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title: John Oliver’s Dancing Zebras Make Reality More Appealing
description: The internet has accepted John Oliver&#x27;s challenge to #JustAddZebras to everything
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article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:42:04.715Z
og:title: John Oliver’s Dancing Zebras Make Reality More Appealing
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twitter:title: John Oliver’s Dancing Zebras Make Reality More Appealing
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# The Internet Is Using John Oliver’s Dancing Zebras to Make Reality More Appealing

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by 

[Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/)


## Melissa Locker


Mar 21, 2017 4:28 PM UTC

by 

[Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/)


## Melissa Locker


Mar 21, 2017 4:28 PM UTC

To make a “painful” news cycle slightly more bearable, [John Oliver](http://time.com/4706273/john-oliver-budget-last-week-tonight/?iid=sr-link2) threw down a challenge on [Sunday’s _Last Week Tonight_ ](http://time.com/4706302/john-oliver-dancing-zebra-last-week-tonight/?iid=sr-link1)— add zebras to everything.

The challenge came about after Oliver discovered that La Paz, Bolivia has been using dancing zebras in an effort to encourage traffic safety and reduce car accidents, which got him thinking. “The news has been hard,” said [Oliver](http://time.com/4507267/john-oliver-political-scandals-last-week-tonight/?iid=sr-link4). “If zebras can make Bolivian traffic jams better, what else could they help with?” To find out, Oliver encouraged people to #JustAddZebras and to assist in the zebra-fication of the news cycle, he released footage of a zebra dancing in front of a green screen and let it loose upon the world.

The internet has jumped on the challenge, adding Oliver’s dancing zebras to everything, including [Sean Spicer’s tie](http://time.com/4705168/sean-spicer-tie-photoshop/):

A zebra showed up next to FBI Director James Comey as he [testified before Congress](http://time.com/4706457/james-comey-donald-trump-fbi-congress-russia/):

> [](https://twitter.com/natepence/status/843950610928013312)

Even at this Trump ice bucket challenge:

> [](https://twitter.com/tw1tt3rman/status/844163699938017280)


There is even footage of a zebra busting loose on the the desk in the Oval Office:

The zebra even made an appearance in Donald Trump Jr.’s much-memed [_New York Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/style/donald-trump-jr-business-politics-hunting-twitter-vanessa-haydon.html) photo shoot:

> [](https://twitter.com/mikalapaula/status/843684577508057088)

German Chancellor [Angela Merkel](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2015-angela-merkel/?iid=sr-link1) was replaced by a zebra during [her meeting](http://time.com/4705483/president-trump-angela-merkel-handshake/?iid=sr-link3) with Trump:

> [](https://twitter.com/andables/status/843794040780939265)


Trump’s press conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May had a zebra incursion:

> [](https://twitter.com/winchesters1996/status/843969942127108096)

It’s not just the political realm that has been invaded by the zebras, though. The infamous interrupted [BBC interview](http://time.com/money/4697929/kids-interrupt-live-skype-interview-bbc-funny/) got a zebra in the mix:

> [](https://twitter.com/JacobAWare/status/843850184316665856)

A zebra helped retroactively distract fans from Mariah Carey’s New Year’s Eve performance snafu:


> [](https://twitter.com/StripedShirtM/status/843994559243804672)

The Oscars Best Picture mix-up got a zebra twist:

> [](https://twitter.com/loganawilliams/status/843932417542971392)

[Chuck Berry](http://time.com/4706112/chuck-berry-dead/?iid=sr-link1) got a rock and roll zebra homage:

> [](https://twitter.com/ummmmmmmikey/status/843727037315477504)


Even _Last Week Tonight_ was not spared a zebra invasion:

> [](https://twitter.com/teekastryker/status/843991632324284416)

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