Myron+Zhao's+Research

=Meme Research Analysis= //**Iraqi Shoe Toss**//

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This particular video has gone viral ever since its live broadcast. The video itself shows U.S. President George Bush at the podium during his farewell press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, when suddenly a reporter gets up and tosses both his shoes at Bush. Bush calmly dodged both shoes, and goes on to say "don't worry about it." This lead to the reporter getting tackled and detained. The implications of the reporter throwing the shoe is that, in the Arab world, it is the "biggest insult to slap your shoe against somebody." This video currently has 3,876,542 views on Youtube. With the fact that there are tons of other versions of this video on Youtube and other websites shows that this is a very popular meme. Users have also created thousands of animated versions of this incident, each with their own twist.

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In the Know Your Meme episode, the host explains that due to the short length of the actual shoe throw as well as its public broadcast, it was fairly easy for this to spread. Another reason for its popularity is that, it is world news. When a person of such high and controversial press is talked about, it is easier for the world to notice his actions. The reporter of the story apparently also became a hero to the rest of the world, as he has literally stood up to the President and let him know of how he felt.