A new ‘meme’ trend has taken over the globe, post the spotting of monolith across the globe
A piece of art that has created a frenzy of sorts among the online community has now become a preferred meme theme for automakers to send their message across. Referred to as the ‘monolith’, this structure was found in a red sandstone slot canyon in Utah. It comprised a metallic triangular prism, measuring 3 m (9.8 ft.) in height.
Even though it has been termed a monolith, the structure’s design actually has a futuristic aura to it. The fact that it is devoid of any buttons, openings, markings or wordings seems to suggest that it has intelligence built in. From an automaker’s perspective, the monolith closely resembles an electric charging point. This is why most of the memes posted by automakers highlights one of their electric vehicles.
Monolith memes shared by automakers
The idea to have an EV charging station at a remote location is like travelling a couple of decades into the future when such facilities would be quite common. This central idea has been used by Jeep to highlight the possibilities that could be explored with its electric vehicles such as Rubicon and Wrangler 4xe SUVs. Similarly, a Nissan dealership in Kingsville, Texas has utilized the monolith theme to indicate the advanced products that the company offers.
Okinawa has posted a creative meme that shows the monolith as petrol pump and EV charging station. The meme suggests that the age of fossil fuel vehicles will soon be over while EVs will last forever. Ather Energy too has posted a meme, promoting their charging stations for 450x electric scooter.
Component manufacturers such as Ceat Tyres have also joined the monolith bandwagon. The company has shared a poster that has the picture of all-new Mahindra Thar alongside the monolith. The message says that only Ceat tyres can get you so far. Paytm has pitched in as well, with the goal to encourage cashless payments. The monolith is depicted as a fuel pump and asks users to use Paytm instead of cash.
Who created the monolith?
Although several claims have been made, there’s no certainty about who actually installed it at the remote location. Some people had even suggested that it could be the work of aliens.
The structure was declared illegal, as it was installed at a protected site. The authorities had kept the location secret, as it was feared that visitor footfall could damage the ancient petroglyphs, pictographs, rock art and other archaeological treasures found in the area.
Another surprising development came in November, when the structure was covertly removed by some unidentified men. However, the idea of monolith seems to have gained traction and similar structures have come up in other parts of the world such as Netherlands, UK, California and Romania.
