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Jeff Bezos Blue Origin memes: Enter the 'dong rocket'

Jeff Bezos' rocket looks familiar...

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper
2 min read
Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket thrusts its way skyward with Bezos aboard.

Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket heads skyward with Bezos aboard.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos successfully rocketed to the edge of space and back on Tuesday, and declared that the event had made for his "Best. Day. Ever." Bezos, his brother Mark, aeronautics legend Wally Funk and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen flew on a New Shepard rocket, landing safely in the West Texas desert after a trip of eight-plus minutes.

Bezos was the second billionaire businessman in just nine days to head to space, with Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson beating Bezos. Branson's launch inspired plenty of memes and jokes, and Bezos' trip did the same.

Be forewarned: Jokes about private parts await those who continue reading...

Shape of the ship

Bezos and crew rode in what CNET's Jackson Ryan calls a "gumdrop-shaped capsule," lifted by a rocket called a New Shepard. "Gumdrop" is a sweet descriptor, but when the capsule sat atop the rocket, plenty of people saw a less family-friendly form.

"There are sometimes signs that people working for a rich/powerful person have utter contempt for their boss," wrote one Twitter user. "The dong rocket is one of those signs."

Another user referred to a mohel, or the person who takes care of ritual Jewish circumcisions.

And the weenie references didn't stop there...

Fast track

Some jokes centered on the fact that Bezos and his group spent very little time actually on his flight, landing in under 10 minutes.

"Wake me up when Bezos spends as much time in space as a dog," wrote writer Alex Shephard, referring to Soviet space dog Laika.

Sci-fi movie plot

Others envisioned Bezos' flight as the first scene of a sci-fi movie, such as Planet of the Apes.

"Oh no, what if Jeff Bezos travels through time and lands on a future earth ravaged by humanity's ignorance," snarked writer Dave Itzkoff.

For better or for space

And some brought Bezos' ex-wife, Mackenzie Scott, into the picture.

"Hard to imagine a better divorce outcome than getting 50 billion dollars and then your ex literally leaves the planet," wrote one Twitter user.