An extremely popular meme that has been surfacing the internet lately is the baby Yoda meme. The character baby Yoda is from the Star Wars Series titled “the Mandalorian”. The Mandalorian is a “space opera” series available only through a subscription with Disney Plus. The series came out in 2019, and had eight episodes. The baby Yoda meme has become increasingly popular and is a way for the Mandalorian series to get free publicity through the power of media.
In my opinion, I do not believe the baby Yoda meme is advocating for some specific world view other than media support for the Star Wars series. The Star Wars franchise is worth billions, and this is another Star Wars series aimed at economic revenue. However, in the two memes I attached below, they both have some reference to a commercial item; Mc Donald’s and Lipton Tea. People have changed the meme from just containing baby Yoda, to having other commercial goods in the meme. This is a prime example at how consumer and commercial based the United States is.
This meme is all over the internet. I have personally seen it on Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook. Although baby Yoda was created by Jon Favreau and was given the name “the child” in the series there is not a known creator for the baby Yoda memes that have surfaced all over the internet. People have remastered it and made it their own by adding different meanings to it. I’ve had several friends and family send a meme similar to the two memes I have attached below. The baby Yoda character is seen as cute and lovable because if it’s child-like nature. It attracts an audience because it is innocent and is the same species as the character Yoda from the other Star Wars series previously created. People are familiar with the Baby Yoda or “the child” character because of this and find a cognitive way of relating to it because they have seen it before.
The baby Yoda meme was extremely popular for a few weeks due to the fact that Disney+ was only releasing an episode every week or so. The first episode was released on November 12, and I would say that solely based off of social media the meme was extremely popular in the month of December. The eighth and final episode was released on December 27 and I have yet to see a baby Yoda meme in 2020. I am wondering what the Star Wars franchise is planning to do next with the Mandalorian series, could there be a second season?
The purpose of these memes is to call attention to the new Star Wars series and generate support for it. I think that the public has taken off with baby Yoda and has given “him” new meaning that serves consumer driven America. It is amazing to see how powerful and fast acting the media is and can be. Also ironic to think about is that you can only see baby Yoda in action if you purchase a subscription to Disney+ to view the Mandalorian series. Coincidence?
