illustrates William D’Arezzo
LADY, LADY, YOU COULD SWITCH THAT BORING RETROSPECTIVE ON TV FOR OUR 547* FACTS OF THE YEAR ON POP CULTURE, SCIENCE AND – WE DOUBLE THE GOAL! – EVEN IN POLITICS
* lie
RETROSPECTIVE 2015
– Great controversies, turned into a meme
– Expressions of the year
– Bizarre science research
– Videos that bombed on WhatsApp
– Personalities that generated the most memes
PART 1
MAJOR CONTROVERSIES
Pots vs. non-pans, McDonald’s vs. Burger King, blue and black vs. white and gold. The world is very divided
the color of the dress
February
It all started with a question about what dress the mother of the bride should wear to a wedding in the United Kingdom. The lovebirds were in doubt whether the outfit was white and gold or blue and black and took the discussion to the internet. Quickly, everyone had the same doubt. Experts looked into the matter and concluded that the dress is blue and black. The white and gold would reflect sunlight
CLICK TO ENLARGE
pots
May
The popular demonstrations against Dilma Rousseff were marked by the banging of pans on the window when she made pronouncements on TV. The act became a symbol of pride for those who performed it. But, also, of a certain foreign shame for those who opposed him. Then came the jokes, like “#partiupanelaço. Mom, where are the pots?”
friends in the fat
August
The social media gang freaked out over a global marketing action by Burger King, which proposed a truce with its biggest competitor, McDonald’s, to launch a sandwich that would unite the two chains, the McWhopper, on Peace Day (21/9) . Mc declined the offer, entitled to a moral lesson (“our brands could do something bigger to make a difference”). Who ended up taking advantage was Giraffa’s, which took a ride on the climate went up: «we accept». BK accepted
roll, roll
June
Journalist Ricardo Boechat said in his program on BandNews FM that «in the context of neo-Pentecostal churches there are acts of incitement to religious intolerance». Pastor Silas Malafaia, notorious internet meme generator, called Boechat an idiot. The journalist replied (“sucker, homophobic”), the discussion heated up and Boechat ended up sending Malafaia “to look for a turtledove”. As the banter has no limits, the memes spread like pigeon poop in the square
This is not a bomb
September
Ahmed Mohamed, 14 years old, made a clock for a school assignment in the United States and was arrested. All because the school suspected it was a bomb (and because, of course, Ahmed is Muslim). The monkey generated worldwide commotion and the boy was elevated to a nerd hero, greeted on social media even by Barack Obama
Dilma Rousseff collection
The whole year
If when she was reasonably popular her lines were often a laughing stock, now that the situation is not being easy for the president, the people have taken to the foot once and for all. In June, she saluted the cassava, the central food of our cuisine. In the same month, he sent the already famous “hit the open target and then double the target” of the Pronatec Aprendiz program. In October, he suggested stock wind. Liquid air for storing energy is, in fact, a developing technology in england – which doesn’t matter to trolls. Montage proliferated on WhatsApp and YouTube
Senhoora
September
Spotted by TV Globo when punching a clock at the Legislative Assembly of Goiás and then leaving, an employee decided to run away in front of the camera. Reaction quite common in situations of the type, but the determination with which the reporter Renata Costa ran after the server, talking “lady, lady!” generated the great meme of the year, which turned into android game
Dollar at BRL 4
September
The middle class cried liters when the dollar exchange rate exceeded R$ 4, in the midst of the political and economic crisis that marked the year. For a change, there was no shortage of memes to make fun of the situation. Most of the jokes, you’d expect, involved common dreams like a Disney vacation. The days of plenty of Brazilians partying in Florida are suddenly more distant
RETROSPECTIVE 2015
– Great controversies, turned into a meme
– Expressions of the year
– The most bizarre research in science
– The videos that bombed on WhatsApp
– The personalities that generated the most memes