The image was an instant hit on social media: an irresistible corgi in a tiny bulletproof vest, armed with a Kalashnikov and getting scratches from the bullet-ridden soldier slumped next to it.
The caption above the dying man read: “Good boy . . .”
It notched a million likes in the first thirty minutes and, along with every copycat, spinoff, and reference, soon became the most shared meme in the history of the internet. The authorities called it “rib-tickling” and “worthy of aspiration,” and encouraged everyone to keep sharing it.
State media found the phenomenon so inspirational that they conducted a tell-all interview with the meme’s creator just a few hours later inside the executive doghouse. He was an oversaturated young man in his twenties, too handsome, with too many fingers. Despite these incongruities, he insisted he was real. He didn’t expect the meme to go viral but he was glad that he and his dog could inspire the nation in such troubled times.
