Police Misunderstand Internet Meme: Warn People About Pedobear

from the now-that's-creepy dept

Thu, Sep 16th 2010 12:46pm — Mike Masnick

A few folks have been sending in various versions of the fact that the San Louis Obispo police department has decided that the infamous Pedobear meme is something that people need to be warned about because "PedoBear is and should be associated with Internet pedophiles/sexually-preferential offenders who reportedly use him to communicate their interests in young children to each other."

Of course, this ignores what the Pedobear meme is really about -- which is more of a 4chan /b/ "you're being creepy" sorta of thing, which expanded to take on a life of its own (in typical /b/ meme fashion). Amusingly, the police also complain about an internet jokester (with too much free time) dressing up like Pedobear at Comic Con and handing out candy -- noting that after police discovered him, he was "excluded from this family-friendly event." Watch out, Rick Astley, you may be next.

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Filed Under: memes, pedobear, police

56 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 16 Sep 2010 @ 12:52pm

oh god, tell me this isnt real, is it april?!
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Thomas (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 12:55pm

How long until state AG's start to gang up on 4chan?
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Alias (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 12:57pm

Luis*
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The Real Chris Hansen, 16 Sep 2010 @ 12:58pm

Why don't you...
...have a seat right over there.
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:Lobo Santo (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 12:58pm

Re: AG Gang
About 3 minutes ago

/I hope I'm kidding.
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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 1:02pm

Beware
Beware anyone displaying the logo of the pedobear (or any of his friends).

For the life of me, I can't remember the company that actually has a bear logo that looks identical to pedobear.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Sep 2010 @ 1:03pm

Re: Re: AG Gang
I'd kind of pay to watch that fight.
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RadialSkid (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 1:05pm

Congrats San Luis, you've just been trolled IRL.

Do people seriously not get a freaking JOKE?
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Sep 2010 @ 1:07pm

Re: Beware
Snuggle Fabric Softener?
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Sep 2010 @ 1:08pm

Re:
Not when it involves children. Or religion. Or politics. Or...
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Killer_Tofu (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 1:08pm

Re:
I believe authority figures have repeatedly shown that they have no sense of humor and cannot take a joke most of the time.
For a piece of evidence aside from this I point to the Boston police incident involving Aqua Teen Hunger Force (which was funny, even after they ruined it and made themselves look dumb).
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Marcus Carab (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 1:13pm

I have to admit, Pedobear is one of the more despicable memes to come out of the depths of 4chan. It seems to rely on finding pedophilia hilarious, by taking any random image and saying "think about the sexual assault of children while you look at this image, hahahaha!"

Of course, having an inappropriate sense of humour and actually being a threat to children are very different things, so this is still pretty silly. I'm not too impressed by the comicon parents who thought it would be funny to get a shot of their kid with Pedobear though, that's for sure.
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Rose M. Welch (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 1:20pm

Re: Re: Beware
That bear seriously freaked me out when I was a kid.

You know what? That bear still freaks me out.
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Rose M. Welch (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 1:21pm

Re:
Assuming that they understood what Pedobear was.
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Anonymous Poster, 16 Sep 2010 @ 1:27pm

Re: Re: Re: AG Gang
I'd pirate video of the fight later, then share it on /b/.
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Free Capitalist (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 1:31pm

Re:
inappropriate sense of humour

Context can be paramount to propriety. There is a malady I like to call "brainless drone syndrome" which can be diagnosed by the repeated act of impulsively projecting context based on some completely unrelated predisposition where no context understood.

Dumb cops are dumb. Nothing to see here.
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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 1:35pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: AG Gang
There's enough value in that one that I'd actually pay to see it. Not in 3D, I'd probably have to carve my own eyes out, but I'd buy it on DVD.
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Coward (Anon), 16 Sep 2010 @ 1:35pm

Ignoring whether you think the Pedobear mem is funny or not, does anyone really believe that pedophiles drive around with Pedobear bumper stickers to identify themselves? Really? I think it would be a great idea if they did as it would make it easy for the police to identify pedophiles.
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william (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 1:47pm

Re: Re:
actually, I don't think this has anything to do with sense of humor.

it's to do with a even bigger problem, unwilling to admit fault, after it's been pointed out that they are morons.

Police and government authority figures has a long standing problem of admitting any mistaken when they are caught.

Hey, some how we teach all our kids to correct and apologize for mistakes, but when it comes to the big mans, they can do whatever they want.
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william (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 1:50pm

Re:
you sir, was obviously never a teenager, or been to college.

