Clippy Campaign: Difference between revisions

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~~The~~ '''Clippy Campaign''' ~~(''Author's Note: tentatively named~~, ~~there seems to be no agreed upon name for this concept yet'') is~~ a [[wikipedia:Solidarity|solidarity]] visibility campaign ~~where individuals change~~ their profile ~~image~~ to "a Clippy" ~~(officially~~, the 'Clippit' avatar of [[wikipedia:Office_Assistant|Office Assistant]] as seen in Microsoft Office 2000 ~~through~~ 2003).

In August 2025, YouTuber [[Louis Rossmann]] started a movement (tentatively named the '''Clippy Campaign'''), a grassroots [[wikipedia:Solidarity|solidarity]] visibility campaign wherein participants changed their profile pictures on social media platforms in protest of unethical practices by corporations. Users changed their profile pictures to a "Clippy", referring to an image the 'Clippit' avatar of [[wikipedia:Office_Assistant|Office Assistant]] as seen in Microsoft Office from 2000 to 2003. YouTuber [[Louis Rossmann]] uploaded a video titled "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Dtmpe9qaQ Change your profile picture to clippy. I'm serious]" and encouraged his viewers to change their profile pictures on as many platforms as possible to a "Clippy" (officially, the 'Clippit' avatar of ). Rossmann elaborated on the meaning of the movement in a follow-up video titled [https://youtu.be/SkL9vzW7nY0 You Changed Your Profile to Clippy: Now What? 📎📎📎].

~~The campaign was started by~~ Louis Rossmann ~~in his~~ video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Dtmpe9qaQ Change your profile picture to clippy. I'm serious] and ~~further explained~~ in ~~his~~ video ~~[https://youtu.be/SkL9vzW7nY0 You Changed Your Profile~~ to Clippy~~: Now What? 📎📎📎]~~

==How it Works==

On August 7, 2025, YouTuber [[Louis Rossmann]] uploaded a video titled "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Dtmpe9qaQ Change your profile picture to clippy. I'm serious]" and encouraged his viewers to stand up against unethical practices of technology corporations (and companies in other industries) which violated consumer rights or otherwise proved detrimental to their paying customers. In the video, he suggested that members who join the movement could change their profile pictures on YouTube and other platforms to a Clippy, on the grounds that such an avatar was a fitting symbol, that avatars with a common theme would help participants recognize each other, and that the collective usage of the avatar in great numbers would raise questions among others and potentially draw attention to the movement.

=~~=How it Works==~~

Rossmann later uploaded a follow-up video titled "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Dtmpe9qaQ Change your profile picture to clippy. I'm serious]" to elaborate on the meaning of the movement for participants and outsiders, and to call participants to action, offering ways that they can actively contribute to creating effective results that counteract the exploitative and dishonest business practices they are protesting. Rossmann stated in the video that the act of changing one's profile picture is not the goal of the movement, but a prerequisite for realizing bigger changes; it serves as a simple task that gets users invested in the movement and increases its visibility, so that even if a participant is not able to effectuate much change on their own, they can make people who are capable of more tangible influence aware of the movement and receive their assistance.

~~Individuals supporting [[Right~~ to ~~repair|Right~~ to ~~Repair]] or generally supporting resistance~~ to ~~anti-ownership activities show their size~~ as a ~~group~~ and ~~solidarity with each other by changing~~ their ~~profile images to a Clippy~~.

~~While~~ the ~~individual action itself may not change much, it’s a simple task~~ that ~~gets users invested in~~ the ~~movement,~~ and ~~creates visibility for the movement. More visibility encourages people who are capable of making a more tangible change to do so~~, ~~and informs people unfamiliar with~~ the ~~movement of it. The end goal isn't just~~ to ~~change profile pictures,~~ the ~~visiblity it grants is simply a prerequisite for widespread societal change to occur~~.

The campaign's scope intersects with the general resistance to anti-ownership practices by companies that have become more common throughout the 2010s and early 2020s, such as denying paying customers the [[right to repair]] the products that they had purchased.

==Why Clippy==

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-The '''Clippy Campaign''' (''Author's Note: tentatively named, there seems to be no agreed upon name for this concept yet'') is a [[wikipedia:Solidarity|solidarity]] visibility campaign where individuals change their profile image  to "a Clippy" (officially, the 'Clippit' avatar of [[wikipedia:Office_Assistant|Office Assistant]] as seen in Microsoft Office 2000 through 2003).
+In August 2025, YouTuber [[Louis Rossmann]] started a movement (tentatively named the '''Clippy Campaign'''), a grassroots [[wikipedia:Solidarity|solidarity]] visibility campaign wherein participants changed their profile pictures on social media platforms in protest of unethical practices by corporations. Users changed their profile pictures to a "Clippy", referring to an image the 'Clippit' avatar of [[wikipedia:Office_Assistant|Office Assistant]] as seen in Microsoft Office from 2000 to 2003. YouTuber [[Louis Rossmann]] uploaded a video titled "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Dtmpe9qaQ Change your profile picture to clippy. I'm serious]" and encouraged his viewers to change their profile pictures on as many platforms as possible to a "Clippy" (officially, the 'Clippit' avatar of ). Rossmann elaborated on the meaning of the movement in a follow-up video titled [https://youtu.be/SkL9vzW7nY0 You Changed Your Profile to Clippy: Now What? 📎📎📎].
-The campaign was started by Louis Rossmann  in his video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Dtmpe9qaQ Change your profile picture to clippy. I'm serious] and further explained in his video [https://youtu.be/SkL9vzW7nY0 You Changed Your Profile to Clippy: Now What? 📎📎📎]
+==How it Works==
+On August 7, 2025, YouTuber [[Louis Rossmann]] uploaded a video titled "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Dtmpe9qaQ Change your profile picture to clippy. I'm serious]" and encouraged his viewers to stand up against unethical practices of technology corporations (and companies in other industries) which violated consumer rights or otherwise proved detrimental to their paying customers. In the video, he suggested that members who join the movement could change their profile pictures on YouTube and other platforms to a Clippy, on the grounds that such an avatar was a fitting symbol, that avatars with a common theme would help participants recognize each other, and that the collective usage of the avatar in great numbers would raise questions among others and potentially draw attention to the movement.
-==How it Works==
+Rossmann later uploaded a follow-up video titled "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Dtmpe9qaQ Change your profile picture to clippy. I'm serious]" to elaborate on the meaning of the movement for participants and outsiders, and to call participants to action, offering ways that they can actively contribute to creating effective results that counteract the exploitative and dishonest business practices they are protesting. Rossmann stated in the video that the act of changing one's profile picture is not the goal of the movement, but a prerequisite for realizing bigger changes; it serves as a simple task that gets users invested in the movement and increases its visibility, so that even if a participant is not able to effectuate much change on their own, they can make people who are capable of more tangible influence aware of the movement and receive their assistance.
-Individuals supporting [[Right to repair|Right to Repair]] or generally supporting resistance to anti-ownership activities show their size as a group and solidarity with each other by changing their profile images to a Clippy.
-While the individual action itself may not change much, it’s a simple task that gets users invested in the movement, and creates visibility for the movement. More visibility encourages people who are capable of making a more tangible change to do so, and informs people unfamiliar with the movement of it. The end goal isn't just to change profile pictures, the visiblity it grants is simply a prerequisite for widespread societal change to occur.
+The campaign's scope intersects with the general resistance to anti-ownership practices by companies that have become more common throughout the 2010s and early 2020s, such as denying paying customers the [[right to repair]] the products that they had purchased.
 ==Why Clippy==