#faucifacepalm

[i18akshay]

6. Fauci Effect: Medical School Registrations

While closing our series on the rise of Dr. Anthony Fauci, we must talk about “Fauci effect,” a term coined in his name to show exactly how much influence he has had on the American youth and public. There has been a disproportionate rise in medical school applications, and it has been attributed to Dr. Fauci. While another comparison is given of increased Military applications after the terrorist attack of 9/11, the comparison here is not directly made with the incidence of coronavirus, but rather with the excellent work that has been demonstrated by Dr. Fauci. 

In this podcast from the nytimes.com/daily, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who became the face of information related to the COVID-19 pandemic talks about his experiences along the channels of US government’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic broadcasted in April, 2020. Dr. Fauci propagated the right information amidst the floating false news all over social media in the moment of crisis. He became the face of truth and facts. He had always been mentioning the need for social distancing and using masks that also led people to indulge in conspiracy theories. But he always seemed to stand tall with calmness, and guide the nation. Here, we bring back again the idea of wanting to be closer to Dr. Fauci, that we discussed in context of the doughnuts. And what better way to be closer to Fauci than to walk in his footsteps and become a doctor. Nothing speaks “Fauci is our hero” better than “we’ll become doctors because Fauci was a doctor and he saved the country.” 

Being the leader of the COVID-19 task force, Fauci knows the importance of media in reaching out to the millions, hence uses the opportunities carefully. We have discussed in this series about Fauci being covered by the meme world and the Hollywood. But these were the indirect acts of reaching out to people that resulted from his popularity. Fauci directly worked with many national media outlets, celebrities like Steph Curry, spoke at football games to reach the maximum possible audience. He knew the platform he has, and he has made a complete use of that platform to share his narrative.

Media, too, perpetuated that COVID-19 was a gigantic problem and made Fauci the hero. This podcast is a perfect example of how media is used in order to form a public image of a person. Fauci throughout his journey uses the appropriate platforms at accurate times to uplift his image. Media broadcasted the magnitude of the pandemic and it had a fair share in making Fauci a household name. Medical school applications increased 18% during the pandemic as mentioned by Forbes. Due to Fauci's effectiveness and his expertise in his field, he has acted as a leader in the unprecedented times of a pandemic. This is why many have attributed the increase in the Medical school applications to his work, and it has been called the Fauci effect. 

Using students’ voices in the podcast and featuring their stories in the podcast is an attempt to personalize the statistics. Media helped the contributions of doctors and task force leaders to come to light. However, it is the attribution of the values that a good physician must have to a singular person - to make him the image that corresponds to all the first responders and medical staff that have helped the United States in overcoming the pandemic - that makes this an advertising idea. Nobody can sell all doctors and first responders as well as one can sell a singular face who has all the values of the medical community. 

The question we would like to leave you with is, who is the advertiser behind the rising popularity of Dr. Fauci, who wants Dr. Fauci’s face to be sold, and why do they want that to happen? 

[albionatheist]

#faucifacepalm #fauci #startrekpicard #startrek #tng #coronavirus #covid_19 #lol #picard @sirpatstew (at Albion College) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-hLny3DO1z/?igshid=1xj2lfzq8fzgu

[jarnocan]

#FauciFacePalm The MSM should NOT show Trump's press conferences live-analyze & eliminate dangerous misinformation + ugly attacks on journalists or run them with disclaimers. Show all important valid information. After can report on any ugly attacks on journalist & lies. Hope 25th enacted soon, better LATE than never! https://www.instagram.com/p/B-FVS62nSkw/?igshid=v7181ks8y6ul

[i18akshay]

4. Its 2020 and Nothing is Truly Popular without a Meme to their Name

And we got another testament by the public of Dr. Fauci’s popularity when he became the face of many political memes. 

On 20th March, the US President Donald Trump, at a briefing, made a passing remark to the existence of a ‘Deep State’ within the US Government which conspires against his interests and those of his Republican party. Dr. Fauci, who was standing right behind him, couldn’t help but let out a chuckle and cover his face with his hand. This was not an isolated event, Trump has repeatedly been a perpetrator of misinformation to the world, be it his downplaying of the coronavirus or his suggestion of ingesting disinfectants as a possible treatment for the virus. This particular event, however, set off a switch which catapulted Dr. Fauci to international fame. He was already a notable national figure and was internationally recognized as a leading authority on the coronavirus pandemic. But because of one peculiar reason, the doctor now became a figure who could be recognized by virtually anybody even remotely plugged in to social media. 

This is because this time around, he was covered not just by the newspapers and TV channels but captured by the meme culture on the internet, where a very large consumer base resides. The facepalm by Dr. Fauci, was immediately picked up by people on the internet and memes on it spread like wildfire. The event seemed to define the zeitgeist of time as figures of authority were regularly giving out questionable advice to the public. Facepalming was the only thing that the informed could do. This is also a classic example of cold media where the participants actually had to get involved, open up their browsers and find out the context of the meme in order to relate to it. Soon, Twitter was trending with the hashtag #FauciFacepalm, Instagram meme pages were awash with facepalm memes and Tiktokers flooded the internet with their takes on the issue. This is how Dr. Fauci also conquered the meme world, after the medical, political and consumer world.

The above artefact is one of the many cartoons that the event has inspired. This particular meme shows how the US President is absorbed in his efforts to secure a re-election by whatever means necessary that he is blinded to the fact that the wave of red dots spreading across the map of his nation are not that of his success but actually indicators of coronavirus cases. Dr. Fauci’s face was used on many memes similar to this, to take a laugh at President Trump, an instance of the public putting our protagonist into the political sphere.

The meme culture also signifies an important component of the participatory culture today. Memes have become the one thing that every single person can make and participate in the larger conversation. And making a cartoon/meme on one of the Fauci vs Trump interactions was an active participation by a media consumer, making him a media prosumer.