Chuck Testa

Chuck Testa
Born
Charles A. Testa

(1956-11-02) November 2, 1956 (age 70)
Ojai Valley, California, U. S.
OccupationTaxidermist

Charles A. Testa (born November 2, 1956) is an American taxidermist and owner of Ojai Valley Taxidermy in California. A commercial for Testa's business created by American comedy duo Rhett & Link for their shortlived TV show Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings in 2011 became a viral video, and the catchphrase "Nope, Chuck Testa" became an Internet meme.

Life and career

Testa was born and raised in the Ojai Valley. He managed his father's Baskin-Robbins store in Venice Beach, California before he began preserving wildlife through taxidermy.

Commercial and response

In summer 2011, Testa's future son-in-law posted a commercial for Testa's business on YouTube. The video was originally created by Rhett & Link for the show Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings on IFC. The commercial asserts that Testa's work is so realistic that people will assume the animals are still alive. It depicts people reacting to what they believe are live animals in unusual situations, e.g., "Look at that antelope driving a car!", only to have Testa appear and declare, "Nope, it's just Chuck Testa." The phrase became popular on websites such as Reddit and Tumblr, spurring mainstream media coverage, including Fox News and CBS. The video was also ranked as the #10 best meme of 2011 by Time magazine's Nick Carbone.

In October 2026, Testa appeared as a cameo in Mozilla's Come Back to Firefox advertising campaign, alongside several other viral internet personalities from the 2000s and 2010s. The campaign used nostalgia for early internet culture to promote Firefox.

Television appearances

In 2012, Testa appeared in two episodes of Rhett & Link's Web series, Good Mythical Morning. His shop, Ojai Valley Taxidermy, was promoted in earlier episodes. He again appeared in 2020 as a tiebreaking judge during the Ice Cream Taste Test Tournament.

In 2015, Testa was featured in Season 1, Episode 1 of CarbonTV's original series, American Elements.

In 2016, Testa and Ojai Valley Taxidermy were featured in the Web documentary Mounted: Chuck Testa and Friends on CarbonTV.

Music

Testa was featured in Logan Hugueny-Clark's 2013 "Nuketown the Musical". It is a Call of Duty: Black Ops II musical parody of the 2013 song "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke.

The 2019 song "Whip a Tesla" by Yung Gravy and bbno$ mentions Testa in the chorus, referencing the "Nope" meme.

Told your bitch, "Nope", like I'm fuckin' Chuck Testa

Testa makes a cameo in the music video.

References

  1. ↑ Kelly, David (January 6, 2002). Taxidermist's Work Is More Than Skin Deep; Chuck Testa insists his craft is worthy of being called art. Bears, boars and other animals are stretched over forms, not stuffed.[link removed] Los Angeles Times
  2. 1 2 Hernandez, Marjorie (September 28, 2011). Video of resident Ojai taxidermist goes viral. Ventura County Star
  3. ↑ "Ad men thrive on Chuck take". Au.news.yahoo.com. January 3, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  4. ↑ "Viral Videos, Week of November 11th". Radio.foxnews.com. November 11, 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  5. ↑ Katie (September 18, 2011). "Nope! It's Just Chuck Testa – CBS Early Show". Talknerdytome.net. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Meme Alert: The 10 Best Examples Of Chuck Testa's Taxidermy Skills". Buzzfeed.com. January 24, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  7. ↑ Carbone, Nick (December 7, 2011). "Chuck Testa". Time. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  8. ↑ Vimalan, Dhanya (October 26, 2026). "Firefox brings back meme royalty for an internet throwback". Marketing-Interactive. Retrieved October 26, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Firefox reunites meme royalty to remind you what the internet used to feel like". Mozilla Blog. October 25, 2026. Retrieved October 26, 2026.
  10. ↑ Ice Cream Taste Test Tournament (Day 3). YouTube. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Chuck Testa : American Elements". CarbonTV. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Mounted: Chuck Testa and Friends". CarbonTV. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  13. ↑ Clark, Logan-Hugueny (August 29, 2013). "♪ NUKETOWN THE MUSICAL FEAT. CHUCK TESTA - Black Ops 2 Zombies Parody". Youtube.com. LHUGUENY. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
  14. ↑ Yung Gravy & bbno$ – Whip a Tesla, retrieved January 10, 2020