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This revolution may not be televised, yet it might possess webbed feet and large eyes.

Furthermore, it may involve a unicorn's horn or a chicken's feathers.

As rallies against the administration continue in American cities, protesters are utilizing the vibe of a community costume parade. They have taught dance instruction, distributed snacks, and performed on unicycles, as police watch.

Blending humour and politics – a tactic experts refer to as "tactical frivolity" – isn't novel. Yet it has transformed into a defining feature of US demonstrations in the current era, used by both left and right.

And one symbol has proven to be especially powerful – the frog. It started when a video of a clash between a protester in an amphibian costume and ICE agents in Portland, Oregon, became an internet sensation. It subsequently appeared to demonstrations nationwide.

"A great deal happening with that small frog costume," says LM Bogad, a professor at University of California, Davis and an academic who studies political performance.

From the Pepe Meme to the Streets of Portland

It's hard to examine demonstrations and amphibians without addressing Pepe, a cartoon character adopted by online communities during an election cycle.

As the character first took off online, its purpose was to convey certain emotions. Later, it was deployed to endorse a candidate, including one notable meme endorsed by that figure personally, portraying the frog with recognizable attire and hairstyle.

The frog was also portrayed in digital spaces in darker contexts, as a historical dictator. Users exchanged "unique frog images" and set up cryptocurrency in his name. Its famous line, "feels good, man", was used an inside joke.

However the character did not originate as a political symbol.

Its creator, artist Matt Furie, has stated about his unhappiness for its co-option. The character was intended as simply a "chill frog-dude" in his series.

Pepe first appeared in comic strips in 2005 – apolitical and best known for a quirky behavior. In a documentary, which chronicles Mr Furie's efforts to take back of his work, he stated the character came from his experiences with companions.

When he began, the artist tried sharing his art to new websites, where people online began to borrow, remix and reinvent his character. When the meme proliferated into fringe areas of online spaces, the creator sought to reject the frog, even killing him off in a comic strip.

Yet the frog persisted.

"It proves that we don't control symbols," states the professor. "They transform and be reclaimed."

Previously, the notoriety of this meme meant that frogs were largely associated with conservative politics. This shifted on a day in October, when a viral moment between a protestor wearing an inflatable frog costume and a federal agent in Portland, Oregon went viral.

The moment came just days after a directive to send the National Guard to Portland, which was described as "a warzone". Demonstrators began to assemble in large numbers at a specific location, near an ICE office.

The situation was tense and an agent deployed a chemical agent at the individual, directing it into the opening of the costume.

The individual, the man in the costume, responded with a joke, saying it tasted like "spicier tamales". But the incident became a sensation.

Mr Todd's attire fit right in for the city, renowned for its quirky culture and activist demonstrations that revel in the absurd – public yoga, retro fitness classes, and nude cycling groups. A local saying is "Keep Portland Weird."

The costume became part of in a lawsuit between the administration and Portland, which argued the deployment was illegal.

While the court ruled that month that the president was within its rights to deploy troops, a minority opinion disagreed, noting in her opinion the protesters' "known tendency for donning inflatable costumes when expressing dissent."

"Observers may be tempted the court's opinion, which adopts the description of Portland as a battlefield, as merely absurd," Judge Susan Graber stated. "Yet the outcome has serious implications."

The action was stopped legally soon after, and troops withdrew from the city.

But by then, the frog had become a significant protest icon for the left.

The inflatable suit was spotted across the country at anti-authoritarian protests recently. There were frogs – along with other creatures – in San Diego and Atlanta and Boston. They appeared in small towns and big international cities like Tokyo and London.

The frog costume was sold out on online retailers, and became more expensive.

Controlling the Optics

The link between the two amphibian symbols – is the interplay between the humorous, benign cartoon and a deeper political meaning. This is what "tactical frivolity."

This approach rests on what the professor terms the "irresistible image" – usually humorous, it's a "disarming and charming" performance that highlights your ideas without needing obviously explaining them. This is the silly outfit you wear, or the symbol circulated.

The professor is both an expert in the subject and a veteran practitioner. He's written a text called 'Tactical Performance', and led seminars internationally.

"You could go back to historical periods – under oppressive regimes, absurd humor is used to speak the truth a little bit and still have plausible deniability."

The idea of this approach is multi-faceted, he explains.

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