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The protest movement may not be broadcast, but it could have webbed feet and bulging eyes.

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

While protests against the government carry on in American cities, demonstrators are utilizing the energy of a local block party. They've offered salsa lessons, given away snacks, and performed on unicycles, while armed law enforcement observe.

Blending humour and political action – a strategy experts refer to as "tactical frivolity" – has historical precedent. However, it has emerged as a signature characteristic of US demonstrations in this period, used by both left and right.

One particular emblem has proven to be particularly salient – the frog. It originated when a video of an encounter between a man in an amphibian costume and immigration enforcement agents in the city of Portland, spread online. From there, it proliferated to rallies nationwide.

"There is much happening with that humble frog costume," notes an expert, who teaches at University of California, Davis and a Guggenheim Fellow who specialises in performance art.

From the Pepe Meme to Portland

It's challenging to examine demonstrations and amphibians without addressing Pepe, an illustrated figure co-opted by extremist movements throughout a previous presidential campaign.

As this image first took off on the internet, its purpose was to signal specific feelings. Later, it was deployed to express backing for a candidate, including a particular image shared by the candidate himself, depicting Pepe with recognizable attire and hairstyle.

The frog was also portrayed in digital spaces in offensive ways, as a hate group member. Online conservatives exchanged "rare Pepes" and set up digital currency using its likeness. His catchphrase, "that feels good", became a shared phrase.

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

Matt Furie, the illustrator, has been vocal about his disapproval for its appropriation. The character was intended as simply a relaxed amphibian in his series.

This character debuted in comic strips in the mid-2000s – non-political and famous for a particular bathroom habit. In 'Feels Good Man', which chronicles the creator's attempt to reclaim ownership of his work, he stated his drawing was inspired by his life with companions.

As he started out, the artist tried uploading his work to the nascent social web, where other users began to copy, alter, and reinterpret his character. As its popularity grew into the more extreme corners of online spaces, the creator tried to disavow the frog, including ending its life in a final panel.

Yet the frog persisted.

"It proves the lack of control over icons," states Prof Bogad. "They can change and shift and be repurposed."

Previously, the popularity of Pepe meant that frogs were largely associated with the right. This shifted recently, when an incident between an activist dressed in a blow-up amphibian suit and a federal agent in Portland, Oregon went viral.

The event came just days after a directive to send the National Guard to the city, which was called "a warzone". Activists began to assemble in large numbers outside a facility, near a federal building.

Tensions were high and an immigration officer used a chemical agent at a protester, aiming directly into the air intake fan of the puffy frog costume.

The protester, the man in the costume, reacted humorously, saying it tasted like "spicier tamales". However, the video spread everywhere.

The frog suit was somewhat typical for the city, renowned for its quirky culture and left-wing protests that embrace the ridiculous – public yoga, 80s-style aerobics lessons, and nude cycling groups. A local saying is "Keep Portland Weird."

The frog even played a role in subsequent court proceedings between the federal government and Portland, which claimed the deployment was illegal.

While a ruling was issued that month that the president had the right to send personnel, a dissenting judge wrote, mentioning the protesters' "well-known penchant for wearing chicken suits while voicing dissent."

"It is easy to see the majority's ruling, which adopts the government's characterization as a battlefield, as merely absurd," Judge Susan Graber opined. "Yet the outcome goes beyond absurdity."

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

But by then, the frog had become a powerful anti-administration symbol for progressive movements.

The inflatable suit appeared across the country at No Kings protests that fall. There were frogs – along with other creatures – in major US cities. They appeared in small towns and big international cities like Tokyo and London.

The inflatable suit was backordered on major websites, and saw its cost increase.

Controlling the Visual Story

The link between Pepe and the protest frog – lies in the interplay between the humorous, benign cartoon and serious intent. This concept is "tactical frivolity."

This approach relies on what the professor calls the "irresistible image" – often silly, it acts as a "appealing and non-threatening" performance that calls attention to your ideas without needing directly articulating them. It's the silly outfit you wear, or the meme circulated.

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

"One can look back to the Middle Ages – under oppressive regimes, they use absurdity to express dissent indirectly and while maintaining plausible deniability."

The purpose of this approach is three-fold, Mr Bogad says.

As protesters confront authority, a silly costume {takes control of|seizes|influences