# Jaeger Designer The Jaeger Designer was an online customization app released by Warner Bros. in May 2013 to promote Guillermo del Toro's sci-fi film *Pacific Rim*. The tool let users build their own giant robot (called a Jaeger in the film's lore), pick weapons, choose a country flag, and give it a name. The meme took off when fans started ignoring the app's intended purpose and instead created absurd Jaegers with vulgar, punny, or nonsensical names like "Diarrhea Touchdown" and "Padawan Dickshark," sharing the results across Tumblr, Twitter, and blogs throughout July 2013. ## Origin *Pacific Rim* is a 2013 American sci-fi action film directed by Guillermo del Toro, produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros[9]. The film imagines a world where humanity builds massive piloted robots called Jaegers to fight colossal monsters called Kaiju emerging from the Pacific Ocean[9]. Warner Bros. launched the Jaeger Designer app on the official movie site on May 11, 2013, as part of the film's marketing campaign[2]. The app was one of several interactive promotional tools. It connected to users' Facebook profiles for saving designs and later integrated with a combat simulator game called *Pacific Rim: Jaeger Combat Simulator*, which let players fight Kaiju using their custom creations[7]. Warner Bros. worked with filmmakers to match the movie's visual style, including original voiceovers and music from the soundtrack[7]. - **Platform:** Warner Bros. official Pacific Rim website (app), Tumblr / Twitter (meme spread) - **Creator:** Warner Bros. (app developer), Kris Straub (popularized vulgar naming trend), 4th String Jaegers blog (curation), @CantWearHats on Twitter (viral GIF) - **Date:** 2013 ## Overview The Jaeger Designer was a Flash-based web application hosted on the official *Pacific Rim* movie site. Users could construct a custom Jaeger by swapping out individual body parts: head, chest, shoulders, arms, hands, weapons, legs, and feet[1]. After assembling the robot, users could apply color schemes, decals, and battle damage effects[2]. The final step was creating a poster featuring the custom Jaeger in one of several cinematic poses, complete with a custom name and a country-of-origin flag[8]. The app was designed as a straightforward promotional tool, but the combination of a name field with no content filter and a poster generator that made everything look official turned it into a comedy engine. Fans quickly realized the most entertaining use was giving their Jaegers the most ridiculous names possible and sharing the polished-looking results as if they were legitimate movie posters. ## How It Spread The Jaeger Designer got immediate press coverage on its launch day, May 11, 2013, with write-ups from MovieViral[2], Collider[3], and CrunchyRoll[6]. MovieViral called it "one of the cooler interactive features I've seen from Warner Bros."[2] and Collider described it as "possibly the coolest bit of marketing I've ever seen for a film"[3]. Through late May and June, additional sites including Slashfilm[10], Mashable[7], and Nerdist[1] covered the expanding feature set. On June 18, 2013, IGN announced a formal "Design Your Jaeger" contest in cooperation with del Toro himself[4]. The grand prize was a 3D printer valued at $2,500, with IGN, Warner Bros., and Legendary Pictures judging submissions before del Toro selected from 15 finalists[4]. The meme phase kicked off in early July 2013, right before the film's theatrical release. On July 8, Tumblr user Kris Straub posted a collection of three Jaegers with deliberately vulgar names, including "Diarrhea Touchdown" and "Padawan Dickshark"[6]. The next day, on July 9, the single-topic Tumblr blog "4th String Jaegers" launched, dedicated entirely to curating non-serious custom Jaegers[6]. That same day, Tumblr user Fadeintocase posted six Jaegers built around country-name puns, racking up over 5,800 notes[6]. Twitter user @CantWearHats contributed a GIF animation of a dancing Jaeger called "Bust A Move" that the 4th String Jaegers blog picked up[6]. On July 12, Uproxx published an article spotlighting Kris Straub's creations and adding their own[6]. Uproxx ran follow-up posts on July 13 using reader submissions and again on July 17 featuring picks from the 4th String Jaegers blog[6]. BuzzFeed jumped in on July 16 with "18 Rejected Pacific Rim Robot Names," collecting fan-made designs shared under the #JaegerDesigner hashtag on Twitter and Tumblr[5]. ## How to Use The original Jaeger Designer followed a three-step process[8]: 1. **Construct** — Select body parts by clicking on different sections of the Jaeger model. Swap heads, chests, arms, legs, and weapons from preset options. Add battle damage, rust, or dirt effects[2]. 2. **Color** — Use a color picker to set primary, secondary, and decal colors. Adjust the reflection level by selecting different materials[8]. 