If you’ve been on social media any time in the last couple of months, you’ve seen the “coffin dance” meme: dancing pallbearers serving as the punchline for an array of classic internet fails, from stunts gone wrong to people saying something ill-advised to their mum. The implication? Those people are now dead.
Predictably – and in a pretty dark turn of events – that meme has now become inextricably linked to the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide.
The self-proclaimed “number one dancing pallbearer in the world” who features in the meme, Benjamin Aidoo, isn’t complaining though. In fact, the Ghanaian pallbearers seem to be fully embracing the association, and using it to spread awareness about the virus.
This week, the pallbearers posted a video thanking doctors around the world and giving them a round of applause. “Now remember,” adds Aidoo. “Stay at home, or dance with us.” (Cue the soundtrack to the meme: Tony Igy’s 2010 EDM track, “Astronomia”.)
To be honest, the mascot for a global pandemic couldn’t get much more wholesome. Watch their PSA below.