Mediaboss Marketing

Memes come and go, but Pepe the Frog will forever be remembered as a symbol of hate even in its afterlife. Matt Furie, the artist who created Pepe over a decade ago to be a pretty chill cartoon frog, published a comic strip this weekend depicting Pepe laid to rest in an open casket. It was his way of symbolizing the death of the meme, even though he cant really kill it, and everything else its associated with.

Pepe the Frog started as a stoned frog in his 20s in Furies 2005 Boys Club MySpace comic, but leading up to the 2016 presidential election, it was adopted by the so-called alt-right as a symbol to spread racist messages. It even became a designated hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League.

Furie tried several times to take back ownership of his cartoon from white supremacists, but struggled. In a Time essay he published October 2016, Furie said the whole experience of Pepe becomingan icon of hate was a nightmare. The only thing I can do is see this as an opportunity to speak out against hate I understand that its out of my control, but in the end, Pepe is whatever you say he is, the creator, say that Pepe is love, Furie wrote in Time

Furie then launched a campaign to Save Pepe by flooding the internet with nice and peaceful depictions of Pepe, but after failing again, he decided to kill the character as a final way to disassociate from anti-Semitism it took on to represent. Yet, even as the character was laid to rest, that wont stop far-right white supremacists from appropriating the meme to spread messages of oppression and anti-Semitism.

Read this article:
'Pepe The Frog' Has Been Killed, But Not Its Symbolism - Vocativ

Pepe the Frogs battles are finally over. Cartoonist Matt Furie has officially killed off his most famous creation, which rose from internet meme to white supremacist mascot during the 2016 US election. As reported by Comic Book Resources, Furie published a one-page installment of his Boys Club series (where Pepe was first introduced in 2005) in celebration of Free Comic Book Day. The strip shows Pepe laid to rest in an open casket while his friends gather round to mourn. One pours out some whisky for the departed frog, splashing it on Pepes face. (You can see the full strip here.)

Furie hasnt spoken about the new cartoon, but its publication seems to bring to an end his quest to rehabilitate Pepe. When the alt-right version of the cartoon became a widespread meme last year, Furie was initially upbeat, saying Pepes political affiliation was just a phase, and that the cartoons lovable, and charming status will be intact as early as next week.

Sometime after the Anti-Defamation League identified the cartoon as an anti-Semitic hate symbol last September, though, Furie decided to weigh in himself. He started a #SavePepe campaign to spread positive Pepe memes and messages, and drew a cartoon for The Nib showing Pepes transformation into a horrific Donald Trump-esque figure as an apocalyptic nightmare. Writing for Time magazine, Furie said: It's completely insane that Pepe has been labeled a symbol of hate [...] but in the end, Pepe is whatever you say he is, and I, the creator, say that Pepe is love.

Unfortunately for Furie, that wasnt enough, and Pepe has continued to function as an alt-right meme, making his most recent appearance as Pepe Le Pen a mascot for the (recently defeated) far-right French presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen. Even Pepes death wont stop him from being a meme, but maybe, at least, Furie himself can get some rest.

Excerpt from:
Pepe the Frog is officially dead - The Verge

Pepe is the quintessential example of the internet discovering something funny, creating a joke from it, and giving it a life of its own. After web surfers discovered the huge-eyed frog, he was originally used for relatively innocuous purposes on sites such as 4chan (you'll still see him in generic "feels good man" and "feels bad man" memes). However, alt-right communities like 4chan's /pol/ and Reddit's /r/the_donald eventually latched on to him as a mascot for both racist views and support for Donald Trump.

Combine that close connection with mainstream exposure (Trump even tweeted an image of himself as Pepe) and it would be very, very hard to disassociate the character from the far right ideology he has come to represent. We checked in on both /pol/ and /r/the_donald, and both are celebrating Pepe's "death" as proof that they effectively own his identity.

You're not likely to see too many other examples of this happening. However, this also illustrates the sense of helplessness that creators sometimes face online. How do you take legal action to protect your work when anyone with a social account and a search engine can abuse it? Furie's decision to kill Pepe may be his best bet. He might not get to reclaim Pepe or get compensation, but he can at least prove that he's not involved in spreading hate.

Read more from the original source:
Pepe the Frog is dead, but that won't stop 4chan

The cartoonist who created Pepe The Frog has killed off the character in a comic strip, followingmonths of trying to rehabilitate the frog after it was co-opted by the alt-right.

Artist Matt Furie created the cartoon character in 2005 for the comic book Boys Club, but it was not until the 2016 election that Pepe was adopted by the alt-right online as a mascot for their support of then-candidate Donald Trump.

Since then, the character has achieved notoriety as a symbol for white-supremacy, and was declared a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League.

Furie was devastated by the perversion of his beloved cartoon frog, upset that racists and anti-Semites are using a once peaceful frog-dude from my comic book as an icon of hate.

In a statement put out by Furie and cartoon publisher Fantagraphics in November, they referred to Pepe as an eternally chill comic book character and condemned the illegal and repulsive appropriations of the character by racist fringe groups linked to the alt right movement and the Donald Trump presidential campaign.

Furie launched a #SavePepe campaign to try and wrest back the frog from the alt-right and restore its image as a positive character. After waging the campaign for months, it appears Furie has now conceded defeat, finally killing off the character in a single cartoon strip showing Pepe in a casket.

While the symbolism of killing Pepe in a comic strip may finally put Furies mind at rest, its unclear it will have any effect on the frogs standing as an alt-right hero. On alt-right message boards, commenters celebrated Furies attempts to kill Pepe, claiming he has only made the frog stronger.

[image via screengrab]

Follow Aidan McLaughlin (@aidnmclaughlin) on Twitter

Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com

See more here:
Creator of Pepe The Frog Kills Off Character; Alt-Right Celebrates - Mediaite

New York Times

Pepe the Frog Is Dead, or So His Creator Hopes New York Times After a brief and tumultuous life, Pepe the Frog is dead. Or at least, that's how he was drawn in the latest comic strip from the artist who first created him. While the cartoon frog is sure to remain a fixture in some corners of social media, its ... Pepe the Frog became a hate symbol. Now he's just a dead hate symbol.Washington Post Alt-Right Meme 'Pepe The Frog' Laid To Rest Over The Weekend. Will He Stay Dead?Forbes Pepe the Frog 'is killed off to avoid being a hate symbol'BBC News The Verge -CBS San Francisco Bay Area -New York Magazine -TIME all 65 news articles »

View post:
Pepe the Frog Is Dead, or So His Creator Hopes - New York Times