The Dock of Shame

About

The Dock of Shame refers to a series of memes based on a memorable scene from the 2007 animated reality show series Total Drama in which characters get eliminated and sent to the "dock of shame" from which they depart from the show. Starting in June 2020, the fictional location saw frequent use in memes, mainly through the efforts of an eponymous gimmick Twitter account.

Origin

On July 8th, 2007, episode two "Not So Happy Campers Part 2" of the first season Total Drama Island of the Canadian animated reality show series Total Drama premiered.^[1] In the episode, host Chris McClean first introduces the Dock of Shame, an island location from which show participants who get voted off depart from the island (scene shown below).

The camper who does not receive must immediately return to dock of shame to catch the boat of losers.

Prior to June 2020, the fictional location saw limited presence in memes, being used in contexts of cancelling or ridiculing someone (examples shown below). For example, on June 9th, 2019, Twitter^[2] user @angelcakee referenced the Dock of Shame in their tweet (shown below, left). On July 7th, 2019, Twitter^[3] user @joestarwife posted a "What If We Kissed In" meme (shown below, right).

On June 2nd, 2020, gimmick Twitter^[4] account @FavDockOfShame launched, posting edits in which a certain character has been photoshopped on the Dock of Shame, with Chris McLean pointing at them with an angry expression. The images of Dock of Shame and Chris McLean come from separate episodes.

On June 2nd, 2020, the account posted^[5] its first tweet which gained 5 retweets and 43 likes in six months (shown below).

Spread

Starting on June 2nd, the gimmick account posted edits in which various characters and people were edited in (examples shown below, left and center). On June 20th, 2020, the account posted its first viral tweet^[6] that received over 2,400 retweets and 12,400 likes in six months (shown below, right).

In the following months, the account posted multiple viral edits that surpassed the 1,000 retweet mark and gained over 57,000 followers as of December 18th, 2020 (examples shown below). The memes have often referenced topical events such as online drama.

Following the launch of the account, the format gained popularity on Twitter, with users posting their own memes and fan art in the second half of 2020.

Various Examples

Templates

Search Interest

External References