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Call it the sketch seen 'round the world. Also one that's being chuckled at globally.
It started innocently Thursday during a guest's web safety presentation at Eisenhower High School in Shelby Township. To reinforce her message about social media caution, the visiting police officer live-posted this Facebook photo to her township force's 10,560 followers.
To show how students' word and pictures could soon be on strangers' screens, she added this message:
Hi everyone! I'm in a class today talking about Internet safety. Want to show how fast those posted pictures can spread.
Like, share and comment with your location so they can see just how fast this happens! Thanks! -OFFICER L
Simple and dramatic, right? Well, glance again closely at her sign if you missed the unintended amusement of those dots representing eyeballs in each letter "O."
LOOK, indeed! It doesn't take a high school freshman to see her chest-high placement of the paper as a hoot. (Yes, just like the Hooters owl eyes logo.)
"C’mon, they are eyes! Although I was talking to high school kids, so maybe they didn’t see eyes either," the officer tells a commenter.
"Unintentional? Viral comedy genius?" asks George J. Fox of Fowlerville, a CBS Detroit web producer who reposts the image Friday morning on Intsagram and writes about it at the local CBS site.
"I thought it was going to be a breast cancer awareness thing," Jennifer Lewellen of Clearwater, Fla., posts at the Shelby Township Police Department's Facebook page, where it generates more activity than usual.
The officer's smiling classroom portrait has been shared nearly 8,000 times as of Saturday morning. It also attracts almost 4,000 comments and more than 3,800 "like" clicks.
“This is a great idea," Beth Morales comments from Bolivar, Mo. "But maybe next time don’t put boobs in the sign. Or on the other hand, maybe the point is that it gets shared faster that way.”
In a day and a half, replies also flowed from Minnesota, California, Nevada, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Texas, Arkansas, Indiana Pennsylvania, Indiana and as far as Finland. Florida.
Definitely a memorable example of the Internet's vast reach . . . and unintended consequences.
