About

Logan Paul Tasering Dead Rat refers to a series of jokes, memes and reactions to a YouTube video in which YouTuber Logan Paul shoots a dead rat with a taser.

Origin

On February 5th, 2018, Paul uploaded a video entitled "THE PAULS RESPOND TO THE CSI FIGHT! **called out**." At about 4:50 into the video, Logan hosts a segment called "Get These Rats."^[1] In the segment, Paul shoots a pair of dead rats with a taser. The video (shown below) received more than 9.5 million views in one week.

Spread

Two days later, the animal rights organization PETA2 tweeted^[2] the video with the caption "When you think shooting dead rats with a taser will help your channel 🙃😡@LoganPaul -- TRUE mavericks don't find humor in suffering & death. It's time to stop." The post (shown below, left) received more than 1,100 retweets and 2,500 likes in two days.

Additionally, the organization tweeted^[3] at YouTube. They said, "This sort of content has no place on @YouTube or anywhere else, as it could desensitize young people to cruelty to animals, so PETA is calling on the platform to remove it." The tweet (shown below, center) received more than 100 retweets and 490 likes in two days.

Responding to comments regarding the welfare of rats, PETA2 responded,^[4] "All animals have the ability to suffer and feel pain in the same way that human beings do. 💔 Destroying and mocking the bodies of dead animals for shocking video content is never OK. Just imagine a person shooting a Taser at a deceased dog or cat. All animals deserve respect." The tweet (shown below, right) received more than 4,300 retweets and 15,000 likes in 24 hours.

On February 8th, Twitter^[5] user @toontownstaff tweeted about the contradiction between Paul's self-proclaimed respect for the dead following the backlash to his suicide forest video and this new video. The tweet (shown below) received more than 1,000 retweets and 3,600 likes in 24 hours.

That day, Twitter^[6] published a Moments page about the backlash to the video.

Later that day, memes based on the controversy began appearing on the /r/dankememes. On February 8th, Redditor^[7] Miximum Dennis posted a two-panel photoshop meme featuring Paul tasing Remy from the Pixar film Ratatoulie. The post (shown below, left received more than 100 points (92% upvoted) and 25 comments in three days.

Two days later, on February 10th, Instagram ^[8] user @memepoleon posted a Daily Struggle variation with Logan Paul choosing between "Lay low and make risk free content after controversy" and "Taser dead animals and put it on YouTube." The post (shown below, center) received more than 22,000 likes in two days.

The following day, Redditor^[9] AFriendlyUserName posted a Bae Come Over image macro featuring a close up of Logan Paul's face while he is running and the caption "Her: Babe come over / Him: Im busy / Her: My pet rat just died / Him:" The post (shown below, right) received more than 25,700 points (89% upvoted) and 390 comments in one day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References