3. **Poster** — Choose a poster template optimized for mobile or desktop resolution. Pick a pose, select a background, and type in a name and country of origin. Download the image or share it via Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr[8]. ## Cultural Impact The Jaeger Designer stood out as an unusually successful piece of movie marketing that the internet gleefully subverted. The official contest backed by del Toro treated the app seriously, offering a $2,500 3D printer as a prize[4]. Meanwhile, fans used the same tool to produce content that was the exact opposite of what Warner Bros. intended. The app played a small role in the broader marketing blitz for *Pacific Rim*, which earned $411 million worldwide despite underperforming domestically[9]. The film's marketing strategy included graphic novel previews, character posters, and featurettes explaining the Jaeger design philosophy[3][10]. The Jaeger Designer was the only interactive component that generated its own viral life independent of the film. ## Fun Facts - The Jaeger Designer required a Facebook login to save designs, which meant your carefully crafted "Diarrhea Touchdown" was technically linked to your real identity[8]. - Nerdist's reviewer named his custom Jaeger "Chuck Jaeger," a pun on the famous test pilot Chuck Yeager[1]. - The Collider reviewer's attempt to save a design didn't even work properly at launch, but he still called it the coolest film marketing he'd ever seen[3]. - Warner Bros. specifically worked with the film's creative team to make the app's robots move and look like the ones in the actual movie[7]. - The original app is no longer online, but the Wayback Machine preserved the instructions page from December 2013[8]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the Jaeger Designer? The Jaeger Designer was an online app by Warner Bros. that let users build custom giant robots from the 2013 film *Pacific Rim*, choosing body parts, colors, names, and country flags to create shareable poster images[2]. ### Where did the Jaeger Designer meme come from? Warner Bros. launched the app on May 11, 2013, on the official *Pacific Rim* website[2]. The meme trend of creating absurd Jaegers with vulgar names took off in early July 2013 on Tumblr and Twitter[6]. ### What does the Jaeger Designer meme mean? The meme was about subverting a corporate marketing tool by using its name field for jokes. Fans created official-looking posters for robots with names like "Diarrhea Touchdown" and shared them as if they were real[6]. ### How do you use the Jaeger Designer? Users selected body parts, applied colors and decals, then chose a poster template with a name and country flag. The meme version focused on typing the funniest possible name and sharing the result[8]. ### Is the Jaeger Designer still popular? No. The app is no longer online and the meme was specific to the July 2013 promotional window around *Pacific Rim*'s theatrical release[8]. ### Who started the vulgar Jaeger naming trend? Tumblr user Kris Straub posted a set of three Jaegers with names including "Diarrhea Touchdown" and "Padawan Dickshark" on July 8, 2013, which helped spark the trend[6]. ### What was the 4th String Jaegers blog? A single-topic Tumblr blog created on July 9, 2013, dedicated to collecting and sharing the funniest non-serious custom Jaeger designs from across the internet[6]. ### Was there an official Jaeger design contest? Yes. On June 18, 2013, IGN announced a contest in partnership with Guillermo del Toro where the winner would receive a 3D printer worth $2,500[4]. ### Did the Jaeger Designer connect to a game? Warner Bros. expanded the designer into the *Jaeger Combat Simulator*, a browser game where custom Jaegers could fight Kaiju across five scenarios using weapons like plasma cannons and chain swords[7]. ### What happened to the Jaeger Designer app? The app went offline after its promotional period ended. An archived version of the instructions page is preserved on the Wayback Machine from December 2013[8]. ## References 1. ['Pacific Rim' Game Pits Custom Robots Against Monsters | Mashable]() 2. [18 Rejected Pacific Rim Robot Names]() 3. [Pacific Rim Uprising | Universal Pictures At Home]() 4. [Jaeger Designer - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Characters of the Metal Gear series]() 6. [Pacific Rim (film)]() 7. [Pacific Rim (film) - Wikipedia]() 8. [Pacific Rim - Jaeger Designer]() 9. [Design Your Own "Pacific Rim" Jaeger - Nerdist]() 10. [Pacific Rim: Design Your Own Jaeger - MovieViral.com]() 11. [Pacific Rim Uprising | Universal Pictures At Home]() 12. [Pacific Rim: Design Your Own Jaeger - MovieViral.com]() 13. [Enter IGN and Pacific Rim's Design Your Jaeger Contest - IGN]() 14. [PACIFIC RIM Character Posters, Graphic Novel Images and Custom Jaeger Designer]() 15. ['Pacific Rim' Game Pits Custom Robots Against Monsters | Mashable]() 16. ['Pacific Rim' Featurette Explains Jaeger Design]() 17. [UPROXX – Music Television and Culture]() 18. [Gaming – UPROXX]() 19. [Gaming – UPROXX]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/jaeger-designer Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library