The Best Memes of 2012
Ecce Homo Restoration
We first reported this travesty of a restoration this summer, and it was only a matter of months before it was popular enough to be a Halloween costume, which is when you truly know you’ve reached meme status. Probrecita Cecilia Gimenez overestimated her artistic prowess, and wound up performing what has been called “the worst restoration of all time.” It since spawned hundreds of parodies (everything from Homer Simpson to the Last Supper have been “beastified.”)
Sonora Wheelchairs
The people of Hermosillo, Mexico were shocked and offended when they saw the free “wheelchairs” the government of Sonora announced they were giving away. These technologically advanced wonders are are literally plastic garden chairs with wheels on them. But come on, they were only trying to help! While some complained that the chairs were an embarrassment to Mexican engineering, it turned out that they were actually gifts from the U.S.A. Ouch.
Tan Mitt Romney
Not to toot our own horn, but I like to think we were part of what made this meme a big deal. Our chart of Mitt Romney’s tan evolution during his campaign coincided so well with his fight for the Latino vote during the campaigns, and we couldn’t help but notice his deepening Cheeto glow. But that’s probably just his true Mexican sangre coming through , right? Combined with spoof twitter account @MexicanMitt, the Romney-Mexico jokes provided tons of entertainment during the painfully long election news cycle.
“Papa Don’t Pri!!”
Ever since Enrique Pena Nieto was elected as the new President of Mexico over the summer – some claim fraudulently – vocal protests and riots against the PRI’s (Partido Revolucionario Institucional) return to power have erupted all over the country. Criticisms against Peña-Nieto have taken many forms, but by far the most “2012” of these was the creation of satirical memes that spread like wildfire across the internet. Our favorite: a play on “Papa Don’t Preach” by Madonna… we can only hope the PRI’s past corruption won’t be repeated, or Mexico will be in trouble deep 🙁
Pitbull Sent To Alaska
Imagine Pitbulsito trudging through the snowy tundra with his bald head and fancy tailored suit. Well, internet trolls wanted it and they got it. When a Walmart contest promising a Pitbull performance/visit to the city with the most Facebook likes arose, trolls bombarded the town of Kodiak, Alaska with likes, hoping to banish him to a frozen wasteland. Turns out Pitbull was a good sport about it all, inviting the man behind the Kodiak scheme to come along and telling him, “Keep bullshitting. Next time you know, we’ll be on the moon.” Well, now that’s a thought.
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Shit Spanish Girls Say
I know some of these videos are a little played out but I’m a Miami girl and I know my espanglish and like, this was one of the best videos cause like, they talk totally like I do and DASSIT! Tell me you ladies aren’t guilty of at least some of these….
El Bloombito Twitter account
If you live in New York and were in town for Hurricane Irene, chances are you probably remember Mayor Bloomberg’s hilarious attempts to speak Spanish in his press conferences. It formed the inspiration for Rachel Levin-Figueroa’s amazing @ElBloombito parody twitter account, a spot-on joke at the expense of his tone-deaf Cancun tourist attempts at es-pah-nyol. This year, amidst the disaster and turmoil that was Hurricane Sandy, El Bloombito was one of our only beacons of light and laughter. With tweets like this one, Levin-Figueroa had us laughing through the tears:
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Celebs Trying to speak Spanish
Spanish is the second most spoken language in the good ole USA, leading many of our favorite gringuitos on screen to give it a shot. Most of it is a hilariously confusing, painful mess, and therefore I will leave this video here to speak for itself in….uno, dos, tres, cartoce! (Bono tried it.)
Getting Cholafied
When creator of cholafied.com, Michael Jason Enriquez, was asked WHY? he said, “It’s to show the world that nothing is more beautiful than a pair of rainbow Sharpied eyebrows.” After seeing Jay Z cholafied, we beg to differ. But, we still love you , Jay!
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Chihuahua Dancing the Conga
And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.