Pepe The Frog
Pepe The Frog is one of the world’s most famous frogs. His smiling face originated in a comic book series in 2004 and has since appeared in countless memes, permeating to the distant reaches of the internet. Pepe was created by artist Matt Furie as a “chill frog-dude” and this page is dedicated to helping to clarify, confirm and preserve Pepe’s inherently peaceful nature.
Pepe The Frog art created and contributed by Matt Furie.
A Message From Pepe’s Creator
“Pepe—a chill frog-dude I created for a comic book—was co-opted by far-right groups and Trump supporters during the 2016 election. I’ve since tried to regain control over the character’s image, pursuing legal action when necessary. I donated a portion of my latest victory to SAVE THE FROGS! to help save both symbolic and actual frogs!”
– Peace and love, Matt Furie
SAVE THE FROGS! thanks Matt for his June 2019 donation of $1,030 to SAVE THE FROGS!. The funds came from Matt’s legal victory against Alex Jones’ InfoWars, who had been illegally selling posters featuring Pepe.
Saving Pepe From Hate: Matt Furie, Threadless & SAVE THE FROGS! Team Up
The last thing you’d ever expect to become a symbol of hate would be a cartoon frog meme. But for Pepe the frog, a “peaceful cartoon frog-dude” created by Matt Furie, that’s exactly what happened. Matt Furie combated the hate by spreading the love with the hashtag #SavePepe, where people have been creating their own positive Pepe art to help reclaim Pepe’s image. And Matt teamed up with SAVE THE FROGS! and Threadless to save both cartoon and real frogs alike.
Pepe began as an artwork titled “Flight of the Peacefrog” that Matt made in 2004.
Matt Furie Speaks At The XOXO Festival
Learn all about Pepe and see Matt mention SAVE THE FROGS! in this entertaining video. Recorded in September 2018 at XOXO, an experimental festival in Portland, Oregon for independent artists and creators who work on the internet.
“I started the Save Pepe campaign because I wanted to save symbolic frogs, but I’m into environmental stuff and wanted to save actual frogs too. I started a t-shirt thing with SAVE THE FROGS! which is a nonprofit organization that is actually about saving frog habitats, and 100% of the proceeds from this Threadless t-shirt. I just wanted to, like, take it out of the weird context it was in and try to save actual frogs, because one of the reasons I used Pepe was because he was a neutral character. I feel like a lot of people could relate to him because he was a frog.” – Matt Furie
Check out more of Matt’s amazing art and find ways to support him over at his personal website
Articles About Saving Pepe
If you are an artist with a love of frogs, be sure to enter the SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest, which runs annually and is free to enter!