How To: Change Your Facebook Profile Picture to Your Favorite Cartoon Character

Cartoon characters are invading Facebook this weekend, with members quickly switching out their normal profile pictures with that of their favorite animated childhood memory, but why?

Child abuse.

That's right.  Facebookers are changing their profile pics to images of cartoon characters from the 60s, 70s and 80s to help bring awareness to child abuse.

A note circulating on Facebook says, "Change your profile picture to your favorite cartoon from when you were a kid.  The goal of this game is not to see a human picture on Facebook, but an invasion of childhood memories until Monday.  PLAY AND PASS ALONG!"

You wouldn't think something like this would pick up steam so quickly, but from a quick look at Google Trends, 16 out of the 20 Hot Searches are:

2. cartoon pictures for facebook profile
3. 1970s cartoons
4. rugrats pictures
5. cartoon characters from the 80s
7. fat albert characters
8. cartoons from the 70s
9. old cartoon character pictures
12. foghorn leghorn
13. smurfette
14. judy jetson
15. looney tunes cartoon characters
16. jane jetson
17. mighty mouse cartoon
18. strawberry shortcake
19. magilla gorilla
20. smurfs cartoon

But what exactly does this meme have to do with child abuse?

The note being passed around continues to say, "From now until December 7, change your profile picture to a cartoon character from your childhood.  The objective of this is not to see any human faces on Facebook but an invasion of memories for the fight against Violence to Children.  Remember we were kids too."

Will you do it? Here are some cool cartoon characters, in case you don't want to search around.

Woody Woodpecker

Rocky and Bullwinkle and Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale

Popeye

Tom and Jerry

Bugs Bunny

Felix the Cat

Betty Boop

Mickey Mouse

Ren and Stimpy

Smurfs

Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble (smoking?)

Porky the Pig

via CBS News