I can recall MOST of the jokes and humor i've seen and heard around that time as being "inappropriate" in adults' eyes.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Sep 2010 @ 2:00pm

I just saw a movie on youtube the name was "Bear with me" LoL
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NattyFido (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 2:03pm

Just how dumb are the copps ...
They didn't even notice the spelling mistake! It's paedophile in English, pronounced pee-do-file.
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interval (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 2:12pm

Re: Re: Re:
How can anyone with a brain not figure this out??? Like pedophiles would wear some kind of badge identifying themselves... give me an ever-living break, SLO PD.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Sep 2010 @ 2:13pm

OMG I saw that news already and still I can't stop laughing.
But to be fair Oprah to got owned once by 4chan.
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Wolfy, 16 Sep 2010 @ 2:15pm

It may be "paedophile" in English, it's pedophile in "american"... (Don't confuse us with the facts when it's for the children!)
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chris (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 2:17pm

Re: Why don't you...
http://images.sodahead.com/profiles/001615872/chips-handon-1266702585.jpeg
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Sep 2010 @ 2:18pm

4chan punking oprah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7mn4mo-QYE

Oprah and the 9000 penises.
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interval (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 2:22pm

Re:
'I have to admit, Pedobear is one of the more despicable memes to come out of the depths of 4chan. It seems to rely on finding pedophilia hilarious, by taking any random image and saying "think about the sexual assault of children while you look at this image, hahahaha!"'

Woosh. Right over the old noggin'. You really don't get it. I'm not saying its a brilliant meme, but its really not that hard to get, and you still ain't got it. Its not about "thinking about the sexual assault of children." You're waaaay off the mark.
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interval (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 2:24pm

Re:
That's what I'm talking about. It'd be like if Bernie Madoff walked around wall street wearing an "I'm a pyramid scammer" button on his lapel.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Sep 2010 @ 2:34pm

Re:
If they did, a bunch of Attorneys General would grandstand in an attempt to make it illegal to place stickers on your car.

You know, to protect the children.
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RadialSkid (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 2:36pm

Re: Re:
Boston police incident involving Aqua Teen Hunger Force

Yeah, I remember that, too. They kept insisting on calling it a "hoax," and insisted that the two "perpetrators" knew that morons would mistake Lite Brites for bombs. It was embarrassing.
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Blatant Coward (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 3:16pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
"How can anyone with a brain not figure this out??? "

Waits for it....

PADIIIIIIING

There ya go.

So do car jackers wear jacks? if so are they car jacks, apple jacks, or those spiky jacks that used to come with a ball? This is why crime is so rampant in this country. All the police wear coats with POLICE written on them but the crooks don't wear their CRIMINAL coats. Not even the striped shirts and black masks. Except in Duckburg.
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Jack Thompson (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 3:24pm

4chan will have a field day with this. It really is hilarious.

For those unfamiliar with Pedobear; the whole point of the meme is that it satirises paedophiles. The entire character is there to mock and condemn a condition that everyone considers despicable.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Sep 2010 @ 3:31pm

Re:
I think the joke is kind of going over your head.

People who engage in rampant hysteria over an inflated threat of pedophilia are a caricature of a normal rational person. Pedobear is a caricature of the endlessly sinister, omnipresent pedophile threat that these people fear. That's why it's funny to put him in every situation. If fear of pedophiles weren't so completely overblown and radically pervasive in our society, pedobear wouldn't be funny.

Even that's probably much too serious of an interpretation.
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Trails (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 3:54pm

Re:
a long time. 4chan has little visibility outside of nerd-types, so grandstanding against it is unlikely to garner many political points.
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harbingerofdoom (profile), 16 Sep 2010 @ 4:26pm

Re: Re:
you mean like piratebay?
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abc gum, 16 Sep 2010 @ 7:37pm

Reminds of when main stream publications carry an article from the Onion.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Sep 2010 @ 7:55pm

Re:
Son I am dissapoint...

You obviously have never been to /b/ or you know that what you just said is a load of bullshit.

/b/ lives for the lulz and nothing else. Anything to get a rise out of anyone is what /b/ does and they are good at it. raep, child raep, necroraep, 40lb box of raep is just a few of the weapons /b/ desploys in the endles war-of-the-lulz
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IronM@sk, 16 Sep 2010 @ 8:20pm

Re: 4chan punking oprah.
This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Harpo, Inc.. already.
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Dohn Joe, 16 Sep 2010 @ 9:48pm

Gang bangers?
So, according to the cops, pedophiles are like a gang? With secret handshakes and all that? Ha ha ha ha ha!
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PaulT (profile), 17 Sep 2010 @ 12:25am

Re: Re:
Erm, this...

