Meme

Sarah Humphrey&

Hollie Ferguson

What is a meme? Dictionary Definition: Meme’ is a popular term for describing the noticeable and often

rapid uptake and spread of a particular idea in the form of written text, an image, a language ‘move’, or other piece or unit of cultural information (e.g., a catchphrase, a video clip, a recount of an event).

In our own words: A meme is something that has become popular via the internet

by an increase in its interest due to the amount of people spreading information about it.

BadgerBadgerBadgerwww.weebls-stuff.com

It consists of images of badgers performing an organised exercise, a toadstool in front of a tree, and a snake in the desert. Accompanied by electronic music, a voice repeats the word "badger" over the animation, breaking off to say either "mushroom" or "a snake".

It started out as a flash cartoon which was found on yahoo.co.uk and later posted onto a small website, ‘www.weebls-stuff.com’. The badger cartoon animation was published 2nd September 2003 by British animator Jonti Picking.

The badger animation brought Picking to the attention of MTV Europe, who he then produced Weebl and Bob cartoon animation onto his website. That cartoon series, together with the dancing badgers, helped Picking's website Weebl's Stuff win a People's Choice award from users of Yahoo! in the UK. "Badger Badger Badger" was also listed as one of the top five internet fads of all time by PC World

Development of the badgers After the badger cartoon was posted onto the website, it soon

became a national meme, the popularity of the cartoon grew and was eventually posted onto YouTube which now has over 30,000 views.

The popularity of the badger persuaded Jonti Picking to produce follow ups, such as UEFA euro football, Harry Potter, Lord of the rings and seasonal themes such as christmas and halloween.

In 2007, a live action version of the cartoon called "Baby Badgers" was released to promote the new Badger toys, which is the latest addition to the badger series.