The Brief: "Stick Bugging" is a new bait-and-switch similar to Rick Rolling where someone embeds a video of a dancing stick bug in an unexpected place with the caption "get stick bugged LOL."

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Online, people are “stick bugging” each other by planting a video of a dancing stick bug in unexpected places. This could be done via a hyperlink, as is common with Rick Rolling, or by editing a video so that it starts out on a totally different topic before shifting to the dancing bug with the caption “get stick bugged LOL.”

The original video features a stick bug swaying back and forth as a way to camouflage itself like a leaf or stick blowing in the wind. According to Know Your Meme, this bait-and-switch internet prank was created by a group of friends in a Discord server. In July, after combining the stick bug clip with the song “Stick Bug” theme from the 2018 Roblox game mode Bee Swarm Simulator, Discord users YeetACookie, Crunchy Dude, and their friend Yuri started proliferating the meme on various Discord channels. From there, the meme spread to iFunny, YouTube, Twitter, and other sites where it blew up in early August.

Although it’s quite similar to Rick Rolling, it remains to be seen if this new meme will have the same lasting power as its predecessor.

Of course, someone combined the two memes:

Since the stick bug meme has become more widespread, people have been making memes about the prank and posting more creative bait-and-switch videos.

What if the stick bug and the dancing cockroach kissed 🙈?

GetStickBugged from GetStickBugged

Zelda stickbug confirm from GetStickBugged

Nobody expected the stick roll, but it was actually me, Dio! from dankmemes

Everywhere I go, I get stick bugged from dankmemes

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