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

Furthermore, it may involve the horn of a unicorn or the plumage of a chicken.

As demonstrations against the leadership carry on in American cities, participants are utilizing the energy of a neighborhood dress-up party. They have taught dance instruction, distributed snacks, and ridden unicycles, while police watch.

Combining humour and politics – a strategy researchers term "tactical frivolity" – isn't novel. However, it has emerged as a hallmark of US demonstrations in recent years, embraced by various groups.

A specific icon has proven to be particularly salient – the frog. It started when a video of an encounter between a protester in an inflatable frog and immigration enforcement agents in the city of Portland, went viral. And it has since spread to demonstrations throughout the United States.

"A great deal going on with that little blow-up amphibian," says LM Bogad, a professor at UC Davis and an academic who focuses on performance art.

From the Pepe Meme to Portland

It's hard to examine demonstrations and amphibians without mentioning Pepe, a cartoon character embraced by far-right groups throughout an election cycle.

As the character gained popularity online, its purpose was to signal certain emotions. Subsequently, its use evolved to show support for a political figure, even one notable meme retweeted by the candidate personally, depicting the frog with a signature suit and hair.

Images also circulated in right-wing online communities in offensive ways, portrayed as a hate group member. Online conservatives traded "unique frog images" and established cryptocurrency using its likeness. His catchphrase, "feels good, man", became a coded signal.

However Pepe didn't start out as a political symbol.

The artist behind it, the illustrator, has been vocal about his distaste for how the image has been used. His creation was meant as simply an apolitical figure in his comic world.

This character first appeared in comic strips in 2005 – apolitical and famous for a particular bathroom habit. A film, which chronicles the creator's attempt to wrest back control of his work, he said the character came from his life with companions.

When he began, Mr Furie experimented with uploading his work to the nascent social web, where other users began to copy, alter, and reinterpret the frog. As its popularity grew into darker parts of the internet, Mr Furie sought to reject his creation, including ending its life in a final panel.

However, its legacy continued.

"This demonstrates the lack of control over icons," states Prof Bogad. "Their meaning can evolve and be reworked."

For a long time, the notoriety of this meme resulted in amphibian imagery were predominantly linked to conservative politics. But that changed in early October, when a confrontation between a protestor wearing a blow-up amphibian suit and an immigration officer in Portland, Oregon captured global attention.

The moment followed an order to deploy military personnel to the city, which was called "war-ravaged". Activists began to assemble in large numbers outside a facility, near an immigration enforcement facility.

The situation was tense and an agent used irritant at a protester, directing it into the air intake fan of the inflatable suit.

The protester, the man in the costume, quipped, stating he had tasted "spicier tamales". But the incident went viral.

The frog suit fit right in for the city, known for its unconventional spirit and left-wing protests that revel in the unusual – public yoga, retro fitness classes, and unique parades. A local saying is "Embrace the Strange."

The costume was also referenced in subsequent court proceedings between the federal government and Portland, which argued the use of troops overstepped authority.

Although a judge decided that month that the president was within its rights to deploy troops, a minority opinion disagreed, mentioning the protesters' "well-known penchant for donning inflatable costumes while voicing opposition."

"Some might view the court's opinion, which adopts the government's characterization as a battlefield, as merely absurd," she wrote. "Yet the outcome is not merely absurd."

The order was halted by courts soon after, and troops have reportedly departed the area.

Yet already, the frog was now a potent anti-administration symbol for the left.

The inflatable suit appeared nationwide at anti-authoritarian protests recently. Amphibian costumes were present – and unicorns and axolotls and dinosaurs – in major US cities. They appeared in small towns and global metropolises abroad.

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

Controlling the Optics

What brings Pepe and the protest frog – is the relationship between the humorous, benign cartoon and a deeper political meaning. This concept is "tactical frivolity."

This approach relies on what Mr Bogad calls the "irresistible image" – frequently absurd, it acts as a "disarming and charming" act that draws focus to a message without obviously explaining them. It's the goofy costume used, or the meme circulated.

Mr Bogad is an analyst on this topic and someone who uses these tactics. He's written a book called 'Tactical Performance', and led seminars internationally.

"One can look back to historical periods – when people are dominated, absurd humor is used to speak the truth a little bit and still have plausible deniability."

The idea of such tactics is three-fold, he says.

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