The first time that Melbourne coworkers Jeremy Bassett and Dylan Merritt used a pen to draw penises on photos published on their local newspaper, on Sept. 20, it was a simple affair.
It was funny, they thought, so they started a Facebook group for the process. In the first photo they uploaded, a man, dressed in a power suit, nonchalantly held a long cartoon penis in his right hand. It got four comments and 253 likes.
But Drawing Dicks On The Herald Sun was just getting started.
Later that day, they uploaded a picture of X-Factor contestant Josh Brookes singing onstage. Except instead of a microphone, Brookes held a disembodied penis up to his mouth. That one got 349 likes. Then came local Australian Football League hero Lance Franklin on the cover of the sports page. It was an action shot, and Franklin’s mouth was open in celebration, with a huge, veiny penis floating next to it. That one got 621 likes and 23 shares. Friends tagged each other in the comments. The page quickly went viral.
Their first hit came three days later, with a photo that showed a football player awkwardly positioned behind another, with the first now sporting an enormous cartoon penis entering the second’s rear.
“Brilliant. Whoever drew this is truly a master of artistic expression,” commented Joshua Callaghan.
“Thats what I call a come from behind win!” wrote Scott Te Paa.
Then user submissions came pouring in. Scott Brewster sent in a photo of firefighters holding a firehose (except instead of a firehose, it was a giant penis). Elliot Batchelor uploaded a picture of a woman petting a dog (except instead of a dog, it was a giant penis).
By the start of October, Drawing Dicks On The Herald Sun had more than 86,000 subscribers, but was temporarily banned. “It seems dumbass’ are getting butt hurt and reporting the page,” Merritt wrote. They were, perhaps, concerned about the growing number of dogs repurposed as penises, or women who used them as exercise equipment.
But it’s back, and with 123,000 subscribers, it’s still steadily growing.
“I don’t know how it got so popular,” Merritt admitted to the Daily Dot.
Steve Brydie, whose photo of boxer Sonny Bill Williams drinking from a giant penis became a guest post, might have insight. “When you see an opportunity to draw a dick when most of the work is already done you take it,” he said. “I draw dicks on anything and anyone (except children because that’s just fucked up).”
Photo via Drawing Dicks On The Herald Sun/Facebook
