![Foo Fighters vs. the Foo dave grohl in a foo fighters music video facing a crowd labeled as foo's](https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/mobile/000/032/909/cover9.jpg)
Foo Fighters vs. the Foo
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About
Foo Fighters vs. the Foo refers to a series of jokes and memes which imagine the rock band Foo Fighters protecting the society from a threat known as "foo." Originating from a Dam Edit meme posted in December 2019, the joke gained significant popularity online in mid-February 2020.
Origin
On December 6th, 2019, Facebook[1] group Dolphinger Center for Memetic Studies posted a Dam Edit meme which imagined the rock band Foo Fighters as a force defending society from Foo. The meme received 540 reactions and 3,500 shares in two months. On December 7th, Redditor[2] AfricanAmericanNigga reposted the meme to /r/dankmemes, where it received over 33,100 upvotes in the same period.
![Foo Fighters vs. the Foo (Original) FOO THE FOO FIGHTERS SOCIETY](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/664/194/e94.jpg)
Precursor
A November 12th, 2006, the Robot Chicken episode "Anne Marie's Pride" features a sketch in which Foo Fighters join Mr. T in fighting "foos" (as in "fools").[14]
Spread
On December 6th, 2019, several Facebook users posted more memes based on the joke in the comment section of the original post, including memes posted by Cole McCorkendale[3] and Deric Boyer[4] (shown top and bottom left). After the December 7th Reddit repost of the meme, several low-upvoted posts based on the joke also appeared on Reddit[5][6] in the following days. A similar meme about Street Fighter posted by Redditor[7] tehflyingeagle on December 11th similar received over 8,300 upvotes in /r/okbuddyretard (shown below, bottom right).
![Foo Fighters In the Middle Ages Foo Society Foo Fighters](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/753/606/377.jpg)
![Foo Bar FOO THE FOO FIGHTERS Foo Bar SOCIETY dam protecting city](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/753/607/38b.jpg)
![my dad b like: STREET FIGHTERS (GAME) WHEN THEY SEE THE STREET made with mematic](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/669/253/2f7.jpg)
The format did not see notable spread until on January 29th, 2019, Redditor[8] ITaHiR_Requiem posted a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure meme based on the joke to /r/okbuddyretard subreddit, where it received over 2,600 upvotes in three weeks (shown below, top). The popularity of the format was prompted further when on February 10th, 2020, Twitter[9] user @TF2Cursed posted a Team Fortress 2 version of the meme which received over 2,300 retweets and 7,600 likes in ten days (shown below, bottom).
![stupid f------ foo i hate you FOO FIGHTERS WHEN THEY SEE A FOO](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/724/854/227.gif)
— tea fotres too (@Tf2Cursed) February 11, 2020
Starting in mid-February 2020, the joke gained a notable presense on Reddit and Twitter. For example, a February 17th, 2020, post by Redditor[10] boab_129 received over 32,200 upvotes in three days.
Meaning of the Word "Foo"
The band Foo Fighters takes their name from "foo fighters," a collective name for UFOs and other aerieal phenomena reported by the Allied aircraft pilots during World War II.[11] The nonsense word "foo" emerged in popular culture during the early 1930s, first used by cartoonist Bill Holman in his Smokey Stover strip.[12][13] The term was allegedly borrowed by a radar operator Donald J. Meiers during the war, who dubbed the unidentified aerial objects "foo fighters." For the lack of a better name, the phrase stuck.
Various Examples
![True Heroes NECK SNAP! FOO THE FOO FIGHTERS!](https://a.kym-cdn.com/assets/blank-b3f96f160b75b1b49b426754ba188fe8.gif)
![me_irl Foo The Foo Fighters Society](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/753/602/121.jpg)
![Thank god for the foo fighters The foo fighters foo](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/753/601/ab3.jpg)
![F*ck my foo | /r/okbuddyretard FOO FIGHTERS WHEN THEY ENCOUNTER A FOO](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/743/335/b6b.jpg)
![Go Dave Go ! Foo Foo Fighters](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/753/595/048.png)
![Thank you for your service THIS IS THE WORLD IF IF THE FOO FIGHTERS DIDNT FIGHT THE FOO](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/749/917/e9c.jpg)
Search Interest
External References
[1] Facebook – Dolphinger Center for Memetic Studies
[2] Reddit – Foo fighter
[3] Facebook – Cole McCorkendale
[4] Facebook – Deric Boyer
[5] Reddit – Thank you for your service
[6] Reddit – Not a JoJo reference
[7] Reddit – my dad b like:
[8] Reddit – stupid fucking foo i hate you
[9] Twitter – @Tf2Cursed
[10] Reddit – Thank you for your service
[11] Wikipedia – Foo Fighters
[12] Wikipedia – Foo Fighter
[13] Faqs – Etymology of 'Foo'
[14] Wikipedia – Robot Chicken
Top Comments
Monos89
Feb 20, 2020 at 12:26PM EST
Nedhitis
Feb 20, 2020 at 10:37AM EST