A purple, head-banging bird is everywhere now. It's on Facebook, YouTube, in the comments on New York Times stories and even in your texts. The popular pigeon has become a meme monster.
SEE ALSO: Donald Trump holding executive orders is the meme that keeps givingThe bird is the creation of illustrator and visual development artist Syd Weiler who unleashed the fowl upon the world after some unexpected inspiration.
Weiler said she got the idea while visiting Minneapolis. "I was sitting by a pond ... and there were just pigeons everywhere," she said. "I had never thought about pigeons before. They're funny little birds. They have really shiny, colorful, almost rainbow-y feathers, but then they bob around and waddle and beg for food. They're like doves but they eat trash."
She made the images of the bird, available on iOS 10, last year, creating them digitally based on her original drawings. She even streamed their creation live on Twitch.TV, where she's a "full-time creative streamer," creating art in front of viewers daily which, Weiler said, is "like monetizing a YouTube channel."
Watch live video from SydWeiler on www.twitch.tv Watch live video from SydWeiler on www.twitch.tvThen at the end of January, the stickers hit Facebook, fueling their popularity, especially on the other side of the world.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
It seems that ground zero for Trash Dove's explosion, according to Know Your Meme, was its appearance in an animated video produced in Thailand which featured the head-banging Trash Dove dancing next to an animated cat which takes an unexpected and, ahem, adult turn.
Weiler was taken by surprise: "I woke up... and everyone was tagging me and sending me these Thai news articles that I couldn't read but had my picture on them."
As for the above video, Weiler says, "I thought it was really funny. At that point, there's not much I can do about it but laugh."
The stickers have made their mark across Facebook, even, as noted by The Verge, invading Facebook comment sections of sites like Voxand TheNew York Times.
The comments section on a recent post by Weiler shows that even the creator can't escape the monster meme.
Lest there was any question as to whether the meme has taken on a life of its own, consider that it's allegedly been co-opted by the alt-right, according to users on a Reddit thread and a Medium post.
Weiler, though, is focusing on the joy her creation brings to fans, rather than the more unsavory turns.
"[The trash doves] were made to make people laugh and make people happy," she says. "I'm really glad people like them. I'm really glad they make people smile and seeing the fan art and all the nice comments has been really, really nice."
文章
7215
浏览
7828
获赞
64191
Lenovo Flex 5G laptop now available through Verizon
5G isn't just for phones. Starting this week, you can buy a real, actual laptop that connects to theNonprofit files complaint against OpenAI's GPT
On Thursday, the Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP), an advocacy nonprofit, filed a complaintHow doctors' receptionists really feel about their notorious TikTok reputation
We’ve all been there before: you feel under the weather, so you call your GP (general practitiGoogle will incorporate generative AI into its search engine
Google's Bard generative AI service might not be siloed off into its own separate website for very lChina plans to ban Bitcoin mining, report claims
China plans to put an end to cryptocurrency mining in the country, Reuters reported Tuesday citing aHow can men help dismantle misogyny and violence? This book will tell you how.
How can men help dismantle misogyny? What are tangible things men can do to end male violence? WhatAmazon Ring hacked? Ring denies it as hackers threaten to release data
Ring is everywhere nowadays. The Amazon-owned company's doorbell-slash-security-camera products areTwitter revives 'prebunks' to get ahead of voting misinformation
Twitter has announced a series of changes it hopes will "protect civic conversation" on the platformThe summoning circle meme calls upon your deepest, darkest desires
If you could request anyone and anything, what would it be?The new "summoning circle" meme has TwittDonald Trump indictment response: See his Truth Social meltdown
The 45th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, has officially been "INDICATED."Well, at lElon Musk says work from home is 'bull**it' and 'morally wrong'
Elon Musk has thoughts about work from home. Many, many thoughts. The CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and TwitSeth Green's Bored Ape was stolen. Now he can't make his NFT show.
Earlier this month, actor and Robot Chicken creator Seth Green announced that his crypto wallet wasThe summoning circle meme calls upon your deepest, darkest desires
If you could request anyone and anything, what would it be?The new "summoning circle" meme has Twitt'Harry's House' finds a home on TikTok
The world is on fire. So much so that TikTok can sometimes feel like an alternate reality. The trendTesla’s Master Plan part 3 gives you numbers to chew on
In March, Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the third instalment of his ever-evolving Master Plan, a set