About

Jeff Bezos’ Rocket, also known online as the Penis Rocket, refers to the Blue Origin New Shephard rocket launched on July 20th, 2021, carrying the former CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos. Shortly after the launch, memes began to trend across numerous sites and platforms, many of which dealt with the awkward shape of the rocket itself or the controversy behind Bezos’ career and treatment of workers at Amazon. The meme became especially prevalent on Twitter where it also trended that day.

History

On July 20th, 2021, Jeff Bezos and three others launched to the edge of space in a historic mission aboard a Blue Origin rocket known as the New Shephard. Taking off at 9:12 a.m. ET, it was the first commercial spaceflight carrying paying passengers and also contained the youngest and oldest people so far to ever reach orbit. The launch was smooth and without incident, and after a 15-minute flight, the capsule parachuted to the ground safely. Bezos exited first and greeted onlookers while wearing a cowboy hat.^[1] The launch (shown below) was livestreamed^[2] and was part of Bezos and Blue Origin's attempt to create a commercial space flight enterprise.

Online Presence

Only half an hour after the launch, Twitter user @BarstoolBigCat^[3] tweeted this response (seen below), in which he made a joke regarding the rocket. It received over 18,500 likes and 1000 retweets. This was also the first of many online jokes regarding the shape of the New Shephard.

Phallic Resemblance

Many Twitter users worldwide noticed and mocked the rocket’s shape for being akin to that of male genitalia. This became the most widespread meme from the launch, with many referring to the New Shepard as the "Penis Rocket." For example, a July 20th tweet from @Elise_Andrew[4[ (seen below) references the rocket’s appearance while simultaneously mocking Bezos. It received 286 likes and 59 retweets within two days.

Cowboy Hat Memes

Jeff Bezos’ decision to wear a cowboy hat and become a "space cowboy" has led to debates and numerous memes after the launch. For example, u/RossOfFriends uploaded this meme to Reddit's /r/memes^[6] on July 22nd, where it received 34,500 upvotes, 10 comments and was 97 percent upvoted.

Amazon Employee Memes

Twitter users took the opportunity to reference the allegations of employees being overworked at Amazon warehouses. For example, this tweet from July 20th by @MattOswaltVA^[5] references the low wages rumored to be paid to Amazon employees. It received over 1,200 likes and 189 retweets in two days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References