The Rise and Rise Of The Funny Yellow Dog
It’s not very often that you look at a picture and wonder if it’s real, not because it looks CGI’d, but because of its seemingly unending exposure in popular culture, triggering a pictorial parallel to semantic satiation- a phenomenon where a word loses its meaning after prolonged repetition (exception: Buffalo).
Kabosu, aka Doge, is one such enigma of our times. A rescued Shiba Inu, Kabosu’s ‘photoshoot’ from February 2010 went viral after it was posted on her owner’s blog, featuring a very whacky and curious Kabosu- seemingly uncharacteristic of the usual dog pictures on the web. A kindergarten teacher, Atsuko Sato was hardly a clout merchant and it was only after Tumblr Blog Shiba Confessions reposted the image did Doge burst onto the scene as a ‘meme’.
Hate a memetic troupe? Congratulations, you get to enjoy it again, but ironically.
Ten years hence, there have been thousands of memes that have spawned and have perished almost immediately, but Doge refuses to die. It has evolved with time, often mutating into less accessible, neo-Dadaist ‘ironical’ memes in what seems to be the current memetic norm.
In its brief history, Doge has revolutionized the very essence of what meme culture is truly capable of. For instance, it’s introduction as a ‘joke currency’ in late 2013 turned into a surprisingly profitable venture- Dogecoin was born. Built on the Bitcoin principle, Dogecoin was lapped up by Internet subcultures and soon developed a ‘mind of its own’. The most unprecedented consequence of the same was a heart-warming gesture that saw anonymous donors raise funds to send Indian athletes to Sochi Winter Olympics.
According to some extremely scientific data on the internet, the average meme has a lifespan of 4.017 months. Doge’s already in its eleventh year and has evolved multiple offshoots in Swole Doge- a… swole doge and Cheems- based on Ball Ball, another viral Shiba Inu. How exactly has Doge managed to sustain and subsequently strengthen its grip over modern mortal minds? Short Answer: Adaptability.
While the tenets of Darwinism might not apply to politics, they sure as hell apply to meme culture. Or at least an ‘advanced’ form of Darwinism fueled by human creativity, given memes aren’t actually preying on each other to survive…or are they?
Regardless, Doge’s consistency has only improved with time. While some memes take themselves too seriously, Doge’s done quite the opposite, paving the way for self-aware, neo-realist memes. Hate a memetic troupe? Congratulations, you get to enjoy it again, but ironically. New to the internet? Here’s a funny yellow dog that you might find amusing.
