Stress Powered Light Bulb

About

Stress Powered Light Bulb refers to a series of exploitable webcomics based on the work of Mr. Lovenstein. In the comic, an inventor reveals the stress-powered light bulb. He then whispers a stressor to his test subject holding the bulb, which causes the bulb to illuminate a blinding light. Online, people have replaced the original comic's stressor with something that generates heated debate, such as politics.

Origin

On September 27th, 2017, webcomics artist and writer Mr. Lovenstein^[1] published a comic entitled "Stress Test." In the comic an inventor asks a person to try their "stress powered light bulb." The inventor then whispers the word "debt" in the tester's ear, causing the bulb to illuminate a blinding light that can be seen from space.

Spread

That day, Mr. Lovenstein posted the comic to Facebook, ^[2] where it received more than 13,000 reactions, 5,200 shares and 370 comments in less than 24 hours. On Twitter, ^[4] @MrLovenstein's tweet received more than 330 retweets and 1,000 likes in 24 hours.

The next day, Mr. Lovenstein posted the original comic to the /r/comics subreddit, where it received more than 4,000 points and 70 comments in two hours.

On September 27th, Redditor ^[4] tastyredballoon posted a variation of comic, in which the third panel contains the word "politics" instead of "debt," on the /r/MemeEconomy subreddit. The post (shown below) received more than 480 points (96% upvoted) in less than 24 hours.

Shortly after, the comic appeared on the /r/DankMemes subreddit. Redditor^[5] HayItsProsandwich posted a variation (shown below, left) with the question "are traps gay" instead of "debt." They also replaced the fourth panel with a realistic depiction of a blinding light shooting from the earth. Within 24 hours, the post received more than 1,000 points (97% upvoted) and 40 comments.

Throughout the day, more Redditors posted variations (shown below, center and right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Not Available

External References