Bert is Evil

	Don't Let Your Kids Watch It!
	This article contains content that is not suitable for younger viewers. Viewer discretion has been advised. NSFW content: Mentions controversial events and figures and various crimes.

Bert is Evil
Evil Bert with Adolf Hitler.
Historical
Date Created	March 30, 1997
Creator	Dino Ignacio
General
Type	Website
Page	Bert is Evil!
Status	Dead

Description

Bert is Evil is the name of a widely mirrored web site, founded by Filipino-American design manager Dino Ignacio, 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. The "Bert is Evil" phenomenon reached its peak in October 2001, when Reuters news agency published a photograph of a pro-bin Laden protester rallying in Bangladesh with a large image poster of Osama bin Laden and Bert posing next to each other.

The website featured stuff like manipulated images of the puppet consorting with nefarious figures such as Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Jerry Springer, as well as being present at tragedies such as the JFK assassination, and even overall naughty things like manipulating Ernie into doing bad things, 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.

Origin

The phenomenon originally began as a website founded by Dino Ignacio in March 30, 1997, featuring short, humorous backstories for each "Bert is Evil" image posted on the site.

Mirror websites

In the summer of 1998, due to the website's immense cult popularity, it became too costly prohibitive 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. As a result, dozens of mirrors appeared, increasing the website's popularity and visibility. It has been mirrored on BertisEvil.tv, and AngelFire amongst others. The original site has been also filed on Archive.org. Since anyone was free to mirror the content, new variations and updates began appearing on the various Bert mirrors. The entire website itself has had several derivatives; deviating just slightly with each iteration.

Evil Bert then grabbed the baby and ate the baby's head. He was arrested for murder, animal cruelty, torture, kidnapping, stalking, and child abuse. He was convicted of murder and was sent to three years in jail without parole. He was also arrested for attempted murder, and robbery.

Controversy

September 11, 2001

Eventually in 2001, a 1998 picture from the "Bert is Evil" website having Osama bin Laden and Evil Bert in the background was used in a protest against Osama bin Laden by a Bangladesh protester, and news spread of the image. According to BBC News, they were printed and sold by the local Dhaka shop Azad Products, who used the same image from Ignacio's "Bert is Evil" website. The company apparently sold almost 2,000 copies of the posters during the street demonstration over the US military strikes in Afghanistan. Sesame Workshop, the owner of Sesame Street, was very unhappy when they find out, and almost filed a lawsuit against Dino Ignacio. They released an official statement condemning the unauthorized use and mischaracterization of Bert:

“	Sesame Street has always stood for mutual respect and understanding. We're outraged that our characters would be used in this unfortunate and distasteful manner.	”
Sesame Workshop

Later, Ignacio removed the "Bert is Evil" section from his website due to DMCA takedown notice by Sesame Workshop, saying that he didn't want to ruin Sesame Street for other people because of the controversy.

External references

• The Original Bert is Evil at Archive.org
• The Original Bert is Evil Mirror at Archive.org
• Know Your Meme - Bert is Evil!