assignment on memes
Casually pepper spray anything cop
On November 18th,
2011, a group of students were arranging a protest on the campus of UC Davis as
part of the larger nationwide Occupy protests. The police tried to break up the
protests. The students, sitting down with their arms linked together, refused
to leave. One of the police officers, Lieutenant John Pike, started to pepper
spray the students in an effort to break up the protest.. Unfortunately for Lt
Pike, this was 2011, meaning that everyone and their brother had easy access to
recording equipment. The footage of the police officer pepper spraying the
seemingly peaceful protesters quickly found its way to both the internet and
traditional media. Much of the public was outraged by this apparent police
brutality. The most famous picture of Lt Pike pepper spraying students was
uploaded to the social news site Reddit on November 19th. On
November 20th two edited versions of the picture appeared on Reddit.
In the first one, Lt Pike was replaced by a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio
strutting happily along the students. The second picture depicted Lt Pike
pepper spraying the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. This
quickly caught on, and images of Lt Pike peppery spraying anything and
everything showed up online. Searching through forums and social media sites,
on can find pictures of Lt Pike pepper spraying the Tiananmen Square protester,
the self-immolating Buddhist monk, Jesus, New York City construction workers
and native Americans just to mention a few. These pictures quickly spread
throughout the Internet, spurred on by extensive news coverage of the incident
and widespread sharing and reposting on various social websites. The popularity
of this meme is arguably due to the seemingly casual way the police officer
pepper sprays the students, as if it was a daily routine.

On November 21st, Bill O’Reilly and Megyn Kelly of Fox News discussed the event on air. As was to be expected, Fox’s people immediately defended the police officer, citing the fact that pepper spray is “a food product, essentially”. This statement by Megyn Kelly spawned a meme of Kelly’s face superimposed over a statement downplaying the seriousness of various things like war, torture and rape.

Sources:
Knowyourmeme: http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/204843-pepper-spray-cop-casually-pepper-spray-everything-cop
Google Trends: http://www.google.com/trends/?q=%22Casually+pepper+spray+everything+cop%22&ctab=0&geo=all&date=ytd
Leeroy Jenkins - by Lars Blakstvedt
Leeroy Jenkins
meme
by Lars
Christensen Blakstvedt
Leeroy Jenkins is a video from the MMORPG
World of Warcraft(WoW), where a character named Leeroy Jenkins is away form his
keyboard(AFK) because he is warming up a plate of chicken. He then comes back,
and without warning runs into a group of enemies while screaming his characters
name and ruins his allies carefully laid plans.
I think some of the reasons this video
became so popular is that WoW was and still is a very popular online game, and
that people find it amusing how a game can bring out emotions in the people
involved. There was an explosion of new videos of people reacting emotionally
from events in WoW after the Leeroy
Jenkins video became popular. So I guess its more entertaining to hear or see
human reactions from factors in a online game than a video from the game
itself.
Examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PmyYZqoGIw
(guy freaks out after account is deleted) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GJ7eueZ1wY
(red shirt guy)
The character Leeroy Jenkins is played by
Ben Schulz, who’s become well known in the World of Warcraft community.
There has been questions if the Leeroy
Jenkins video is staged, Ben Schulz answered following: I like people to decide
for themselves, it is more fun that way”.
The video was first uploaded to Warcraft
Movies on May 11, 2005 by the guild PalsForLife. The guild posted the video and
asked for constructive criticism on their tactics. The first YouTube video was
uploaded on November 19, 2005. The most viewed youtube video has now over 29 000 000 views. The name Leeroy
Jenkins has even been used in a Jeopardy question.
Kim Jong-Un looking at things - by Ida Maria Saxebøl
Kim Jong-Un Looking at Things
The Kim
Jong-Un looking at things-meme actually started out with a number of pictures
showing his father, Kim Jong-Il looking at different things. The photos of the
late North Korean leader show him inspecting a number of different facilities,
published by the government of North Korea to give the impression of a
dedicated leader. The photos were soon published on a Tumblr-blog called ”Kim
Jong-ll Looking at Things.”


Kim Jong-Il
looking at cafeteria. Kim
Jong-Il looking at potatoes.
