If 2016 was a dumpster fire of a year, some may argue that 2017 has spread beyond the dumpster and started burning down the neighborhood. We hope your 2017 is going better than that personally, but it’s undeniable that there have already been some huge ups and downs on a national and global scale.
Now that we’ve reached the halfway point of 2017, it’s time to slow down and look back at some of the silliest things that have characterized this strange year thus far.
1. Meet Salt Bae
The internet is full of food porn, but it’s not often that the food is accompanied by a snack-worthy chef. Enter Salt Bae, the meme name for Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe, whose Instagram post that captured his signature salting move went viral back in January. Nurset has taken his newfound fame in stride, though, posting pictures of all the Salt Bae fan art that keeps appearing around the world on his Instagram account.
2. George W. vs. the Poncho.
Former president George W. Bush has been the butt of so many jokes since his terms as president that we’d be hard pressed to find them all. This year is no exception — when at President Trump’s inauguration, he seemingly couldn’t figure out how to use a provided poncho to deal with the slightly rainy weather. He even ended up hitting former vice president Dick Cheney in the head as he fought with the thin plastic poncho.
3. Social Media Giveaway Faux Pas
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVQFTNkFzbS/?taken-by=sunnycoclothing
Everyone loves getting free stuff, and companies take advantage of that to enhance their social media presence and improve their brand. You have to be smart about it, though, which one company seemed to forget earlier this year.
Sunny Co. Clothing offered free one-piece swimsuits for anyone who reposted their Instagram post within a 24-hour period. Sunny Co. underestimated the power of a viral post and within a few hours, thousands of accounts had reposted their photo, leaving them scrambling to fulfill their promises.
The lesson here should be that if you’re planning on giving away something for free, don’t underestimate your following’s ability to make your post go viral.
4. The Romphim
What can we say about this fashion disaster that went viral other than an empathic WHY? Rompers have been a staple of women’s summer fashion for decades, and this year, the opposite sex decided they were tired of being left out. Therefore, the Romphim was born — rompers for men. It even got its own Kickstarter which made more than $350,000, many times more than its original $10,000 goal.
5. Florida Man on a Roll
You can’t make it through a list of silly things without at least one mention of Florida Man — all the crazy stories that come out of the Sunshine State. This year so far, Florida Man has:
• Hailed an Uber, used said Uber to rob a bank and then handed out cash on the street. The Uber driver also livestreamed the bank robbery.
• Stole cans of Beanie Weenies — and blamed his inner thug for making him steal the canned food. Total value of the theft: $2.50.
• Robbed a home and left behind DNA evidence by taking a bite of pizza from the counter of the home he robbed.
• Pulled out a samurai sword during a road race incident in Brooksville.
• Sat on his gun and shot himself in the penis — and then ended up in jail for owning a firearm as a convicted felon.
We can be sure we’ll be treated to more Florida Man antics as the year continues.
6. #EnvelopeGate
Yes, we do need to get over the habit of calling every remotely scandalous thing (Name)Gate, but in this case it definitely applies. When announcing the winner of the Best Picture at the Academy Awards, it was originally announced that the musical “La La Land” had won the award — when it actually belonged to “Moonlight.” Not only did it shake the media world, but it also became the source for many memes — anyone can win Best Picture when no one knows who actually won — even the 1996 classic “Space Jam!”
7. How Bow Dah?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWvKsjyBJzW/?taken-by=bhadbhabie
If the title of this section didn’t make you shake your head and wonder what’s wrong with the world, you’ve probably been living under a rock. This phrase became famous because of a problematic teenager who was featured on the “Dr. Phil” show. Danielle Bregoli tried to pick a fight on “Dr. Phil” with the phrase “Cash me ousside, how bow dah?” and the rest is history.
It’s shown up everywhere from TMZ — which also features video of Danielle getting in a fistfight with a Spirit Airlines employee — to church signs. The devolution of humanity is well underway.
8. The Entire Donald Trump Presidency
Speaking of the devolution of humanity, unfortunately we just had to tack America’s 45th President onto the tail-end of this list. 2017 will forever be the year that we inaugurated a President who has been publicly exposed for bragging about grabbing women by their genitals.
From his complete waste-of-time trips to Mar-a-Lago to his clear general lack of understanding of what the President even does, the ridiculous Donald Trump Presidency will surely make a mark in our history books.
We’ve still got a little less than half of 2017 left, and who knows how the rest of the year will unfold? It’s been an eventful year in the media, to say the least, and if we’re lucky, the year will close out being eventful in the best of ways. Hopefully it’s full of laughter, or at least enough people that can laugh at themselves. 
