The Internet is a fun and exciting place to be. Basically, it has everything, and it’s all connected. What’s mundane to one segment of the population is novel to another, and when the fringes of the mainstream take notice of something new or different, it can quickly draw the eyes of the world.
Thus a viral sensation is born. Sometimes it’s a video, but often it’s more of a still image. Whether it’s the latest fad in cats, Olympic gymnast McKayla Muroney’s unimpressed smirk or a condescending look from Willy Wonka, it’s easy for a visual gag to gain traction online and once it does, it often takes on a new life far removed from its original context.
Dental distributor Practicon is finding out all about this phenomenon this week as the calendar the company created with Frasaco USA’s dental training mannequins is being touted as the gag gift of the season by the likes of Gawker.com and other blogs.
The calendar, which is available here, is certainly something to behold. Maniacally happy dental training dummies cavort in a different seasonally appropriate scene each month of 2013. Part zombie-world nightmare, part product placement masterpiece, and in every way creepy, it’s something different for sure.
I’m at a loss to figure out just who would be the intended target audience for such a Photoshop masterpiece, but it does not seem to be designed completely as a gag. Sure the images are tongue-in-synthetic cheek and full of off-putting charm, but each month also includes a Frasaco USA product with a full description. So was the calendar created as a way to keep dental training tools on people’s minds year round—for whatever reason that might be seen as a good thing—or as a quick laugh for anyone working around dental dummies? The answer no longer matters.
The calendar has now caught some online buzz and will make the rounds of various blogs, possibly jumping to TV news and other offline places. It’ll have it run until the next YouTube video sensation or quirky photo takes hold. It might fade from notice after that, but with images this odd, it might just stick around for a while. Just like unimpressed McKayla or Condescending Wonka, these lifeless mannequins brought to seasonal life might just have the makings of a new meme. They might start showing up added to the back of other photos, or populating people’s Facebook feeds with snarky captions in tow.
The images are out there, the calendar is sure to sell out and only time will tell how long the buzz will live.