10 Times BuzzFeed Tried To Recreate The Optical-Illusion Virality Of The Dress
Everyone remembers The Dress — the photo of an ambiguously-colored garment that racked up 38 million pageviews for BuzzFeed in less than a week in February 2015. The internet may never see a viral phenomenon like The Dress ever again, but that hasn't stopped BuzzFeed from trying to gin up controversy with potentially divisive optical-illusion-containing posts every few months or so. For instance, this week BuzzFeed published "This Couple's Photo Shoot Has Shaken People To Their Core Because Of One Hilarious Detail." Can you guess what the hilarious detail is?
According to BuzzFeed, "People literally couldn't spot Austin" in the picture on the left.
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Alright, they're not all winners. But the next Dress blog post isn't going to write itself, people! Here are 11 attempts by BuzzFeed to recreate the magic of The Dress.
December 2015: 'Oh My God, This Cake Changes Colors When You Turn It'
Source of optical illusion: Fancy pastry airbrushing.
January 2016: 'This Is Not A Photo Of A Man Putting His Butt On His Baby's Face'
Source of optical illusion: It's a man's bald head next to his bare shoulder.
February 2016: 'What Color Is This Jacket?'
Source of optical illusion: There wasn't really much of an illusion because the vast majority of people who took BuzzFeed's poll saw the jacket as blue and white, but if there were an illusion, it would be because of differing interpretations of ambiguous lighting.
October 2016: 'People Are Losing It Over This Photo Of Someone's Legs'
Source of optical illusion: Streaks of white paint.
November 2016: 'What Colors Are These Flip-Flops?'
Source of optical illusion: Again, differing interpretations of ambiguous lighting.
December 2016: 'There Is Something Very Wrong About This Henry Cavill Photo'
Source of optical illusion: There was a crane or some similar machine holding up the tree from above.
January 2017: 'People Are Really Confused By This Shirt That Changes Patterns'
Source of optical illusion: The Moiré effect.
February 2017: 'People Can't Figure Out If This Kid's Cartoon Is A Cat Or A Bird'
Source of optical illusion: I mean, it's a kid's drawing.
June 2017: 'This Girl's Makeup Skills Are So Good She Should Be Displayed In A Museum'
Source of optical illusion: Extremely impressive makeup application.
October 2017: 'This Couple's Photo Shoot Has Shaken People To Their Core Because Of One Hilarious Detail'
Source of optical illusion: Uh, camouflage? We guess? But come on, guys, the guy is right there.