After being
posted on Reddit in early December 2010, the blog was soon discover by several
well-known online medias and the meme had its peak in December 2010.
After the
death of Kim Jong-Il, his son Kim Jong-Un took over as the leader of North
Korea, and soon after, the state-run Korean Central News Agency started
publishing pictures of the new leader also looking at things. This lead to the
blog www.kimjongunlookingatthings.tumblr.com, which is updated as soon as North
Korea posts a new photo of the “brilliant comrade and great successor” looking
at something new.


Kim Jong-Un
looking at a big cheese. Kim
Jong-Un looking at bath water.


Kim Jong-Un
looking at gym floor. Kim
Jong-Un looking at guitar.
This meme
peaked in December 2011, but has kept on being somewhat popular the first few
months of 2012.
The cinnamon challenge - by Espen Winger Karlsen
The cinnamon challenge
By: Espen
Winger Karlsen
The
cinnamon challenge has been around for decades but in the resent years it has
also become a meme. The rules are simple. Eat a spoonful of cinnamon in less
than a minute whit out drinking water.
Thousands of people have posted their attempts of beating this challenge
on video-communities like You Tube.
It sounds
easy to do, but completing it is very difficult. The cinnamon dries up the
contestant’s mouths making it very hard to swallow. This results in him coughing up a small cloud
of cinnamon. The earliest video of the
cinnamon challenge was posted on You Tube April 2nd, 2006. It shows
how a young guy attempts to eat a spoonful of cinnamon. As he eats the spoon he
has a unique reaction to the cinnamon.
There seem
to be two factors that compel people to beat the cinnamon challenge. First of
all, it sounds much easier than it is. This makes some people try it to see if
they can beat all the people who have attempted before them.
The second
compelling factor is their funny reaction. Everyone make faces when they try
swallowing it. This gives people a lot of attention on You Tube. There are lots
of videos with over a million views each of people eating cinnamon.
A few different of those reactions can be seen
here:
Some people
actually beats the challenge aswell:
![]() |
The cinnamon challenge phenomenon reached its
peak in Google trends in early 2012
after the Chicago tribune posted an article on dangers with cinnamon. The
article can be seen here. This article seems to have fuelled the
phenomena making it even more popular than before.
Sources:
søndag 4. mars 2012
Paula Deen Riding Things - by Mari Jørstad
Assignment #2
Mari Jørstad
“PAULA
DEEN RIDING THINGS”
On February 28th 2011 a photographer took a
picture of Paula Deen while she was barebacking Robert Irving, a Food Network
host, at a South Beach Wine and Food festival.

The first “Paula Deen Riding Things” meme was posted
28th February 2011; the same day the original picture was posted
online. It became popular rather fast, and according to Google insights most
pictures of “Paula Deen Riding Things” were posted in March 2011. After this the
interest dropped for some time, but became a little popular again in December
2011. Google insights also show that this meme was only popular in the United
States. http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=paula%20deen%20riding%20things&cmpt=q
Paula Deen is a celebrity chef, and a well-known TV-personality.
She is known for cooking Southern food with a high content of fat, salt and
sugar. On the first picture of “Paula Deen Riding Things” that was posted, she
is riding a package of butter; “Paula Deen Riding Butter”. After this photo was
posted there was soon new memes appearing were Deen is riding on different things
and people.
“Hugh Jackman Can Ride Anything” meme came in December
2010 http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/hugh-jackman-can-ride-anything,
after he was zip-lining at the Oprah show. Other memes that have emerged from
this is “Frank Iero Riding on Things”, and “Brendon Urie Riding Shit”. Both of
these came in April and May in the year of 2011, but have not become as popular
as “Paula Deen Riding Things”. Paula Deen also has other memes http://memebase.com/category/paula-deen-yall/.
Planking - by Thao Elizabeth Nguyen
Assignment
# 2 – “PLANKING”
By: Thao Thi Phuong Elizabeth Nguyen
“Planking”
is a game/activity where you lie on your stomach with your face down on
strange, crowded, famous or unusual places. After finding a perfect place to do
the “planking”, pictures are taken, and spread around through social networks.
