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Library/Meme & format/Pizza Rat
Grade B21 sourcesHIS-00403

Pizza Rat

Meme & format · 2015 · Notable

47Editable slideCertificate

A subway rat clip passed 9 million YouTube views and became licensed footage and costumes.

Original · Matt Little

DNAinfo New York

@DNAinfoNY · Sep 21, 2015

This rat carrying a slice of pizza down the subway stairs gets it: dnain.fo/1NPoUgp pic.x.com/0o2sLelXTA

2K161
Post · @DNAinfoNY on X
Clip · Matt Little on YouTube
matt little on Instagram: "LINK IN BIO - Master Splinter headed off to feed #TMNT"
matt little on Instagram
Shorty Awards 2016 Winners: The Full List
The Hollywood Reporter
Staten Island Yankees to Become Pizza Rats During Saturday Games This Season
Staten Island Yankees / MiLB
Pizza Rat
ABC News (Australia)
New York City rat taking pizza home on the subway (Pizza Rat™)
Matt Little on YouTube
Why Does The Sexy Pizza Rat Costume Exist? Ask These Two Brothers
Atlas Obscura

Spread Score

How it works
Reach0Contagion60Breadth70Velocity100Longevity4247

Numbers

Peak date
Week of Sep 21, 2015
Sep 21 ’15 to Week of Sep 21, 2015
Platforms
8
Started on Instagram
Origin
Organic
Culture (no sector)

Mechanics

  • Identity badgePrimary
  • Response chain
  • Platform jump
  • Press loop
  • Controversy

How it spread

Trace the origin

Little posted the clip to Instagram, then YouTube. Newswire relays, Twitter jokes and coverage spread it beyond his friends. Jukin licensed it; Yandy sold out a costume. Little later sold six T-shirts, and the meme returned as baseball branding.

Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.

Wikipedia views · Google searchesApr ’15SepNovMar ’16MayDecDec ’17May ’19Apr ’21Mar ’23Jan ’25DecPeakInstagramXFacebookPressOpen webRetailYouTubeAudio
InstagramXFacebookPressOpen webRetailYouTubeAudio

15 more events on this chart

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Timeline (18)

  1. September 2015

    Matt Little seed · Sep 21 ’15

    Little posted the subway rat clip to Instagram, then uploaded a copy to YouTube.[1]

    matt little on Instagram: "LINK IN BIO - Master Splinter headed off to feed #TMNT"
    Open the first post ↗

  2. DNAinfo New York / Twitter users platform jump · Sep 21 ’15

    DNAinfo tweeted a GIF, and journalists and other New Yorkers retweeted it.[1][2]

  3. Storyful platform jump · Sep 21 ’15

    Storyful relayed the original clip on its Facebook and YouTube newswires.[1][3]

Origin
Organic
Sector
Culture (no sector)
Region
US
Reported figure
—
Evidence
Grade B

Spread the same way

Formation

YouTube · 2016

54
Formation (Explicit)

16.3M impressions

Call Me Caitlyn

X · 2015

51
Caitlyn Jenner poses for Annie Leibovitz on the cover of Vanity Fair #CallMeCaitlyn http://t.co/NRyh6R09RR http://t.co/GO1ZgJJKBR

3.9B impressions

Heat Waves (fan fiction)

Open web · 2020

41
Minecraft YouTubers at VidCon 2023.

1.2M views

Alison Roman’s The Stew

Open web · 2018

34
A bowl of Alison Roman’s chickpea stew with greens, mint and yogurt.

3.5K derivatives

New cases, every week

How the next thing spread, the week it does.

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Wikipedia views · Google searchesApr ’15SepNovMar ’16MayDecDec ’17May ’19Apr ’21Mar ’23Jan ’25DecPeakInstagramXFacebookPressOpen webRetailYouTubeAudio
InstagramXFacebookPressOpen webRetailYouTubeAudio

15 more events on this chart

Join free to see them

  1. September 2015

    Matt Little seed · Sep 21 ’15

    Little posted the subway rat clip to Instagram, then uploaded a copy to YouTube.[1]

    matt little on Instagram: "LINK IN BIO - Master Splinter headed off to feed #TMNT"
    Open the first post ↗

  2. DNAinfo New York / Twitter users platform jump · Sep 21 ’15

    DNAinfo tweeted a GIF, and journalists and other New Yorkers retweeted it.[1][2]

  3. Storyful platform jump · Sep 21 ’15

    Storyful relayed the original clip on its Facebook and YouTube newswires.[1][3]

  1. press · Sep 21 ’15

  2. peak · Week of Sep 21, 2015

Join free to see the other 15 events and the full chart. Free, on every case.

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Why it worked

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