#SavePepe

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Part of a series on Nazi Pepe Controversy. [View Related Entries]

Overview

The #SavePepe Campaign is an internet activism campaign to reclaim Matt Furie's cartoon character Pepe the Frog from alt-right posters who began using Pepe as an anti-semitic and white supremacist meme in an event known as the Nazi Pepe Controversy.

Background

In the summer of 2016, members of 4chan began spreading anti-semitic and white nationalist memes, culminating on September 10th, when Donald Trump Jr. posted a picture of himself, Pepe, and several top conservatives in a poster for a film called "The Deplorables," a reference to Hillary Clinton's comment that supporters of Donald Trump were a basket of deplorables.

In the following months, several news media outlets wondered about the significance of Pepe's supposed turn to racism. On September 26th, the Anti-Defamation League added Pepe to the list of recognized hate symbols.

On October 14th, the Anti-Defamation League^[1] announced that it would join forces with Matt Furie on the #SavePepe hashtag campaign in an effort to reclaim Pepe the Frog from racists by creating and sharing positive images of the frog.

Spread

The Independent described the effort as a "campaign to free [the] meme from Donald Trump supporters".^[2]

On October 17th, The Nib^[3], the political cartoon site that previously commissioned K.C. Green’s response to the Republican National Committee’s use of his “This Is Fine” webcomic, released an original drawing by Matt Furie that shows Pepe the Frog melting into a likeness of Donald Trump.

That same day, TIME Magazine published an op-ed article by Furie in which he further rebuked the alt-right’s use of his art.^[4]

“As the creator of Pepe, I condemn the illegal and repulsive appropriations of the character by racist and fringe groups. The true nature of Pepe, as featured in my comic book, ‘Boys Club,’ celebrates peace, togetherness and fun. I aim to reclaim the rascally frog from the forces of hate and ask that you join me in making millions of new, joyful Pepe memes that share the light hearted spirit of the original chilled-out champion.”

Over the following month, artists and supporters tweeted using the #SavePepe hashtag to show support for Pepe's less politicized origins.