Bertstrips

2013image macroclassic

Bertstrips is an image macro series that pairs screenshots from the American children's show Sesame Street, mostly of Bert, with dark and inappropriate captions styled after Bitstrips webcomics. It started on Reddit in November 2013 and grew into a dedicated subreddit with tens of thousands of subscribers.

image macro memesdark humor memessubreddit origin memeschildrens media memestonal whiplash memes

Overview

Bertstrips is an image macro series that pairs screenshots from the American children's show Sesame Street, most often featuring the character Bert, with dark and inappropriate captions written in the visual style of Bitstrips webcomics1. The captions typically describe drug use, existential dread, crime, or otherwise bleak adult scenarios, set against cheerful puppet imagery. That mismatch between wholesome children's TV visuals and grim adult text is the whole joke.

The format taps into a much older internet tradition of portraying Bert as a sinister figure, which goes back to the 1998 site Bert Is Evil3. Bertstrips added a modern webcomic layout, with block-style captions positioned above the screenshot like a Bitstrips panel, giving posts a look that fit Facebook and Reddit feeds in the mid-2010s4.

How It Spread

A dedicated subreddit at /r/bertstrips launched the same day the original /r/funny post went up2. By March 2015 that subreddit counted more than 40,000 subscribers and averaged roughly 5 to 10 new posts per day4.

The format spread beyond Reddit through a Tumblr blog called Bert-Strips5 and a running Imgur gallery6, where users kept pairing new Sesame Street screencaps with darker captions. The subreddit stayed active through early 2015 at minimum, powered by the deep archive of Sesame Street footage and the mismatch between Bert's blank expression and whatever bleak caption sat above him4.

How to Use This Meme

Users typically start with a Sesame Street screenshot, most commonly of Bert, and layer a Bitstrips-style caption box above it. The caption is often written in third person and describes an adult, dark, or absurd situation the character is supposedly living through3. The humor comes from picking a puppet expression that unintentionally fits the caption's tone, so the puppet ends up looking either resigned, menacing, or oblivious in exactly the right way2.

Frequently Asked Questions

Bertstrips

2013image macroclassic

Bertstrips is an image macro series that pairs screenshots from the American children's show Sesame Street, mostly of Bert, with dark and inappropriate captions styled after Bitstrips webcomics. It started on Reddit in November 2013 and grew into a dedicated subreddit with tens of thousands of subscribers.

image macro memes dark humor memes subreddit origin memes childrens media memes tonal whiplash memes

Overview

Bertstrips is an image macro series that pairs screenshots from the American children's show Sesame Street, most often featuring the character Bert, with dark and inappropriate captions written in the visual style of Bitstrips webcomics1. The captions typically describe drug use, existential dread, crime, or otherwise bleak adult scenarios, set against cheerful puppet imagery. That mismatch between wholesome children's TV visuals and grim adult text is the whole joke.

The format taps into a much older internet tradition of portraying Bert as a sinister figure, which goes back to the 1998 site Bert Is Evil3. Bertstrips added a modern webcomic layout, with block-style captions positioned above the screenshot like a Bitstrips panel, giving posts a look that fit Facebook and Reddit feeds in the mid-2010s4.

How It Spread

A dedicated subreddit at /r/bertstrips launched the same day the original /r/funny post went up2. By March 2015 that subreddit counted more than 40,000 subscribers and averaged roughly 5 to 10 new posts per day4.

The format spread beyond Reddit through a Tumblr blog called Bert-Strips5 and a running Imgur gallery6, where users kept pairing new Sesame Street screencaps with darker captions. The subreddit stayed active through early 2015 at minimum, powered by the deep archive of Sesame Street footage and the mismatch between Bert's blank expression and whatever bleak caption sat above him4.

How to Use This Meme

Users typically start with a Sesame Street screenshot, most commonly of Bert, and layer a Bitstrips-style caption box above it. The caption is often written in third person and describes an adult, dark, or absurd situation the character is supposedly living through3. The humor comes from picking a puppet expression that unintentionally fits the caption's tone, so the puppet ends up looking either resigned, menacing, or oblivious in exactly the right way2.

Frequently Asked Questions