Memes don’t have to make sense. In fact, they usually don’t. For example: A 12-second video of a javelina running really fast down a residential Tucson, Arizona street was shared to Facebook by Damion Alexander. That’s all there is to the video. Still, the clip of the javelina — a pig-like creature, also known as a peccary or skunk pig, that is most commonly found in South America but is native to some parts of the United States as well — has quickly caught fire online and inspired a ton of memes, with captions like, “me leaving the office at 4:59:59,” and, “creative directors picking up the scent of anything with awards potential.”
A javelina was caught speeding near 22nd and Kolb in Tucson. https://t.co/NPmuBvrATc pic.twitter.com/X1F1StOYVG
— Hannah Tiede (@HannahTiedeTV) February 25, 2020
This is what peak performance looks like https://t.co/me1zeRxZEm
— Caitlin Welsh (@Caitlin_Welsh) February 25, 2020
creative directors picking up the scent of anything with awards potential https://t.co/AqLyP4fBog
— R/GA (@RGA) February 25, 2020
me leaving the office at 4:59:59 https://t.co/UE11mAcpl4
— Isaiah Biggs (@theisaiahbiggs) February 25, 2020
The clip has also led to a different kind of meme, where stylistically or thematically appropriate songs are played over the video. There’s something about the fish-out-of-water scenario that makes the video work with most songs you throw at it. For example, here is the javelina running to 100 Gecs’ “Money Machine”:
https://twitter.com/javelinarunning/status/1232733950616969218
Here it is again, this time set to Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage”:
https://twitter.com/javelinarunning/status/1232689980360871946
And of course, here is the now-world-famous javelina running to Florence + The Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over”:
https://twitter.com/javelinarunning/status/1232695178777022464
The world is a weird place, and because of it, the memes are good. Check out some more musical examples of the javelina running meme below.
https://twitter.com/javelinarunning/status/1232482825846153217
https://twitter.com/javelinarunning/status/1232677574037442560
https://twitter.com/javelinarunning/status/1232529469312774144