There is constantly a new meme trending around social media platforms. One week it could be a meme about a boy with white vans and the next week about about a girl catch phrase “ Cash me outside how bout that”. Some of these meme trend around for a long period of time or as short as a week. However, a lot of the times when a meme blows up in popularity and diverted from its origins, it is hard to figure out how this meme started in the first place.
One meme that have gained huge popularity and have a lot of different variations is Pepe the frog. This meme have been circulating for a long time and have surpass many other meme on staying relevant is Pepe.
History:
Pepe the frog memes we know today, originated as a frog character from a comic series called the Boy’s Club by Matt Furie. This comic was about four friends who live the stereotypical post-college bro lifestyle and they were animal characters.
It first gain notice in 2008 when fans uploaded a scene from the comic of Pepe reaction and responds saying “Feels good, man” on to the internet. He said this as “ an explanation for him pulling his pants to the floor when he pees.” (Reddit). Pepe was refer to as the “ Feel good, man” frog in the beginning. Later on in 2009, more variation were created and circulating such as sad, smug, and angry Pepe on 4chan and other social media platforms. They began to gain popularity as it was used as a way to express the feeling of the user at that moment whether it was for a sad emotion or for an excited moment. Celebrities such as Nicki Minaj posted Pepe twerking on Instagram and political figure use it as well in their tweets. This meme became more widely known and popular to “mainstream” media.
I think the main reason why this meme is so famous is because it is a frog with characteristics that are relatable to many people. The phases that people attach to Pepe are relatable and easy to imagine it being said since, Pepe originated from a cartoon. Also, the way the eyes are drawn convey a certain emotion to users that make it that more relatable to many different people and not just a group of teens and young adult using the internet. It was a good reaction image to use to express emotions that you cant put into words at times.
How it was used
Pepe’s image was mainly used as a reaction image for users to react or express their emotion to others on the internet. It was used in a joking matter between friends and other users on social media platforms. However, in recent months during the US 2016 elections, Pepe the frog got altered again into the political figure such as Donald Trump, and other racists, white supremacist memes. The innocent meme became a mascot to the “alt right” groups and white supremacists. Example of anti semitic alteration to Pepe was adding a hitler mustache to his face and replacing his catch phase with “Kill Jews Man”. Others also included him wearing a Nazi soldier’s uniform or a KKK hood/robe. ADL, the Anti- Defamation League even posted a statement of Pepe recent social present in the “alt right” community and pushing for the movement to reclaim Pepe and formed a #SavePepe campaign in October 2016.
