In the fall of 2016, the ADL teamed with Pepe creator Matt Furie to form a #SavePepe campaign to reclaim the symbol from those who use it with hateful intentions. However, if the meme itself is racist or anti-Semitic in nature, or if it appears in a context containing bigoted or offensive language or symbols, then it may have been used for hateful purposes. The mere fact of posting a Pepe meme does not mean that someone is racist or white supremacist. However, because so many Pepe the Frog memes are not bigoted in nature, it is important to examine use of the meme only in context. When indie comic character Pepe the Frog becomes an unwitting icon of hate, his creator fights to bring Pepe. Jonah’s brother Sam served as best man and was pretty nervous about delivering the speech. That was certainly the case when Jonah and Madison Waldron got married in Iowa over the summer. Though Pepe memes have many defenders, the use of racist and bigoted versions of Pepe memes seems to be increasing, not decreasing. A good best man speech provides some laughs, maybe a few tears, and a whole lot of love. In recent years, with the growth of the 'alt right' segment of the white supremacist movement, a segment that draws some of its support from some of the above-mentioned Internet sites, the number of 'alt right' Pepe memes has grown, a tendency exacerbated by the controversial and contentious 2016 presidential election. However, it was inevitable that, as the meme proliferated in on-line venues such as 4chan, 8chan, and Reddit, which have many users who delight in creating racist memes and imagery, a subset of Pepe memes would come into existence that centered on racist, anti-Semitic or other bigoted themes. The majority of uses of Pepe the Frog have been, and continue to be, non-bigoted. Many variations of the meme became rather esoteric, resulting in the phenomenon of so-called 'rare Pepes.' Internet users appropriated the character and turned him into a meme, placing the frog in a variety of circumstances and saying many different things. The Pepe the Frog character did not originally have racist or anti-Semitic connotations. In that appearance, the character also first used its catchphrase, 'feels good, man.'

The character first appeared in 2005 in the on-line cartoon Boy's Club. Pepe the Frog is a cartoon character that has become a popular Internet meme (often referred to as the 'sad frog meme' by people unfamiliar with the name of the character).

Feels good man jpg