Pedobear is not making fun of pedophilia, it's poking fun at the hysteria. As for "threat to children", it's actually far more likely that a kid will get abused by a family member than a random stranger, and it's highly unlikely than an actual pedophile would mark himself out in this way.

Oh, and I watched A Serbian Film last night (because it was banned from the Frightfest festival I was at in London last month - Hah!). If you're this sensitive, do NOT watch it. Seriously.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2010 @ 12:34am

Re: Re: 4chan punking oprah.
http://ytinstant.com/

Use the YouTube instant search with "4chan oprah" and it might find another one, no promises though, but it is a funny video.

Curiosity: the guy behind the YouTube instant developed it in 3 hours loosing the bet with his roommate that it would be done in one and got a job offer from Google.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2010 @ 1:18am

Pedobear the movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W5tpbTJ7V8

Soon in a theater near you.

"He is just a bear"
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2010 @ 8:11am

Pedometer
Can these kind officers clear up for me what a "pedometer" is?
A. A psychiatric standard for measuring pedophilia severity.
B. The maximum hight of a pedophile's target.
C. The distance a probationary pedophile must stay away from children.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2010 @ 9:50am

proper use of the pedobear meme:

1. find some image or text that, in the proper context would seem to insinuate pedophelia ie. "jesus loves the little children"

2. place a "pedobear seal of approval" image on the mildly inapropriate image/text and post to an image board.

3. view the now modified image, think to yourself "awwww, thats f***ed up!"

4. /facepalm
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Marcus Carab (profile), 17 Sep 2010 @ 1:26pm

Re:
Yeah thanks folks... I'm not quite that daft. I get how it's easy to come up with a justification of Pedobear as satire. But go spend five minutes reading /b/ and then tell me you really think that's the case. Because it sure as hell doesn't seem that way to me.

I am the last person to care about offensive humour. There are lots of comedians who can handle topics like child abuse and pedophilia in a manner that is hilarious - comedian Louis CK and the show The Venture Bros. spring to mind. I just don't really get any of the same sense of maturity or actual comedic value from the Pedobear meme or the /b/tards who push it around the internet.
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Marcus Carab (profile), 17 Sep 2010 @ 1:32pm

Re: Re:
Not true! I was a teenager for three-and-a-half weeks and I once visited a college website.

I regret using the term "inappropriate sense of humour" - it did indeed sound pretty ornery. But I also don't find things funny just because they flirt with controversial or potentially offensive concepts - I want them to have some actual value that goes deeper. I'm not really convinced Pedobear does.
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Marcus Carab (profile), 17 Sep 2010 @ 1:34pm

Re: Re:
Your last line is exactly my point: that definitely is a more serious interpretation than most of the people who plaster Pedobear everywhere seem to give it.
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Marcus Carab (profile), 17 Sep 2010 @ 1:41pm

Re: Re:
I'd like to add that if you still think it's a funny meme, go do a Google Image Search for pedobear, and tell me you don't see some small problem with the people who spend their time making detailed photoshops depicting bears raping children.
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Marcus Carab (profile), 17 Sep 2010 @ 1:55pm

Re: Re:
Go do an image search for Pedobear buddy. Is that really what you're defending to me right now? It's gonna take a more convincing argument than "whoosh"
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Sep 2010 @ 7:50pm

Internet hate machine.
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Marcus Carab (profile), 17 Sep 2010 @ 8:24pm

Re: Re:
True enough.
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slander (profile), 20 Sep 2010 @ 5:05pm

Re: Re: Re:
Well, I'd like to add that if you still think it's a serious problem, go do a Google Search for "bunched panties", and tell me you don't see some small problem with the people who spend their time whining and crying about what other people do for amusement.
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Marcus Carab (profile), 21 Sep 2010 @ 7:34am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Yeah you're absolutely right. I shouldn't get so uptight about amusing little larks like borderline-child-pornography.

You're an ass. But hey, if you insist on defending Pedobear I won't try to stop you. I just can't really figure out why you would want to.
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Oct 2012 @ 1:39pm

I hate pedobear, if I caught someone doing that to a child I'd beat their butt and castrate them so couldn't harm anymore children....at least I wish i could castrate them....call the popo, have their butt arrested, get the electric chair but the other inmates raped and killed him already. Ik that sounds hateful, but they kill the molesters before the wife beaters and serial killers, I mean, cmon its a child that is just sick...
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PedobearTheGame, 9 Sep 2014 @ 4:26am

new game
Hi,
I just found this awesome pedobear game on google play check this out it is worth a try If you ask me
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bebasoft.pedobearthegame
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