This action was meant to be mimicking of a wooden plank. The popularity of this
game expanded at the beginning of 2011. I supposed this game has expanded a lot
through the social networks the last couple of years, just because the concept
seems ridiculous and funny at the same time. It both brings humor to the person
doing the “planking”, at the people watching these pictures. With today’s
technology, camera is not rare, and “planking” would be a free activity, ANYWHERE. Location selection and the planking
environment is everything.
It is also not sure who invented or started this activity, comedian Tom Green claim he invented this concept already in 1994. Gary Clarkson & Christian Langdon claimed they invented it (by the name: Lying down Game) in 2000. Then the Australian they invented it in 2011, through the name: Planking. But there must be some agreement to the writer on planking-pics.com – “Playing dead has been done by animals for 1000s of years as survival instinct, so they win”.
These pictures could be shared and downloaded through sites like: Ratemyplankings.com, or bestplanking.com, but the best and most effective social network that has been used is: Facebook.
David “Wolfman” William who’s a famous Australian rugby player, scored in March, 2011 by planking over the goal line. This score created a huge media coverage, which also made this concept reach out and influence a lot more individuals.
The popularity of this game seems to be shrinking, considered from this year, 2012, but there are other variations of this game. Examples: Mimicking an owl, or forming like a teapot. But after all, the popularity of this game went far and big, that it even reached to Hollywood stars.
Google Insight - 2011
Gingers do have souls! - by Ingvild Firman Fjellså
By Ingvild Firman Fjellså
“GINGERS DO HAVE SOULS!”
In 2005 on the 9th of November,
South Park aired an episode called “Ginger Kids” were they mocked red haired
people. In this episode the character Cartman claims that read haired people,
or gingers, are infected by a virus which is called “Gingervitus” and has no
souls. Full episode: http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s09e11-ginger-kids
As a result of this 18-year Micheal, calling him self “CopperCab”, posted a video on YouTube on January 14th in 2010. In his video, called “GINGERS DO HAVE SOULS!”, he highly emotional expresses his anger and frustration of being bullied for being a ginger. He blames South Park for the ongoing discrimination of gingers and he wants them to put a stop to it. http://www.youtube.com/watchfeature=player_embedded&v=EY39fkmqKBM
During the first month on the
Internet the video was viewed over 3 million times (Know your meme 2010). By
march 2012 the video got nearly 27 million hits on YouTube. According to
YouTube's own statistics the video is most popular in north America, Australia
and north Europe, by people in the ages between 13 and 24 (YouTube 2012).
“CopperCap”s video got a big amount
of responses in short time. This in form of remixes of the original movie,
parodies, response videos, pictures, memes and gadgets to buy.
Obama “Gingers do not have souls: http://troll.me/gingers-do-not-have-souls/
Coppecap “I got 99 problems but soul
ain't one”:
http://www.damnlol.com/gingers-do-have-souls-9526.html
CopperCap video remix:http://www.youtube.com/watchv=4ZIRLvVnXmg&feature=related
T-shirt “Gingers do have souls”:
http://www.damnlol.com/gingers-do-have-souls-9526.html
CopperCap video remix:http://www.youtube.com/watchv=4ZIRLvVnXmg&feature=related
T-shirt “Gingers do have souls”:
http://www.zazzle.comgingers_do_have_souls_tshirt-235191692416658754
CopperCap himself keeps on posting
follow up videos where he expresses his rage against uncivilized and
discriminating behavior on and of the Internet.
Sources:
*YouTube(2012) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EY39fkmqKBM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EY39fkmqKBM
*Know your meme(2010): http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/gingers-do-have-souls
*South Park Digital Studios (2011):
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s09e11-ginger-kids
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s09e11-ginger-kids
Chocolate rain - by Thea Andre Engelsen
«CHOCOLATE
RAIN”
By: Thea
Andrea Engelsen
“Chocolate rain”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA is a song and
music video by Tay Zonday. He was a grad student from Minneapolis, Minnesota
when he uploaded the music video on YouTube on April 22th, 2007. It quickly became
a popular internet meme in July 2007 as the song started to catch the attention
of the group Anonymous. By July 26th “chocolate rain” was featured
on YouTube’s front page, giving the video tons of viewers. The internet page
4chan also showcased the music video all over the page, with jokes and a remix
song in Zonday’s honor.
