Pizza Rat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pizza Rat is an internet meme based around a viral video of a brown rat[1] carrying a slice of pizza down the steps of a New York City Subway station in Manhattan.[2] The video was first uploaded to Instagram on September 21, 2015, and a copy was uploaded to YouTube later. Currently, the YouTube video has more than 11.82 million views.[3]

video icon New York City rat taking pizza home on the subway (Pizza Rat™)

Impact[]

Within hours of the video's posting, #PizzaRat was trending on Twitter, and by September 23, the clip had been viewed over five million times.[2][4][5] Articles were quickly written by Gawker, BuzzFeed, DNAinfo, and Gothamist.[2] Pizza Rat costumes, as well as "sexy" Pizza Rat costumes, were created and worn for Halloween that year.[2][6][7]

Popular Science identified the rat as a common brown rat, and noted the rarity of humans to be able to get as close to them as Little did while filming the video. They attributed this to either the rat being too hungry to run, or more used to humans than other rats.[1]

The Washington Post created a timeline of the meme's progression, starting with its upload on September 21. The article argued that journalists and marketers attempting to gain clout from the meme, as well as the users themselves oversharing it, led to the meme's death within two days of its initial creation.[2]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Why Do Rats Love Pizza?". Popular Science. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e Dewey, Caitlin (September 22, 2015). "The three stages of going viral in 2015, according to the Pizza Rat meme". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  3. ^ Little, Matt (September 21, 2015). "New York City rat taking pizza home on the subway (Pizza Rat™)". Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  4. ^ "You Love Pizza Rat. You Don't Own Pizza Rat". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  5. ^ Noriega, Margarita (September 21, 2015). "Pizza Rat: New York City's infamous rodent, explained". Vox. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  6. ^ Koman, Tess (October 5, 2015). "Here's the Sexy Pizza Rat Costume You've Been Waiting For". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  7. ^ Mallenbaum, Carly. "Even a 'pizza rat' costume can be made sexy for Halloween". USA TODAY. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
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