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Above is a mash-up of two of my favorite things: Pixar films and Parks and Recreation. Each character from Parks and Recreation is Photoshopped onto a Pixar character I believe matches their personality. I call this series of images “Pixar and Recreation”.

There are three things I believe make for the most viral content: humor, pop culture, and Photoshop. This set of character mash-ups I have created combines the three in a way that is extremely shareable. The hardest part of creating a piece of potentially viral content is what to focus on. While a show like Sherlock or Orange is the New Black may have been better to focus on, I think Parks and Recreation has a more internet-driven fan base. The fact that so many memes have come from Parks and Recreation made the show an obvious choice for a new meme. After Parks and Recreation became available on Netflix, more an more people started watching it. Now, it would be hard to find a college student who hasn’t binge-watched at least some of the show.

Personally, I believe this content has the potential to be viral within my immediate social community. My closest friends have all seen the show, and I am known for being someone who likes to make humorous merged photos in my free time. When a funny movie quote hasn’t been remixed, or two images that belong together have evaded Photoshop, I am the person who takes time out of my day to make sure that the content is out there. Posting my “Pixar and Recreation” image to Facebook (and linking to the Pin) will definitely be the best way for me to get views and likes, since my Facebook friends already know that I post this type of content.

In choosing how to create this set of images, I first had a white background. I quickly realized colors would make the image pop compared to other images. I also made the choice to keep it looking less-than-perfect. While I could have turned the characters into seamless 2D cartoons, I think the campy look it has will make people laugh even more. Not only do I have the images, but I also used puns to rename the characters appropriately. I would love to see comments on the image about what other people would call the characters or which Disney character they think match up with Parks and Recreation characters.

The reason this content will be more viral than others is that Pixar and Parks and Recreation are both entertainment-related and have loyal fans on the internet. Pixar is soon releasing Finding Dory, so internet users will be looking out for content related to Pixar. Since Parks and Recreation is on Netflix, new viewers are always discovering the show for themselves. The character of Ron Swanson is immensely popular, so I intent to use him as a central point for hastags and promotion. In the end, I think this piece of content will do well because humor + Photoshop + pop culture = viral, and my post has all of these things.