Yahoo Finance 'Absolute unit': How MERL, a British museum of country life, became a viral sensation loved by the internet and Elon Musk
In a most unlikely internet pairing, a British museum and Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of electric car giant Tesla, have caused a viral sensation on social media.
The museum in question is the MERL: the Museum of English Rural Life - which has become a minor internet celebrity for its savvy use of social media.
On Thursday, Musk changed his Twitter picture to an image of a huge black and white ram.
“Universe is big, but rendering complexity is not,” Musk said to his 25 million followers, followed by his new picture, “but I'm just a simple sheep/ram.”
Switched souls with The Museum of English Rural Lofe https://t.co/X41ZWc9sip
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 19, 2019
The picture in question was from a bizarre, self-aware social media account for MERL. The museum's main social media feed has become a quirky haven for unusual images from England's historic countryside, accompanied by sassy remarks and internet “memes”, or jokes.
MERL's account was quick to respond to Musk's sudden interest, changing its name to The Muskeum of Elongish Rural Life.
“Switched souls with The Museum of English Rural Lofe [sic]” Musk posted.
But the exchange is just the latest internet sensation to come out of MERL's account.
The Museum is part of the University of Reading, billing itself as “one of the best things to do in Reading” with galleries and collections of English heritage.
But the more unusual pictures and paintings from the museum were seen as having incredible potential for internet stardom by museum staff member Adam Koszary.
“We've always had a collection of livestock portraiture at the MERL (often referred to fondly as fat cow paintings),” Koszary, programme manager and digital lead for the museum, explained last year. “And it doesn't take a social media genius to recognise they have social media potential.”
Almost exactly one year ago, MERL's collection of photographs had their first viral hit.
look at this absolute unit. pic.twitter.com/LzcQ4x0q38
— The Muskeum of Elonglish Rural Life (@TheMERL) April 9, 2018
The post became a sensation - spawning news stories and copycats across the internet. To date, the post from what would otherwise be a sleepy museum, has 31,000 retweets and 112,000 likes on social media.
The account has since adopted a witty, wry, internet culture-savvy persona. “Social media has pushed the envelop of what people consider respectable, to the point where I think people almost expect a few memes,” Koszary wrote. The ultimate goal, he added, was to engage more people in a “friendly and humorous way”.
Koszary said in the wake of its first success “we of course plan on milking this meme for as long as we can”, but it has since followed it with other bizarre trends.
These have included calling on the museums of the world to “give us your best duck” - leading to a stream of duck posts from around the world in reply.
Other internet hijinks have included adopting a bat found by museum staff, issuing it a library card and naming him MERLin.
— The Muskeum of Elonglish Rural Life (@TheMERL) February 24, 2019
The irreverent tweets have sent the museum's twitter following to more than 120,000 - no small number for a museum about England's social and agricultural history. It has also translated to real-world success for the museum, which increased its footfall in 2018 by 47pc. Many of the visitors are Americans who credit their visits to following the museum on social media.
The account's humour has struck a chord with Twitter users, that Black Country-raised Koszary puts down to a Monty Python-esque style. “People look at us as this nice quaint place but with this dark edge. In that sense we are in that same vein as Python and the rest.”
Koszary tells The Telegraph he “fell into social media” after ending up running the museum's account. “The style and tone were set when we first tweeted the absolute unit," he says. “It's always about finding that authentic voice in between your own personal one and the institution's identity.”
And the account remains ready to jump on the latest internet gossip and trends.
whew pic.twitter.com/COvUkQyA0f
— The Muskeum of Elonglish Rural Life (@TheMERL) April 10, 2019
The sudden interest of Musk, who is known for his love of internet culture and memes, may be something of a swansong for Koszary's rein at MERL. He is due to join the Royal Academy this summer to run the London gallery's social media accounts.
“I'll be taking some of the style to the Royal Academy, but I'll be spending a while seeing how it fits with their culture and identity,” he says.
The MERL has shown how social media can be used to promote distinctly un-digital interests - and ignite a new interest in history among the even the most online internet users.
“There is one thing we've definitely learned at the end of this though,” Koszary signed off on his blog last year. “People love an absolute unit, and are in awe at the size of this lad.”
