Monthly Review: June 2012

Monthly Review: June 2012

This month kicked off with the annual E3 video game convention, where Nintendo created a lot of buzz about its upcoming Wii U console through mysterious preview trailers of the Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata staring at bananas and an unidentifiable action figure aptly dubbed Non Specific Action Figure; The ripple effect of First World Problems continues with its latest derivative series Over Educated Problems which pokes fun at the grievances of college-educated people in a staggering global economy; The social media witch hunt against cleavage reached a new level on Tumblr with an anti-promiscuity campaign set off by a sarcastic reminder that "boobs go inside the shirt"; The "clingy girlfriend" advice animal Crazy Girlfriend Praying Mantis got reincarnated as Overly Attached Girlfriend, a 20 year old college student starring in a creepily sincere parody song of Justin Bieber's "Girlfriend"; A public service announcement campaign launched by Australia's Queensland Rail to educate its commuters about public transportation etiquettes became the target of hilarious parodies on Reddit.

Search Interest

The Rest of the Best

• Miami Zombie: A 31-year-old man's horrific human flesh-eating crime in Miami led to an Internet frenzy over the mysterious design drug known as "bath salts" as well as humorous speculations of an impending zombie apocalypse.

• When the creator of the webcomic TheOatmeal was threatened with a defamation lawsuit by the owners of FunnyJunk earlier this month, he responded by starting a charity fundraiser which brought in more than $100,000 within 24 hours. The public showdown between the two websites escalated even further when the artist sent a picture of the money to FunnyJunk along with a drawing of the owner’s mother seducing a Kodiak bear.

• Skeptical Third World Child: This hybrid advice animal series of Skeptical Baby and Third World Success Kid satirizing the First World humanitarianism in the Third World led to an interesting debate over the impact of online slacktivism on Reddit.

• A video of New York state resident and middle school bus monitor Karen Klein being verbally harassed by several students onboard sparked a week-long outrage on the Internet as well as an immensely successful fundraiser campaign for Klein's summer vacation which brought in over $677,000 (as of July 3rd).

• A picture of a rainbow-colored Oreo posted in recognition of LGBT pride month on Kraft Nabisco’s Facebook page immediately escalated into a lengthy debate between critics and supporters of same-sex marriage, making things pretty awkward for the American cookie company.

Back on the Radar

• First introduced in late May 2012 as a viral video slogan created by Mexican university students against the country’s longtime ruling party and corrupted media, #YoSoy132 has become a trending Twitter hashtag for mobilizing protests across the country.

• Greenpeace and The Yes Men's hoax campaign against the global oil and gas company Shell fooled many bloggers with an elaborately staged "PR FAIL" video and a false alarm of Shell's legal threats, generating a debate around the ethical question of deceptive viral marketing.

• The Finnish social networking site Habbo Hotel was left without a choice but to disable the chat function entirely after UK’s Channel 4 News published an investigative report exposing the alarming presence of pedophiles and cybering on the site.

• NeverSeconds Blog, a single topic photo blog of public school lunches curated by a Scottish nine-year-old, went on an indefinite hiatus this month, after the school district caught wind of the media attention it was receiving.

• The enduring mystery of 301 view counter freeze in up and coming YouTube videos finally got a proper explanation from the company's analytics staff. Short answer: the number of views on YouTube videos start to matter after it reaches at least 300 views.