🔗 Share this article

This protest movement won't be televised, yet it might possess webbed feet and protruding eyes.

It also might feature a unicorn's horn or a chicken's feathers.

As protests opposing the leadership continue in American cities, demonstrators are adopting the vibe of a local block party. They've offered salsa lessons, distributed treats, and performed on unicycles, as armed law enforcement look on.

Mixing humour and political action – a strategy experts call "tactical frivolity" – is not new. However, it has emerged as a hallmark of American protest in this period, adopted by all sides of the political spectrum.

A specific icon has emerged as especially powerful – the frog. It started when a video of a confrontation between a man in an amphibian costume and federal officers in the city of Portland, became an internet sensation. It subsequently appeared to demonstrations across the country.

"There's a lot at play with that humble blow-up amphibian," notes a professor, a professor at University of California, Davis and an academic who studies performance art.

From Pepe to the Streets of Portland

It's challenging to talk about protests and frogs without talking about Pepe, an illustrated figure co-opted by online communities during a previous presidential campaign.

When this image gained popularity online, it was used to convey certain emotions. Afterwards, its use evolved to express backing for a political figure, even one notable meme shared by the candidate personally, portraying the frog with a signature suit and hair.

Images also circulated in certain internet forums in more extreme scenarios, portrayed as a hate group member. Users traded "unique frog images" and set up cryptocurrency in his name. Its famous line, "that feels good", was deployed a coded signal.

But its beginnings were not this divisive.

The artist behind it, the illustrator, has been vocal about his unhappiness for its appropriation. The character was intended as simply an apolitical figure in his comic world.

This character first appeared in comic strips in 2005 – apolitical and famous for a quirky behavior. A film, which documents the creator's attempt to take back of his creation, he explained his drawing was inspired by his life with companions.

When he began, the artist tried uploading his work to early internet platforms, where the community began to borrow, remix and reinvent his character. As Pepe spread into darker parts of online spaces, Mr Furie attempted to distance himself from his creation, even killing him off in a comic strip.

However, its legacy continued.

"It shows that we don't control symbols," states the professor. "Their meaning can evolve and be repurposed."

Previously, the notoriety of Pepe resulted in amphibian imagery were largely associated with the right. A transformation occurred on a day in October, when a viral moment between an activist wearing a blow-up amphibian suit and an immigration officer in Portland spread rapidly online.

The event followed a decision to send military personnel to Portland, which was described as "war-ravaged". Demonstrators began to gather in droves at a specific location, near an ICE office.

The situation was tense and a officer used a chemical agent at the individual, directing it into the air intake fan of the puffy frog costume.

Seth Todd, the man in the costume, reacted humorously, remarking it tasted like "something milder". But the incident spread everywhere.

Mr Todd's attire fit right in for Portland, renowned for its unconventional spirit and activist demonstrations that revel in the ridiculous – public yoga, 80s-style aerobics lessons, and nude cycling groups. Its creed is "Keep Portland Weird."

The costume even played a role in a lawsuit between the administration and the city, which argued the deployment was unlawful.

Although the court ruled in October that the administration had the right to deploy troops, a dissenting judge wrote, mentioning the protesters' "well-known penchant for donning inflatable costumes while voicing their disagreement."

"It is easy to see this decision, which accepts the government's characterization as a battlefield, as simply ridiculous," she stated. "But today's decision is not merely absurd."

The order was stopped legally soon after, and personnel are said to have left the area.

But by then, the amphibian costume had transformed into a significant protest icon for the left.

The costume was spotted across the country at anti-authoritarian protests that fall. Amphibian costumes were present – and unicorns and axolotls and dinosaurs – in major US cities. They appeared in rural communities and global metropolises like Tokyo and London.

The frog costume was in high demand on online retailers, and rose in price.

Controlling the Narrative

What brings the two amphibian symbols – lies in the relationship between the humorous, benign cartoon and serious intent. This is what "tactical frivolity."

The strategy rests on what the professor calls the "irresistible image" – often silly, it acts as a "disarming and charming" display that calls attention to a message without directly articulating them. It's the goofy costume used, or the meme circulated.

Mr Bogad is an analyst on this topic and someone who uses these tactics. He's written a text called 'Tactical Performance', and taught workshops around the world.

"You could go back to the Middle Ages – under oppressive regimes, absurd humor is used to express dissent a little bit and while maintaining plausible deniability."

The idea of this approach is three-fold, Mr Bogad explains.

As activists confront authority, a silly costume {takes control of|seizes|influences