Harambe Photo to Be Sold as NFT

A photo of the gorilla Harambe - who became an Internet meme sensation after his death - will be [...]

By Kofi Outlaw

A photo of the gorilla Harambe - who became an Internet meme sensation after his death - will be sold as a non-fungible token (NFT) on the five-year anniversary of his death. the interest in the Harambe NFT is already apparent, as his name is once again trending on social media, due to fans celebrating his life in the wave of memes he inspired. If you don't recall the story behind the meme: Harambe was a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo who was shot dead in 2016 after he grabbed and dragged a three-year-old boy that fell into his enclosure.

The incident of Harambe's death sparked major backlash from animal rights activists. Some argued that Harambe was simply protecting the boy as he would his own child, while zoo officials countered that even if it was unintentional, the 400-pound gorilla might have easily done something to seriously injure the boy. A larger cultural debate formed over whether animals should suffer fatal consequences due to the carelessness (and frankly, stupidity) of humans - as well as backlash against the young boy's parents and/or chaperone, who should've arguably never let a young child fall into an animal enclosure.

Harambe soon became a major trending hashtag on social media, with "#RIPHarambe" and "#JusticeForHarambe" slogans combining with photos of the gorilla to become a meme phenomenon. Since 2016, Harambe has remained one of the more famous memes enjoyed by the Internet, with the gorilla taking on a quasi-religious stature as fans held vigils and memorials in real life as well as online. Harambe was even a leading write-in candidate in various places during the 2016 presidential election - a move that many felt took the viral meme way too far. There was similar backlash from those who felt cultural outrage and viral celebration of a dead gorilla was extremely callous in the face of human rights crises like Syria, or societal concerns like the Black Lives Matter movement.

Harambe Meme Photo NFT Sale Auction

Both the popularity and controversy over Harambe will surely help the NFT secure a large sale price. The photo of Harambe comes from the gorilla's official photographer, Jeff McCurry who photo-documented Harambe's life at the Cincinnati Zoo for more than a year. The particular photo being sold as the NFT is one McCurry shot on the day he met Harambe when the gorilla was first put into his zoo exhibit.

Harambe is just the latest famous piece of web content looking to sell for big bucks as an NFT. The "Disaster Girl" meme was sold by the young girl in the photo (Zoë Roth) for nearly half a million dollars as an NFT; while the "Bad Luck Brian" meme was sold for $36,000, and the web video "Nyan Cat" sold for $600,000, while the popular "Charlie Bit My Finger" video also went on sale.

#RIPHarambe

via BBC

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