Bert is Evil

Bert is Evil is the name of a parody website, founded by Dino Ignacio on March 30, 1997, which featured Bert, a character on the American children's television program Sesame Street. In 1998, Dino Ignacio, Wout Reinders and Jasper Hulshoff Pol accepted the Webby Award and the People's Voice Award for Best Weird Website at the Palace of Fine Arts auditorium in San Francisco.{{cite web|url=https://winners.webbyawards.com/1998/websites-and-mobile-sites/general-websites-and-mobile-sites/weird/142387/bert-is-evil|title=Bert is Evil - The Webby Awards|website=The Webby Awards|access-date=April 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428222252/https://winners.webbyawards.com/1998/websites-and-mobile-sites/general-websites-and-mobile-sites/weird/142387/bert-is-evil|archive-date=April 28, 2023|url-status=live}}

The website featured manipulated images of the character consorting with notoriously nefarious figures, such as Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong-il, Robert Mugabe, and Osama bin Laden, as well as being present at events, such as the JFK assassination,{{Cite web |date=February 8, 2004 |title=B E R T I S E V I L : JFK assassination |url=http://www.bertisevil.tv/pages/bert000.htm |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040208090437/http://www.bertisevil.tv/pages/bert000.htm |archive-date=8 February 2004 |url-status=dead}} and Oklahoma City bombing, humorously offered as "proof" that Bert was no mere innocent children's television character. The "Evil Bert" phenomenon was picked up by other humorists, who created their own images, linking Bert to current and historical atrocities.{{Cite web |date=1998-04-19 |title=Image of Bert with Adolf Hitler |url=http://fractalcow.com/bert/bert4.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980419000407/http://fractalcow.com/bert/bert4.htm |archive-date=April 19, 1998 |access-date=2014-05-01}}

In the summer of 1998, due to the website's immense cult popularity, it became too expensive for Ignacio to continue running. Instead of shutting the site down, he offered to allow anyone who was willing to mirror his original website the opportunity to host it.{{Cite web |date=1998-12-06 |title=Dec 06, 1998 Archive.org copy of the original Bert is Evil |url=http://www.fractalcow.com/bert/bert.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981206071043/http://www.fractalcow.com/bert/bert.htm |archive-date=December 6, 1998 |access-date=2014-05-01}} As a result, dozens of mirrors appeared, increasing the website's popularity and visibility.

Osama bin Laden image

File:Bin Laden Bert.png

The first mirror, maintained by Dennis Pozniak, continued in the same vein by adding new "evidence" of Bert's evilness (such as Bert's connection to the Ramsey Family and serial killer Jack the Ripper).{{Cite web |date=June 24, 2001 |title=Bert is Evil - Ramsey Family Friend - Mirror Exclusive |url=http://plaza.v-wave.com/bert/exclu008.htm |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010624121356/http://plaza.v-wave.com/bert/exclu008.htm |archive-date=24 June 2001 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |date=April 13, 2001 |title=Bert is Evil - Bert the Ripper? - Mirror Exclusive |url=http://plaza.v-wave.com/bert/exclu016.htm |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010413173412/http://plaza.v-wave.com/bert/exclu016.htm |archive-date=13 April 2001 |url-status=dead}} At the end of 1998, Pozniak posted a contribution, submitted by humorist J Roen, digitally manipulated to depict the then relatively unknown international terrorist, Osama bin Laden,{{Cite web |date=December 9, 2000 |title=Bert and Osama bin Laden - Bert is Evil - Mirror001 Exclusive |url=http://plaza.v-wave.com/bert/exclu006.htm |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001209122600/http://plaza.v-wave.com/bert/exclu006.htm |archive-date=9 December 2000 |url-status=dead}} posing with Bert.

