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Who Is 'Peter Sutherland' And Why Is He Commenting 'What Country Is This?' On TikTok Videos? The Creepypasta Meme Explained
So you’ve just posted a video on TikTok and, within seconds, a wave of white guys wearing sunglass spams your comment section with the following question:
What country is this?
You most likely did not mention your country or showed something "touristic" enough in the video to have thousands of people asking about your country of origin. So, who is this guy and why are people pretending to be him on TikTok?
The short explanation is that he's a ghost. The American known as Peter Sutherland died in November 2023 and now is haunting TikTok videos across the world looking for his lost daughter after she went on a trip to Southeast Asia and never returned home.
There's more to this meme than just a ghost story and if you are curious about the "What Country Is This?" story that's going viral on TikTok we have everything you need to know!
Who Is 'Peter Sutherland' And Why Is He Commenting 'What Country Is This?' On TikTok Videos?
No, unfortunately, Peter Sutherland is not a ghost haunting TikTok videos. He is, actually, a fanfiction character created by Philippine comedian Fonz, who posted a video on January 19th, 2024, about a white American man from Wyoming who, in 2020, was searching for his daughter Sandra Sutherland after she went on a month-long vacation to Southeast Asia. In the fanfic, Peter decided to look for clues about Sandra's whereabouts using TikTok videos and commenting on people's content "What country is this?" or "Which country is this?" trying to pinpoint her location.
The Philippine comedian ends the story by saying Peter passed away alone in his house in November 2023 without finding his daughter and that now he haunts TikTok videos still looking for her by commenting on the same question "What country is this?" even after his death.
@ribsp What country is this
How 'What Country Is This?' Meme Is Used On TikTok?
It is generally used sarcastically as a parody of people pretending to be Peter Sutherland haunting your comment section. The funny thing is that not everyone joining the trend knows the meme's "tragic" backstory and simply just tags along to make other people even more confused as to why there are thousands of comments and white guys asking "What country is this?"
For example, on January 20th, 2024, TikTok user @vinzetalk posted a screen recording of his For You page on TikTok, showing some of the fake accounts and spam comments (shown below, left). On January 23rd, TikTok user tina.kutumela posted a video (shown below, right) in which she joined the trend by changing her profile picture and spamming people's videos with the phrase, "What country is this?" She also showed some of the replies she got from people who didn't know about the meme.
@vinzetalk What country is this? 😂 #Thisguyisfloodingtheinternet #petersutherland #whatcountryisthis? #meme #laughtrip #comment #foryou #fyp #vinzetalk ♬ Cupid (Twin Ver.) – FIFTY FIFTY
@tina.kutumela #greenscreen #whatcountryisthis? #fypシ #viral ♬ original sound – whatcountryisthis
How Spam Other People's Videos As Peter Sutherland On TikTok?
To become the ghost of Peter Sutherland you just need this selfie of an unknown white man (shown below). Then, change your profile picture on TikTok for the selfie and immediately start spamming the question "What country is this?" in every video you see on your For You page. Have fun!
For the full history of the Peter Sutherland creepypasta, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.
