DUI Wednesdays – Hawaii’s new Viral Hit

An article by Ryan    No Comments

With all the so called “Social Media Experts” pushing content around the web these days, it’s nice to find something that actually turned viral organically.

Earlier this year, The HPD (Honolulu Police Department) began publishing weekly photos of those arrested for drunk driving. The webpage is a simple HTML coded website, employs no social media marketing yet has become the most viral site out of Hawaii since icanhascheezburger.com. Each week, for a span of 24 hours, you can view mugshots of those arrested for OVUII (Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an Intoxicant). Capturing people photographically at their worst is always a laugh, but the added bonus of knowing that these people were caught doing something pretty stupid (and dangerous) makes this train wreck all the more irresistible.

Just how popular have these weekly photos become? Well a facebook fan page was created for “DUI Wednesdays” and quickly gained over 1000 fans in less than one week. It’s become quite the popular topic on twitter as well.

As with any true meme, remixes and photoshop edits have begun to pop up only adding more fuel to the fire.

I doubt that it will ever be a worldwide phenomenon the stature of LOLcats, but kudos goes to HPD for (unknowingly or not) creating quite possibly the ONLY positive thing to ever come from drunk driving. Hopefully this is something that can curtail drinking and driving on Oahu. Maybe public humiliation was the missing link to bring those numbers down.

To view photos of those arrested of OVUII, visit the HPD OVUII subsite every Wednesday at 10:00 am.