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This resistance won't be televised, but it could have amphibious toes and bulging eyes.

It also might feature a unicorn's horn or the plumage of a chicken.

Whilst rallies against the leadership carry on in US cities, participants are adopting the vibe of a neighborhood dress-up party. They've offered dance instruction, distributed snacks, and performed on unicycles, as armed law enforcement observe.

Blending humour and political action – a strategy social scientists call "tactical frivolity" – isn't novel. However, it has emerged as a defining feature of American protest in this period, embraced by various groups.

One particular emblem has risen to become particularly salient – the frog. It started when video footage of an encounter between a man in an inflatable frog and federal officers in the city of Portland, spread online. And it has since spread to rallies throughout the United States.

"There's a lot going on with that little frog costume," notes LM Bogad, a professor at UC Davis and an academic who studies political performance.

The Path From the Pepe Meme to Portland

It's challenging to discuss protests and frogs without mentioning Pepe, a web comic frog embraced by online communities during a political race.

When this image initially spread on the internet, its purpose was to convey specific feelings. Subsequently, its use evolved to show support for a political figure, even a particular image endorsed by the candidate himself, depicting Pepe with recognizable attire and hairstyle.

Images also circulated in digital spaces in offensive ways, portrayed as a historical dictator. Online conservatives traded "unique frog images" and set up digital currency using its likeness. Its famous line, "feels good, man", became a shared phrase.

Yet the character did not originate so controversial.

The artist behind it, artist Matt Furie, has been vocal about his disapproval for its co-option. Pepe was supposed to be simply a "chill frog-dude" in his series.

Pepe debuted in comic strips in the mid-2000s – non-political and famous for a particular bathroom habit. In 'Feels Good Man', which follows Mr Furie's efforts to take back of his creation, he stated his drawing was inspired by his life with friends and roommates.

Early in his career, Mr Furie experimented with sharing his art to the nascent social web, where other users began to borrow, remix and reinvent the frog. As its popularity grew into the more extreme corners of the internet, the creator sought to reject his creation, including ending its life in a final panel.

But Pepe lived on.

"It proves that creators cannot own icons," states the professor. "They transform and be reworked."

For a long time, the notoriety of this meme meant that amphibian imagery were largely associated with conservative politics. But that changed recently, when an incident between a protestor wearing a blow-up amphibian suit and an immigration officer in Portland spread rapidly online.

The moment occurred shortly after an order to send military personnel to Portland, which was called "war-ravaged". Activists began to gather in droves on a single block, just outside of a federal building.

Tensions were high and a officer deployed a chemical agent at a protester, directing it into the opening of the inflatable suit.

Seth Todd, Seth Todd, responded with a joke, stating he had tasted "something milder". But the incident went viral.

The frog suit was not too unusual for Portland, famous for its unconventional spirit and left-wing protests that delight in the ridiculous – public yoga, retro fitness classes, and unique parades. A local saying is "Keep Portland Weird."

The costume was also referenced in subsequent court proceedings between the federal government and the city, which claimed the deployment overstepped authority.

Although a judge decided in October that the administration had the right to send personnel, a dissenting judge wrote, referencing in her ruling demonstrators' "known tendency for donning inflatable costumes when expressing opposition."

"Some might view the majority's ruling, which accepts the government's characterization as a war zone, as merely absurd," she stated. "However, this ruling has serious implications."

The deployment was halted by courts just a month later, and troops are said to have left the city.

However, by that time, the frog had transformed into a powerful anti-administration symbol for the left.

This symbol appeared across the country at anti-authoritarian protests recently. Frogs appeared – and unicorns and axolotls and dinosaurs – in major US cities. They were in small towns and global metropolises abroad.

The frog costume was sold out on major websites, and rose in price.

Controlling the Optics

What connects both frogs together – lies in the interplay between the silly, innocent image and a deeper political meaning. This is what "tactical frivolity."

The strategy is based on what the professor calls the "irresistible image" – frequently absurd, it's a "appealing and non-threatening" act that draws focus to a cause without needing directly articulating them. This is the silly outfit you wear, or the meme circulated.

Mr Bogad is an analyst in the subject and an experienced participant. He authored a text called 'Tactical Performance', and taught workshops internationally.

"You could go back to the Middle Ages – when people are dominated, they use absurdity to speak the truth a little bit and still have plausible deniability."

The theory of this approach is three-fold, Mr Bogad says.

As activists take on the state, a silly costume {takes control of|seizes|influences