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Screengrab via The Weather Network/YouTube Remix by April Siese

Congrats to these bros who yelled ‘d**ks out for Harambe’ during a live hurricane report

D**ks out in a big storm for the dead gorilla.

 

Jay Hathaway

Internet Culture

Posted on Oct 6, 2016   Updated on May 25, 2021, 8:41 pm CDT

“Dicks out for Harambe,” the catchphrase of mid-to-late 2016 and a sort of irreverent memorial for everyone’s favorite ape who died, means so much to so many. For example, it means social sanctioning—albeit mostly from teens and people on Facebook meme groups—to holler “dicks” in public. And people will go to great lengths, even into the midst of a Category 4 hurricane, to realize that dream. 

An unidentified bro sporting long hair and shades braved the high winds of Hurricane Matthew to make his way to Juno Beach and into the background of a local reporter’s shot. At that moment, the newscaster was describing small children and pets being knocked over by the storm, subtly indicating that maybe it was a bad idea to be there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGgWeAzMU4o

But it was all worth it, I guess, because the courageous bro got to unleash the ol’ “Dicks out!” on live TV. 

A lot of people will tell you that yelling “Dicks out for Harambe!” is faddish, asinine, and has past its peak. This is all true, but what I’m going to posit here is: What if it’s also good?

See, the thing people used to yell on local newscasts was “Fuck her right in the pussy!” The FHRITP meme was the DOFH meme of 2014, but much stupider and without any context. It was also based on a fake videobomb that was set up to go viral, but many people spread it like it was an organic Thing, and it became a plague to TV reporters everywhere.

“Dicks out for Harambe,” which at least has Danny Trejo going for it, has almost entirely supplanted FHRITP as the exclamation of choice for attention-seeking brohams who have the internet. For this, I am ever so slightly grateful.

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*First Published: Oct 6, 2016, 6:05 pm CDT