Cartoon characters like Peppa Pig and Garfield are now sharing support for the Black Lives Matter movement
- As major brands and retailers join the "Blackout Tuesday" movement to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter protests, some familiar cartoon faces are showing support as well.
- The official Twitter account for Peppa Pig, a hugely popular British children's cartoon that has been carried by Nickelodeon in the US, shared a "#BlackOutTuesday" post.
- A verified Twitter account for Garfield EATS, a Garfield-licensed restaurant in Toronto, also shared pro-Black Lives Matter imagery of Garfield, including a "Blackout Tuesday"-themed comic.
The "Blackout Tuesday" movement may have started in the music industry, but it quickly overtook major social media platforms on June 2, with brands and major retailers jumping in to post black squares in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and ongoing protests over the killing of George Floyd.
But it wasn't just human individuals posting in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. Two familiar cartoon faces also decided to show support – Peppa Pig and Garfield, although the later may not be in conjunction with the official Garfield brand.
However, the official, verified Peppa Pig Twitter account tweeted a black square Tuesday morning with the hashtag "#BlackOutTuesday." Peppa Pig is a hugely popular British children's cartoon, and Nickelodeon has screened re-runs of the episodes in the US.
The Garfield post also came from a verified Twitter account, but it's not the official Garfield brand. The account "@GarfieldEATSApp" is associated with Garfield EATS, a Garfield-themed restaurant in Toronto that serves pizza, lasagna, and coffee, and has its own app platform for customers to score points that can unlock coupons.
Garfield EATS is officially Garfield-licensed and has the support of Garfield creator Jim Davis, but it's not as strong of a showing of Garfield's support as it would be coming from "@Garfield."
Along with using the hashtag "#BlackLivesMatter," the Garfield EATS tweet was accompanied by a comic of Garfield's eyes surrounding by the black square of "Blackout Tuesday." The panel includes Garfield's signature half-closed eyes and also says "#BlackLivesMatter."
The image includes a Nickelodeon 2020 copyright notice at the bottom, but there's no such image on the official "@Garfield" page as of 2020. A representative of Nickelodeon didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on the image.
However, Nickelodeon did its part to support the protests over Floyd's killing, and the company paused its social media presence for "Blackout Tuesday."
Nickelodeon also supports Black Lives Matter per its official Twitter page, and the kid's channel went off the air for 8 minutes and 46 seconds on June 1 – the same amount of time that Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck shortly before Floyd's death in police custody.
- Read more:
- Black Lives Matter and 'I can't breathe' makeup looks keep popping up, but beauty YouTubers are calling them 'disrespectful'
- People are flooding social media with black squares for Blackout Tuesday, but critics say they could do more harm than good for the Black Lives Matter protests
- YouTuber David Dobrik donated $50,000 to organizations helping the Black Lives Matter movement
- Louis Vuitton artistic director Virgil Abloh is being criticized for flexing a $50 donation to a bail fund