this post was submitted on 30 May 2024
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In the 2020 primaries, Donald Trump said that Mayo Pete looks like Alfred E. Neuman (which is devastatingly accurate), and Pete countered that he'd never heard of Alfred E. Neuman and it "must be an old person thing." That was incredibly weird to me, because I'm younger than Pete Buttigieg and I know who Alfred E. Neuman is.

It seems like there's three possibilities: One is that Pete does know who Alfred E. Neuman is, and his retort was simply try-hard and pathetic. Another possibility is that Pete does not know who Alfred E. Neuman is because he's been such a careerist psycho his whole life that he knows nothing but the most basic of pop culture references and whatever his staffers tell him about. The third possibility is that I'm unusual in my age cohort for knowing Alfred E. Neuman. My friends and I read Mag Magazine as kids, but we were nerds, and it may have been well past the heyday when Mad was a universal cultural touchstone for kids.

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[–] Chronicon@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago

No. not a clue. I've heard of Mad magazine but I don't know that much about it.

[–] Evilphd666@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The MAD charecter. On the front page of MAD magazine.

[–] homhom9000@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago

I did not know they had a name.

[–] MaoTheLawn@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago

Zoomer here, had no idea, but I'm not American

Was more of a Dennis the Menace kid

[–] anarchoilluminati@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago

Of course. 'You Got A Friend In Me' gets me every time.

[–] WhyEssEff@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)
  1. grew up on MAD, so shrug-outta-hecks
[–] Rod_Blagojevic@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I know who he is, but I also just found out I'm older than mayor Pete. agony-deep Life is passing me by and i've yet to fix bread prices.

[–] Wertheimer@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago

Bootyjuice assuredly saw this magazine cover when he was a teenager, if nothing else.

[–] BasementParty@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yes but only because of the Animated Mad TV Show. Despite being literally a collection of parodies about pop-culture, it was ahead of its time.

Source: Am Gen Z in early 20's

[–] mar_k@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

20 and same, i just recognize the face from the cartoon network show i vaguely remember

[–] Babs@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago

Millennial, never really read Mad but was vaguely aware of it. I know of Alfred E Neuman though.

[–] LemonGrease@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago

Of course. There was even a mad cartoon that was airing on the cartoon network when I was a child

[–] Anxious_Anarchist@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago

I know who Alfred E. Neuman is and I'm 28. I've even still got some old issues of mad magazine lying around my house.

[–] AssortedBiscuits@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago

As a millennial, I've read Mad Magazine and Cracked before when I was a kid, but I always saw him as "the Mad Magazine mascot." I think I only learned the dude's name from Wikipedia. It's not like the magazine itself goes out of its way to spell out the dude's name. And besides that, I mostly skipped to Spy vs Spy and those fold-ins.

And damn, the dude who came up with the fold-in lived to be over 100 and he stepped down at 99 year old. What a trooper.

[–] Florn@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago

I didn't recognize the name until you mentioned Buttigieg and then I remembered "oh, the mad magazine kid"

[–] CatoPosting@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago

I'm over 30, and no. Nor Mad Magazine before adulthood, and even then its just in references.

[–] goose@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago

I am two months older than that guy and either he is lying or he never went into a grocery store as a child

Mid 30s here, I never remember his name, I have to look it up every time.

[–] 666PeaceKeepaGirl@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago

I didn't know who Alfred E Neuman was until the Buttigieg thing. Not sure i knew what Mad Magazine was either. Am 25

[–] mathemachristian@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago

Isnt he some kind of physicist?

[–] WELCOMETHRILLHO@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

I’m an elder millennial and I have known who Alfred E Neuman is for most of my life despite not reading Mad magazine regularly (always felt like more of a Gen X/late Boomer thing). Obviously the Simpsons referenced Mad a lot, and MadTV was the greatest sketch comedy show on Saturday nights.

For what it’s worth, I think that was Mayo Pete trying to insult trump in the weakest way possible, and it was an utter failure.

[–] GayRichMac@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago
  1. Loved MAD when I was younger. Been hoping to dig up my old stash one of these days, if only I knew where to find it in my parent's basement.
[–] odmroz@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

Don't know who that is. Late 20s

[–] BountifulEggnog@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

At first I thought Neuman sounded familiar, but after looking it up I have no idea who that is. Must be an old person thing.

[–] rootsbreadandmakka@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

No idea who he is. I was born in the mid 90s. Looking him up now

Edit: yeah I’ve heard of mad magazine but that’s really it, never was part of my experience growing up. I think the first possibility is probably the right one though, a rare instance of Pete being right

[–] FeelThePower@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 year ago

I don't recognise the name.

[–] Zoift@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

Yee, add me to the tally, he's the mad magazine mascot.

[–] PaulSmackage@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

I'm younger than him and remember buying them at the grocery store.

[–] Sickos@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

Mad magazine guy, right?

[–] bbnh69420@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

Yes, under 30, not a particularly old cultural taste either. I just didn’t get any of the jokes at the time

[–] Moonworm@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah dude. Feel like I learned it as a bit of trivia later on though. I did see some Mad Magazines growing up though.

[–] macabrett@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

Didn't recognize the name, but did recognize from the pictures people posted in here

[–] wtypstanaccount04@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

I read Mad magazine in the library, so yes, I know.

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