Sesame Street memes, often referred to as 'Bertstrips,' involve taking screenshots from the long-running children’s educational show and adding captions that juxtapose the innocent imagery with dark, nihilistic, or adult humor. This subversion of childhood nostalgia began on platforms like Reddit and 4chan, where users found comedic value in reimagining the wholesome dynamics of characters like Elmo, Big Bird, and Cookie Monster. One of the most famous variants includes 'Elmo Rise,' featuring Elmo in front of a wall of flames, symbolizing chaos. These memes continue to thrive because they play on the contrast between the show’s moral lessons and the internet's penchant for irony and absurdist comedy.