‘Woodergate’: While Philly awaited water updates, these memes brought levity
“Is this water’s revenge for how we pronounce it?”
As Philadelphia residents awaited news about the hazardous materials from Bucks County plant that spilled into a Delaware River tributary, some opted to make light of the situation the best way they knew how: memes.
Officials have since announced that local water is safe to drink and not impacted by the chemical spill. But while things were unfolding, locals turned to TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram to poke fun at it all.
Using dark humor to get through perilous moments in history is an age-old tactic, experts say. It can even be a self-soothing, coping mechanism, clinical psychologist Carla Manly told Teen Vogue.
“For some people, using memes to convey information can add both meaning and levity to very threatening situations,” she said. “By adding a dose of humor, more comical memes downplay the severity of crises.”
On Sunday, when city officials announced that residents may want to opt for bottled water, content creators took to TikTok.
A video posted by Maddie McShane showed her and a friend holding a box of water jugs with the text: “The whole city of Philadelphia right now.” The video uses an Family Guy audio clip that has been repurposed and popularized on the app. It makes fun of tourists who go to Mexico with quotes like, “Don’t drink the water” and “I’m going to brush my teeth with tequila.” It was viewed over a million times and has over 200,000 likes.
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On Twitter, the phrase “Woodergate” gained traction as a way to describe what was happening.
That’s when the jokes began rolling in.
On Instagram, art and memes provided commentary. Artist Symone Salib made a post highlighting Mayor Jim Kenney’s absence throughout the initial days of the chemical spill’s unfolding.
There’s even merch.
Local designer Jim Anderson, who runs the brand GRIMGRIMGRIM — a death metal-style brand that makes merch and art — launched a T-shirt design Sunday evening with the text: “I survived the Philadelphia wooder wars of 2023″ accompanied by skull imagery and what appears to be Gritty and the Phanatic riding a pair of fish. Anderson is selling the shirt for $22 plus shipping.
Conrad Benner, who chronicles Philly street art on his popular Instagram and TikTok accounts joined in on the fun Sunday afternoon.
“I tweeted, ‘Is this water’s revenge for how we pronounce it?” he said. The tweet was viewed more than 71,000 times on Twitter before being reshared to other platforms. “After those initial few hours, I had given in to the situation that we were all efficiently in wait-and-see-mode and that funny thought came to me. So, I shared it.”
Benner, 37, of South Philly, said making light of the situation on social media can be a release when people are going through something scary. Benner and other independent content creators also took to platforms like TikTok to help spread news and updates about the spill.
“As we scroll social media for more information, between posts about what’s going on and what’s the latest update you can chuckle a little,” he said. “And hopefully that humor reminds you that you’re not in this surreal mess alone. I don’t know if this is exactly a ‘Philly Thing,’ or not. But I’d like to think it is.”