Seinfeld actor Patrick Warburton is convinced his character in the show had something to do with the “raw dogging” travel trend.
The bizarre travel trend, which went viral on social media last year, involves plane passengers who opt to sit silently and stare straight ahead on long-haul stints in the sky. The “raw doggers” avoid using all forms of entertainment — like the in-flight screens, their phones, or a book — while on their trip.
Warburton is now declaring that he was at least part of the inspiration for the trend making headlines.
“So this ‘rawdogging’ has become a bit of a thing,” he said in a video posted to his Instagram Monday. “And I feel a bit responsible.” The clip also featured a screenshot of a BuzzFeed article from July about the topic.
Warburton then played a clip from season nine of the ‘90s hit show Seinfeld when his character, David Puddy, was “raw dogging” on a flight with his girlfriend Elaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
“You want something to read?” Elaine asks David as he’s simply staring at the seat in front of him on the flight.
“No, I’m good,” David responds. Elaine continues to read her book before chiming in again and asking: “Are you going to take a nap or …?” David responds: “No.”
“You just gonna sit there staring at the back of the seat?” Elaine asks, and David replies: “Yeah.”
The Instagram video then switched to Warburton making a joke about the scene, adding: “My concern is that somebody’s gonna get hurt, and if you go into this thing blindly, you know what I’m saying.”
“Just not reading, watching something, you better be OK with what’s going on up here, inside your ol’ noggin,” he added, pointing at his head. “I’m not, but it’s weird and entertaining at times. Just be careful. That’s all I’m saying. It’s not for novices.”
The Family Guy star captioned the post: “The ultimate Puddy stare | Try this trend at your own risk!”
In the comments, many fans quipped about his character starting the “raw dogging” trend and what he could have been thinking about on that flight.
“It’s big for the faint of heart. Thank you for blazing the trail good sir,” one wrote.
“I always wondered exactly what sort of inner life Puddy had. It was either really boring or spectacularly fascinating,” another fan commented.
“The OG raw dogger!” a third person wrote.
Last year, the traveling trend drew parallels to Apple TV’s Hijack series. When Sam Nelson’s (portrayed by Idris Elba) seven-hour flight is taken over by the bad guys, he takes a stoic stare-forward approach all the way from Dubai to London.
Other travelers on social media have pointed out that the in-flight map is the one exception to screen time abstinence when “raw dogging” a flight.
Jonny Davies @jdrunsfar posted his personal best after an 11-hour flight “raw dogging the flight map” with the caption: “The only thing to watch whilst flying Virgin Atlantic.”
When “raw dogging” on a light, health experts have warned that you should still be having food and water and moving around on a long flight.
“The whole thing about the risk of long-haul flying is that you’re at risk of dehydration,” Dr. Gill Jenkins told the BBC last year. “If you’re not moving you’re at risk of deep vein thrombosis, which is compounded by dehydration. Not going to the toilet, that’s a bit stupid. If you need the loo, you need the loo.”
