Bert is Evil

Bert is Evil is the name of a parody website, founded by Dino Ignacio on March 30, 1997, which featured Bert, a character on the American children's television program Sesame Street. In 1998, Dino Ignacio, Wout J Reinders and Jasper Hulshoff Pol accepted the Webby Award and the People's Voice Award for Best Weird Website at the Palace of Fine Arts auditorium in San Francisco.[1]

The website featured manipulated images of the character consorting with notoriously nefarious figures, such as Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong-il, Robert Mugabe, and Osama bin Laden, as well as being present at events, such as the JFK assassination,[2] and Oklahoma City bombing, humorously offered as "proof" that Bert was no mere innocent children's television character. The "Evil Bert" phenomenon was picked up by other humorists, who created their own images, linking Bert to current and historical atrocities.[3]

In the summer of 1998, due to the website's immense cult popularity, it became too expensive for Ignacio to continue running. Instead of shutting the site down, he offered to allow anyone who was willing to mirror his original website the opportunity to host it.[4] As a result, dozens of mirrors appeared, increasing the website's popularity and visibility.

  1. ^ "Bert is Evil - The Webby Awards". The Webby Awards. Archived from the original on April 28, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  2. ^ "B E R T I S E V I L : JFK assassination". February 8, 2004. Archived from the original on February 8, 2004.
  3. ^ "Image of Bert with Adolf Hitler". April 19, 1998. Archived from the original on April 19, 1998. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  4. ^ "Dec 06, 1998 Archive.org copy of the original Bert is Evil". December 6, 1998. Archived from the original on December 6, 1998. Retrieved May 1, 2014.