Well, folks. Yes, the world is still a surreal political landscape and Spain is having its own elections, but I promised I’d get to the bottom of Burger and I have.
I corresponded with David Farrier, the New Zealand-based investigative journalist and director the documentary film, ‘Tickled’, which exposes the dark side of internet male tickling videos. (I cannot explain the existence of these. You’ll have to see the documentary.)
Farrier was responsible for taking the picture of a very secure and happy stuffed Burger enjoying his very own plenty-of-legroom seat on an American Airlines flight between Boston and DC.
i paid for in-flight wifi so i could tweet this immediately pic.twitter.com/nnwpcyYC8V
— David Farrier (@davidfarrier) June 23, 2016
Burger was returning to DC with his travel companion after a trip to Cape Cod.
@davidfarrier the burger is home and it's happy hour pic.twitter.com/RKdDgOo5PY
— Kristen Booth (@kristenbooth) June 23, 2016
Hamburgers and Happenstance
Farrier tells me that Burger was not a publicity stunt to plug ‘Tickled’.
“Wasn’t even thinking of film, just thought it was a great moment and pic,” he tells me. “I usually read or watch a film but this time I thought I needed wifi.”
The sight of Burger all cosy–seatbelt securely fastened–in the seat next to his travel companion, struck Farrier as amusing enough to pull out his wallet and pay Gogo to share Burger with his Twitter followers.
We can only ask ourselves what this weekend might be like for the rest of us had Farrier been on a plane with no Wi-Fi onboard. What could else could have put a smile on our face in these dark times?
Possibly this:
https://twitter.com/Enock1Yk/status/746194260492378112
Anywho, having the opportunity to communicate with people on the ground while in air has become addictive to Farrier, who replied to my DMs while on a different flight.
“Now I am back on wifi on another plane, now I have experienced it I can’t stop! The skies used to be an Internet holiday for me, no longer.”
So there you have it. Once you’ve bitten the Burger of Wi-Fi, it’s hard to go back to a quiet paradise “offline” while on a plane. At least for some.
Perhaps, considering the positive reaction Farrier got to his tweet, this enthusiasm is to be expected.
He tells me: “As we flew the family watched the RTs on my phone and were blown away! 0 to 1000 in 15 mins then up from there! It crashed my phone!”
15 Minutes..or More
Farrier has a well established career in media, and some have pointed out the irony that Burger may have got so much of the attention during Tickled’s debut .
https://twitter.com/ae_davids/status/746939341822365696
It’s all about the memes today, no? Well, maybe not so much.
Burger may have been one of those weird and wonderful segues that creative minds pick up on while set free to roam, but I read that Tickled is genuinely good. It will be shown on HBO and I’m keeping fingers crossed that includes HBO Nordic.
Let’s hope the hardship and downright bullying Farrier and his team endured to bring Tickled to screens will continue to be recognised and rewarded.
I suspect Farrier will always be the kind of weird and wonderful individual who tracks down the random and makes some order out of it.
Possibly with a side of fries.
thanks @HBO and @AFIDOCS for a really fun screening and q&a. great festival, great town. thanks to those who came! pic.twitter.com/gWGEqpnWcV
— David Farrier (@davidfarrier) June 26, 2016
We–who watch the skies and ponder the clouds–will always have Burger.
Memes: It’s what’s for dinner. Now also In-Flight.