“Elmo knows where he lives”, the meme that came to life during the marches in Peru

One of the most famous phrases that continue to circulate on social networks is “Elmo knows where you live”, an expression that has been used in different viral videos shared on the Internet. Its popularity caused it to become a meme, coming to life in our country during the demonstrations that were recorded in the year 2020.

Although it is difficult to find the origin of viralized content on digital platforms, some facts allow us to follow the trail to discover how they were born and the impact they have had. These words that emitted a voice imitating the character of Sesame Street expanded rapidly, some related it to Elmo's World, a production of Frog Island Flicks, which performed a famous parody of the puppet, showing a fictional scenario of what happened when the cameras didn't record it.

According to the records that are still published, there are no references that the phrase was born there, so the author's identity remains a mystery. And what about Peru? This curious character related to the childhood of many made an appearance during the protests organized at the end of 2020, when former President Martín was vacated Vizcarra and Manuel Merino took office as interim.

“ELMO KNOWS WHERE YOU LIVE” ON THE STREETS

A video recorded and shared on social media showed us a young man in the costume of Elmo being part of the groups that took to the streets to demand Merino's resignation. In this recording you can see him with a sign in his hands while the curious phrase was heard in the background.

It quickly caught the attention of the attendees and users on the Internet, who described the event as one of the curious events that took place during the march that had the center of downtown Lima as its epicenter.

Thanks to a Twitter thread, shared by the account “Dissidencia Tusán” the person was recognized under the reddish jumpsuit. According to this information, Martin Humán Pun Lay gave life to this puppet, carrying with him a poster that mentioned the following: “Merino, we will be the reason for your resignation”. He himself made a post to his Facebook account in which he posted this message on November 17, 2020:

“Yes, I am the one dressed as Elmo and the boy in the Flag, is my now friend Hugo; a perfect stranger I met on the day of the protest. We became “paws” when I ventured in front of the Palace and he said to me: Take the Flag! , after waving it amidst cheers and shouts in front of the crowd, like a football match, we headed to the Plaza San Martin. We advanced as far as we could because the gas had already touched us twice in previous days, and when you run in a costume it is doubly difficult to move, even with sneakers. I tell here how this perfect stranger accompanied me that day, took care of me and passed his voice to me with a scream or touched my back, placing me where to run if we heard explosions, a perfect stranger that day was my brother”.

This was not the only picturesque character who participated in the mobilizations. Thanks to the press and content creators, there was an attendance of young people wearing costumes of characters associated with the childhood of Peruvians.

WHY DID PERUVIANS MARCH IN 2020?

This occurred in the midst of Manuel Merino's inauguration as interim president after Martín's vacancy Vizcarra for the “Vaccinagate” scandal that involved several political personalities. Although he refused to step aside, the pressure of the population and the death of Inti Sotelo and Bryan Pintado, caused him to finally turn away, lasting less than one week as president.