Things are getting weird on the monolith front, which means many people no longer think it’s actually aliens or something that may end life as we know it on earth. A third monolith has been found, the second one found in America in the last few weeks, and this time the reaction from the general public has been very different.
The first monolith found in the Utah desert shortly before Thanksgiving had already vanished when a second, scuffed up version was discovered in Romania. Reaction to the news that a third one was found in California this week, however, led to violence against the art installation/marketing scheme/ancient artifact intent to spell doom for humanity. And it’s already led to some copycats.
In all seriousness, ACC Welding Dept. faculty, along with the support of students, constructed and installed the custom-made monolith to get in on the global fun. #KeepAustinWeird pic.twitter.com/cjTATEGcZa
— Todd Bailey (@ToddKXAN) December 4, 2020
But, more importantly, many people seem to be dreading whatever the truth behind these metal structures actually is.
Hikers in Atascadero, California, came across a mysterious metal monolith just a few days after a similar structure was removed from the Utah desert. https://t.co/CA7pQNoaa1 pic.twitter.com/EFosPvfnNz
— CNN (@CNN) December 3, 2020
As the old saying goes: The first time you stumble upon a monolith is a mystery. A second time is a trend and a third time is probably a marketing campaign.
As a third mysterious monolith appears, this time on a mountain in California, world prepares for disappointment when it turns out to be some crap marketing campaign and not the apocalypse.
— Have I Got News For You (@haveigotnews) December 3, 2020
new monolith just dropped pic.twitter.com/XyStTJiaJM
— josh (@slimeslinger) December 3, 2020
the monolith was cool when I thought it was art, but now it’s definitely some sort of Brand Shit, and I feel sick to my stomach
— thomas violence (@thomas_violence) December 3, 2020
Perhaps the reason so many people are skeptical is, well, they’ve seen this kind of thing fall flat before. And they’ve also watched as countless companies have tried to springboard off the viral attention for their own marketing purposes.
Yet another mysterious monolith appears. pic.twitter.com/NIUCTmdE4i
— AT&T Business (@ATTBusiness) December 3, 2020
Netflix marketing stunt was a popular answer as speculation about the third structure grew.
The monoliths are 100% part of a marketing campaign for like, the next season of Stranger Things or something. Grim.
— Peter Berkes (@peterberkes) December 4, 2020
But just as quickly as the third mysterious monolith appeared, it was gone.
The California Monolith is gone!#monolith #californiaMonolith pic.twitter.com/kUcxGl1kya
— Ofir Ramirez-Rios (@OfirMX) December 3, 2020
According to Vice, that’s because men attacked it and knocked it down while chanting “Christ is king” among other things.
Cringe #Monolith in #Atascadero destroyed #PineMountain #FuckArtMajors pic.twitter.com/Q3erwF2PyZ
— Culture War Criminal (@CULTUREWARCRMNL) December 3, 2020
In a way, it’s very fitting that this quickly went from a unique curiosity to something that spirals out of control in a matter of days. We’ve gone from bighorn sheep scouting to evangelical lunatics toppling what might be a marketing campaign near a California hiking trail in the middle of a pandemic in a matter of days. It would be a new record if not for, well, everything else that’s already happened in 2020.