About

Moose Family in Kiddie Pool Watching Car Fire refers to a photoshopped composite of two photographs: one of a red minivan on fire and the other of a family of moose in a kiddie pool. The image has been used in memes and its authenticity been the subject of scrutiny.

Origin

On May 13th, 2013, Redditor ^[1] Thomaslogan posted an image of a red minivan on fire in the /r/pics subreddit. They titled the thread "I heard a loud noise outside and found this. At least its not my van." The post received more than 2,300 points (95% upvoted) and 360 comments in six years (shown below, left). That day, Redditor^[2] acitsc posted an image of a moose family in a plastic kiddie pool in the /r/funny subreddit. The post received more than 2,400 points (95% upvoted) and 150 comments (shown below, right).

The following day, on May 14th, Tumblr ^[3] user nickholmes posted a composite of the two images. They captioned the image "Moose love a restitution picnic. Within six days, the post received more than 793,000 points (shown below).

Spread

On April 22nd, 2016, the fact-checking website Snopes ^[4] debunked the photograph. They wrote, "A photograph purportedly showing a moose and two calves enjoying a kiddie pool as they watched a car burn across the street has been circulating online for several years. While it is frequently shared as a genuine (albeit bizarre) item, this image is a composite of at least two separate photographs."

The image has since been used in a variety of memes, primarily as the inspiration for image macros and object-labeling memes. On September 26th, 2016, the social media account Meanwhile in Canada posted a meme that compared the image to the 2016 United States Presidential Election. When added to Facebook, ^[5] the post received more than 37,000 reactions, 2,000 comments and 29,000 shares in less than three years (shown below, left).

On April 15th, 2019, Redditor^[6] SlothySurprise posted about the image in the /r/MemeEconomy subreddit, receiving more than 6,100 points (95% upvoted) and 525 comments (shown below, center). The image inspired others to use the format, as well (example below, right).

Search Interest

External References