As of February
2012 the video has over 77 million views. It is ranked as the hottest viral
video of summer 2007 by CTV, and was the winner in the music category in 2007
YouTube awards. “Chocolate rain’s” highest peak was in August 2007 after his
appearance on Best week ever and Jimmy Kimmel, and this has resulted in major
media attention.
The video
features Zonday singing “chocolate rain «into a microphone while during
weird/funny face expressions. I think the reason for why it became so popular
is because you wouldn’t guess that Zonday would have such an unusual deep and great
voice because of his very young and nerdy looks. He has later claimed that the
song was meant to be about institutional racism.
His
baritone voice has often been compared to Paul Robeson, Barry White and Brad
Roberts of the “crash test dummies”. Now he also does commercial voice and
spokesperson work for a growing portfolio of clients such as Dr.Pepper, Intel, TurboTax and Comedy central, while he also has
continued to make video has he has posted on his website : http://tayzonday.ning.com/
“Chocolate rain”
has been parodied and remixed several times, and there has been made several
memes and t-shirts. This eventually led Zonday himself to appear on a number of
television shows and being parodied on South Park.
Sources:
Chuck Norris facts - by Lars Berg
Chuck
Norris does not submit homework, homework submits Chuck Norris.
Tracking
the history and popularity of Chuck Norris facts.
By
Lars Berg
Chuck Norris facts is a internet phenomena consisting of a humorous fact
claim concerning the toughness, virility, strength, coolness, power or anything
else that would describe the actor Chuck Norris as a sort of super-being. The
facts also often include the powerful effects Chuck Norris’s trademark
roundhouse kick has on its surroundings.
The concept of internet phenomena of Chuck Norris facts is believed to
have originated with a series of exaggerated running jokes made by Conan
O’Brien in his talk show in May 2004 mainly centering around Norris’s character
in the TV-series Walker, Texas Ranger. In March 2005 it became popular in the
forums of www.somethingawful.com to make similar exaggerated fun-facts about the actor
Vin Diesel based upon his character in the movie “The Pacifier”, a man named
Ian Spector decided to create his own website dedicated to compiling all of
these fictive facts. The website became a big hit, but people quickly became
bored with the Vin Diesel facts and the creator of the site decided to
encourage visitors to vote for who should become the next “victim” for a new
round of similar jokes. Even though Chuck Norris was not even a candidate Ian
Spector announced him as the winner and stating that “he won by a landslide”.
This was probably much due to the popularity of the Texas, Walker Ranger jokes
made on the Conan O’Brien show (www.knowyourmeme.com/memes/chuck-norris-facts
). The buildup of the Chuck Norris facts
are very similar to the style of jokes made in the Saturday Night Live sketches
called “Bill Brasky” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Norris_facts).
The reason for why the popularity of the Chuck Norris facts became so
popular is probably because many have an existing relationship and consistent
idea of who Chuck Norris actually is and the role he played in his popular
TV-series, Walker, Texas Ranger. The feeling you get from watching that show is
in a way very fitting to the way the “facts” about Chuck Norris have evolved.
The show is about a quiet, laidback law-officer who constantly finds himself in
difficult and seemingly impossible situations, which he always resolves and
gets out off alive. This becomes quite comic after 8 seasons of pretty much the
same plot over and over again and functions as a good foundation for the
countless jokes about how tough Chuck Norris really is. Some of its popularity
might also be due to that the Chuck Norris facts are easily transferable to
other characters and people. For example if a group of friends wants to
ironically make fun of someone they know who maybe tries too hard to come off
as tough and strong they can look up Chuck Norris facts and simply change the
names.
According to Google Insight Chuck Norris facts were on the height of its
popularity overall around February 2006. The countries where the search for
“Chuck Norris Facts” were the most popular was The United States, followed by
Estonia, Slovenia and Norway.
The most prominent spinoffs off the concept of Chuck Norris facts are
the facts about the Indian actor Rajinikanth,
that follow the same setup as the Chuck Norris facts and of the many “facts”
that circulate about Rajinikanth many of them are preexisting Chuck Norris
facts only with the names changed. According to Wikipedia there has also been
created a fairly popular Tumblr page where similar facts about the Doctor Who
character Rory Williams are posted (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/chuck_norris_facts
).
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