You've undoubtedly seen them: the saccharine-slathered headlines of Upworthy.com, promising you'll "never see the world the same again" after watching some YouTube video about bullied kids or racism or whatever. Now you can create your own must-click words of wisdom with the Upworthy Generator, which combines random emotional video screen grabs with cobbled cliches for results like "Try Not to Let Your Jaw Hit the Floor When You Hear These Twelve Words."
Created by digital content mastermind Mike Lacher, who penned McSweeney's beloved article "I'm Comic Sans, Asshole," the Upworthy Generator mocks just about all the stereotypes you'll find in the site's overly optimistic presentation style. Lacher, a man all too familiar with headline trappings from his days as a creative director for BuzzFeed and creator of that site's Pepsi-branded "Listiclock," nails Upworthy's recurring themes of wisdom from children, popular icons fallen from grace, emotional righteousness and David-versus-Goliath battles against bullies/authority/oppression.
A few of my personal favorites, randomly created by the Upworthy Generator:
• Think Things Used to Be Better When You Were a Kid? Maybe You Should Listen to This Disgraced Former Model.
• That Moment When an Oscar Winner Doesn't Accept Bullying.
• Here Is What Happens When a Beauty Queen Gets Real About the Biggest Problem in America.
• Try Not to Shout With Rage When You Hear the Eighth Word.
• Watch a Bullied Veteran Become an Inspiration With Five Words.
• What This Transgender Mother of Three Did Is Genius.
Try it out for yourself on UpworthyGenerator.com. Hap to to Jelena Woehr for sharing this one.
