Steve Irwin
| Steve Irwin |
|---|
|
| Example: Steve Irwin Is Dead D= |
| by Stingraid |
| September 4,2006 |
| Worthy spinoffs: |
Steve Irwin, the world-renowned "Crocodile Hunter", was killed by a stingray attack during filming for a new documentary on September 4th, 2006. The news resulted in a flurry of new YTMNDs ranging from tributes to mockeries.
As with the Dick Cheney and Pluto fads, there was no original YTMND or spinoffs; instead, there was a near-simultaneous reaction to the news. The only consistent elements among the sites are images of Steve Irwin and/or stingrays; many of them are little more than screenshots of internet news stories, with "RIP Steve Irwin 1962-2006" or similar text.
There are many other popular variants of the fad:
- Sites asking for 'Revenge'. These sites will either show others preparing to avenge the death of Irwin or Steve Irwin returning back to kill stingrays.
- Death parodies, mainly in the form of video games, Pokemon being the most popular
The Steve Irwin fad was one of the fastest growing fads since the infamous Myspace Suicide fad in December 2005, with over 100 sites created within the first 24 hours. A common criticism of the fad is the lack of originality. At the beginning, there was nothing but news article screenshots and sites saying "RIP Steve Irwin", almost always using sad music including the "Lonely Man Theme". Also, there were non-stop attempts at creating "One Weakness" and "lol stingray" sites, further raising its NARV status. Afterwards, an article emerged, describing the deaths of stingrays since Steve Irwin's death. That day, around 10-12 news screenshot sites were created.