In October 2001, after the September 11 attacks, an undoctored Reuters news photograph was published showing a pro Osama bin Laden protest rally in Bangladesh.{{Cite web |date=2001-10-11 |title=Osama bin Muppet? - ABC News |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/WolfFiles/story?id=92090&page=1#.Tw-RQ4GdD-s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106090921/https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/WolfFiles/story?id=92090&page=1#.Tw-RQ4GdD-s |archive-date=November 6, 2018 |access-date=2012-01-13 |publisher=Abcnews.go.com}}News photographs: {{Cite web |title=Bertsama bin Laden |url=http://www.mlcsmith.com/humor/bertsama/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041107081039/http://www.mlcsmith.com/humor/bertsama/ |archive-date=2004-11-07 |access-date=2004-11-17}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20020918125552/http://nu.nl/img?name=osama.bin.laden.bert.evil&x=350&y=228] [https://web.archive.org/web/20011119202304/http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/nm/20011009/wl/imdf09102001085522a.html] [https://web.archive.org/web/20011120070330/http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/nm/20011005/wl/imdf05102001094431a.html] One protester is seen holding a large collage style poster of bin Laden with a small image of Bert over his right shoulder{{Snd}}the same image posted to the Bert mirror in 1998{{Snd}}which prompted much confusion and joking among Western audiences.For a detailed account of the use of the image, in South Asia as well as by Western news agencies, see [http://www.lindqvist.com/bert.php] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011121065453/http://www.lindqvist.com/bert.php |date=November 21, 2001 }}. This also argues against the notion that inclusion of the Bert image is some kind of coded communication. It is more likely that the protester did not know who Bert is. Being unaware of Sesame Street, Dhaka printer Mostafa Kamal had copied the collage from the World Wide Web, leaving the image of Bert in his collage.{{Cite journal |last=Rosenzweig |first=Roy |date=2003 |title=Scarcity or Abundance? Preserving the Past in a Digital Era |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=108 |issue=3 |pages=735–762 |doi=10.1086/529596 |issn=0002-8762 |jstor=10.1086/529596}}

After this photo was released on the news wires, the owners of Sesame Street, Sesame Workshop, raised the possibility of pursuing legal action against Ignacio. In response, he took down the "Bert is Evil" section of his website due to Sesame Workshop's DMCA takedown notice,{{rp|736}} also stating that he did not want to undermine the character in the eyes of children who watched Sesame Street. "I am doing this because I feel this has gotten too close to reality", he said.{{Cite web |date=2001-10-14 |title=Oct 14, 2001 Archive.org copy of the original Bert is Evil |url=http://fractalcow.com/bert/bert.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011014193614/http://fractalcow.com/bert/bert.htm |archive-date=October 14, 2001 |access-date=2014-05-01}}

Since the original Bert/Osama picture had been posted to Dennis Pozniak's mirror, he too was bombarded by the international media seeking interviews. As a result of all the attention, Pozniak also closed his mirror.{{Cite web |date=October 31, 2001 |title=Bert is Evil - the OFFICIAL SITE - is GONE FOREVER |url=http://plaza.v-wave.com/bert/ |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011031055247/http://plaza.v-wave.com/bert/ |archive-date=31 October 2001 |url-status=dead}}

References

External links

[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/bert-is-evil Bert Is Evil!] at Know Your Meme
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080808030912/http://revision3.com/internetsuperstar/dinoignacio/ Internet Superstar interview with Martin Sargent] – from Revision3 August 2008
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PotZN8f0hk0 The Muppets Take Bangladesh] – from Old Wide Web Podcast March 2011
[https://billmeeks.com/bert-is-evil-the-true-story-behind-the-webs-first-viral-hit/ Bert Is Evil: The True Story Behind the Web’s First Viral Hit]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20041107081039/http://www.mlcsmith.com/humor/bertsama/ Bertsama bin Laden humor]
[https://web.archive.org/web/19970330173707/http://www.fractalcow.com/bert/bert.htm The Original Bert is Evil at Archive.org]

Category:American comedy websites

Category:Internet properties established in 1997

Category:Internet properties disestablished in 2001

Category:Internet memes introduced from the United States

Category:Defunct websites

Category:Muppet parodies

Category:Webby Award winners

Category:Bert and Ernie

Bert is Evil

Osama bin Laden image

See also

References

Further reading

External links