10 Internet Memes Illustrated in Peeps

Julia Schillo
Julia Schillo / Julia Schillo
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Marshmallow Peeps are everywhere! The stores are full of them, and so are Easter baskets. Better stock up now if you use them as an art medium. Plenty of people do for the Peeps diorama competitions held each year. And every year I pick some of those best, centered around a theme for your entertainment. More and more of the dioramas feature internet themes and memes, social networking, and popular videos.

1. JK Wedding Dance

A Peeps version of the 2009 super-viral JK Wedding Entrance video made semi-finalist in the Washington Post diorama competition in 2010.

2. What People Think Peeps Are

Megan Hustings and Rachel Hamilton adapted Peeps to the What People Think I Do meme. Their effort, entitled "What People Think Peeps Are: Six different perspectives on the memening of Peeps," made them finalists in the Washington Post's Peep Show in 2012. Watch a video about this project.

3. Charlie Sheen's Tiger Blood

Natalie and Bob Brown from Alexandria took advantage of Charlie Sheen’s troubles to create this scene illustrating the concept of “Tiger Blood.” This was an entry in the WaPo contest in 2011.

4. Twitter

Anna Yoshida De La Paz made finalist in the Seattle Times contest in 2010 with a rendering of the Twitter logo in Peeps.

5. Pinterest

"Peepterest: The Loss of American Productivity" by Karlyn Owens and Dave Owens puts the social networking site Pinterest into the world of Peeps. Or maybe it's the other way around.

6. Nyan Peep

The meme of the year in 2011 was Nyan Cat. The Peep analog, Nyan Peep, was entered into the Washington Post diorama contest in 2012 by Julia Schillo. 

7. Peepnam Style

Not so much of a diorama as a collage, this Peep scene is a parody of the PSY video of the song "Gangnam Style" that became the biggest meme of 2012. Jason Loul of Seattle entered this one in last year's Seattle Times Peep Contest.

He wasn’t the only one who had the idea, as this one from Noelle Stanley and David Stanley was entered into the Washington Post competition last year.

Molly Zuzek of Forest Lake, Minnesota, entered her version into the 2013 Pioneer Press Peeps contest.

8. The Book of Bunny Suicides

Carolyn Whitton created the above diorama in honor of Andy Riley's first Book of Bunny Suicides for the Washington Post competition in 2010.

9. Peeps from Hillary

Jane Lieberman of Minneapolis recreated the meme Texts from Hillary as Peeps From Hillary for the Twin Cities Pioneer Press competition in 2013.

10. IKEA Monkey

The Twin Cities contest from last year also had a reference to the IKEA Monkey story that captivated the internet for a brief time in late 2012. This rendering from Katie MacInnes of St. Paul turned the monkey into a marshmallow bunny for the contest last year.

And what about those contests for this year? The Winners of the Washington Post Peeps Diorama Contest of this year will not be revealed until April 20th. The Twin Cities Pioneer Press is holding their contest this year, but have not announced the winners yet. The York Daily Record will announce their contest winners on April 18th. The Seattle Times has not yet announced the winners, but you can see the entries in this year’s competition.

See a lot more creative uses for Peeps in our previous articles.