When Smash Mouth started to trend, we were very concerned. Two years ago, it might have been for a fun reason. However, since August 2020, respect (even meme respect) for the group took a nosedive.
For one, they played a large, not-so-covid-safe concert a few months into the pandemic. At this concert, former (I’ll get to that) frontman Steve Harwell told the crowd “Fuck that COVID shit.” That same Sturgis rally and concert directly caused 250,000 COVID-19 cases. That, combined with a disturbing viral TikTok video of Harwell at a concert—in which he was disconnected from the audience, cussed out the crowd, and did a Nazi salute?!?—led to his retirement a few weeks back.
Anyways, Smash began to trend today for another reason entirely … U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert.
They (the remaining members) saw this video parody of Boebert’s latest ad by Gabe Sanchez—
Lauren Boebert just released a new ad featuring her favorite song.
What other songs do you think she listens to? pic.twitter.com/SpYx7bffmk
— Gabe Sanchez (@iamgabesanchez) November 4, 2021
and said—
OH FUCK NO! https://t.co/taVTbZOHxN
— Smash Mouth (@smashmouth) November 4, 2021
Like onions, this has layers
Not gonna lie, until the end where it read “I gave people diarrhea,” I thought Sanchez’s version of the video was real. Even then, I was like, “Is she saying Congress is ‘the swamp’ or is this a COVID-19 thing?” Because Shrek lives in a swamp I thought … maybe? I shouldn’t be analyzing this as a work of art (even though it probably is), but that is my museum studies background and love for movies seeping in.
I’ll admit that sounds silly, but come on—she’s basically a millennial Sarah Palin. Time will tell how much worse Qanon Boebert is, but I don’t know considering, at Palin’s height, I was entering high school. While this song is by Smash Mouth, I will forever associate it with the grumpy, green ogre Shrek due to its use in the 2021 movie.
Even upon learning this was a parody, I had to dig a little as to the source of the diarrhea joke …
Turns out, among the long list of shady or downright illegal things both Boebert and her husband have done, their co-owned restaurant, Shooter’s Grill, has had a handful of health-related incidents. Back in 2017, pork for Shooter’s Grill rodeo both was incorrectly stored and cooked at the Smokehouse 1776. (gag) It’s unclear which of them owned the smokehouse, but it was shut down because many people got food poisoning. In 2020, Shooter’s Grill got in trouble again when they failed to follow COVID-19 restrictions.
Where did the video come from?
So what Sanchez did was take a recently posted advertisement from Boebert, and just change the music and end text. Feel free to skip it, but know it’s a rap song praising Hotep Nick Cannon, calling the pandemic not real (and planned), and decrying social media “censorship.” The original video also uses the Republican rallying cry “Let’s Go, Brandon” both in the audio and as the text (instead of “I gave people diarrhea.”)
#1 for a reason. pic.twitter.com/uYH7xcPX8b
— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) October 29, 2021
A euphemism for “Fuck Joe Biden,” the phrase is the current “nah-nana-boo-boo,” “get triggered snowflakes” for Republicans. It isn’t cheeky; it’s goofy and kinda funny to watch them think it is clever. Anyways, this is the most interesting use of the phrase, and it was altered to make fun of an inept, conspiracy theorist congressional member.
In addition to the song switch, Sanchez runs these parody domains:
- TheLaurenBoebert.com
- GymJordan2022.com
- OANNetwork.com
- DaveLaRock.com
- DevinNunes2022.com
- CongressmanGaetz.com
- GovernorGregAbbott.com
- FindMAGALove.com
(via Smash Mouth on Twitter, image: screencap of Gabe Sanchez parody of Boebert video.)
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