Meme #4: You’re Not Green
(i) Source:
Page Title: “Stanford Memes for Edgy Trees”
Date Meme Published: April 7, 2021
Page Stats: 32.8K members
Descriptive Blurb: “Memes for the people.”
Webpage: https://www.facebook.com/groups/StanfordMemes
(ii) Text:
Graphical user interface, text, application
Description automatically generated
(iii) Texture:
The overall tone here is one of biting criticism, quoting Stanford’s statement about their supposed environmentalism in order to point out the university’s shallow attempt at “konsirvation.” Conservation is purposely misspelled, a common feature of meme humor that displays the meme creator’s true thoughts about the matter. The little green emojis add to the sense of hypocrisy as they look “cutesy,” in order to rag on the university. The poorly rendered CGI man in the last panel has a smug look on his face, with the little Stanford symbol attached to his head clearly marking him as a visual representation of the university.
(iv) Context:
This Facebook post received 115 likes, 10 comments, and 1 share at the time of its posting. This has increased since it was made so recently. The page is mostly a platform for students to criticize and satirize current events, Stanford’s administration, and changes made to campus and student life. Currently their main concern is the building and renaming of dorms, with many memes poking fun at the new names by turning them into crude or funny nicknames.
(v) Interpretation:
The caption attached to this meme is, “We can do better than this!,” immediately revealing what its poster thinks about the university’s recent attempts at going green. One of the comments urges other students to “Push hard and push at the top of the ladder everybody.” Clearly, this post is not primarily for entertainment, and is instead a call to action. Memes serve as a new kind of protest art that students can create and share, often with the hope that a university administrator will scroll through and see them. The idea is to not only voice their concerns to their fellow students, but to also call out the university to anyone else who happens upon the public page. Earth Day was this month, so environmental concerns and criticism of “greenwashing” is particularly popular. Instead of buying posterboard and a wooden stake to create a picket sign, students can create “protest memes” for free, and practically guarantee that people will see it.