The internet takes on ISIS: jokers photoshop rubber duck heads on militants
- Text by Adam White

While politicians in Europe and the US talk up the threat of ISIS and need to bomb them out of existence, 4chan users (surprise, surprise) have taken a rather different tack. Or should that be ‘quack’?
Seemingly inspired by the eternal comic potential of a good pun, in this case the battle cry of ‘Allahu Quackbar!’, anonymous jokesters have been taking ISIS imagery and replacing the faces of terrorists with the faces of rubber ducks.
“How about castrating the image of IS by replacing the faces on ALL their propaganda photos with bath ducks?” asked a user of 4chan’s ‘Shit4chanSays’ board.
Many have taken the meme further, digitally updating ISIS flags with duck paraphernalia and replacing Kalashnikovs with toilet brushes. The trend has spread beyond 4chan, appearing on Facebook, Twitter and across the internet.
While the British media and others attempt to stoke tension and hysteria, with headlines such as The Sun’s “1 in 5 Brit Muslims’ sympathy for jihadis” headline, it’s nice to see a healthy dose of mockery.
Here are some of our favourite ‘Duck State’ images.






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