Today you are more likely to see Bigfoot being "messed with" in a Jack Link's Beef Jerky commercial or in one of the many YouTube Bigfoot parody videos such as those made by ButchyKid624 under No Budget Productions. You might even know of him by first name Harry (from the show Harry and the Hendersons). Either way, you are almost guaranteed to get a laugh.
"Holy sh*t it's Bigfoot!" ButchyKid had some entertaining videos initially, but they have over time degraded significantly. The Jack Link's commercials, on the other hand, really maximize the whole fun nature you can have with the concept at a high budget quality production. Some of their best clips show Sasquatch get teased with Beef Jerky and really messed around with in all sorts of ways, agitating the man-beast to the point where he's pressed to get his revenge on the pranksters in a way only a Legendary Sasquatch can. I checked out their website and found that you can even direct and make your own Sasquatch movie involving a 3D digital animation of Sasquatch. I made "Cups and Sasquatch" and "Sasquatch Refuses to Clean Room".
As for the serious arguments and substantial evidence that is given to support the existence of Bigfoot.. there really isn't any. With all the hundreds, if not thousands of Bigfoot sightings, I have yet to see one specimen or a skeleton. The existence of Bigfoot is seriously discounted by the majority of scientists and considered to be a combination of folklore misidentification, and hoax, rather than a legitimate animal, in part because some estimate large numbers necessary to maintain a breeding population[2]. The most common "evidence" presented are footprint casts, but these can easily be faked as is found in many of the cases.
Perhaps the best and only really intriguing footage I've seen for the possible existence of an unknown creature such as this was in Season 2: Episode 1 of "Destination Truth" hosted by Josh Gates. The team traveled to the Himalayas of Nepal mountain region looking to spot a Yeti (the colder region version of Bigfoot). Using his wit and humor, Josh managed to reach a Buddhist temple where they show what is supposed to be a Yeti scalp. But unfortunately the team was not allowed to take it home for analysis. Previous hair samples taken from that scalp have led to the conclusion by scientists that the samples didn't even come from a scalp but from a coarse-haired hoofed animal [3]. This analysis coupled with the fact that the keepers of the "Yeti scalp" won't permit any thorough scientific examination, makes the whole thing rather suspicious and unconvincing.
The Destination Truth team did manage, however, to find a couple of footprints high in the Himalayas of Nepal while in search of evidence of the Yeti. The prints were cast and analyzed by Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum, a leading evolutionary morphologist. Preliminary data suggests that the footprints are anatomically legitimate and do not belong to a known primate.[4] What troubles me about this however, is that with all their high tech gear, night-vision and thermal heat-sensing cameras, they failed to capture any footage of the creature who supposedly just walked passed them! The "Yeti footprint" is inconclusive at best in proving Bigfoot or the Yeti exist, as there is still lack of scientifically examined physical evidence like a skeleton. I've watched many of the Destination Truth episodes and found that this particular one was, by far their best. Apparently running out of monsters to search for, Josh and his team have resorted to searching for the most unlikely of creatures to exist such as the elusive "Jersey Devil" (Season 3: Episode 12).
One other story of note that shows how far people are willing to go bring Bigfoot to existence took place in 2008. Two men claimed they had discovered the body of a deceased Sasquatch in a forest in northern Georgia which drew much media attention. Soon after a press conference, the alleged Bigfoot body arrived in a block of ice in a freezer with a "Searching for Bigfoot" team. When the contents were thawed, it was discovered that the hair was not real, the head was hollow, and the feet were rubber. Bigfoot searchers subsequently admitted it was a hoax after being confronted by Steve Kulls, executive director of Squatchdetective.com[5].
The bottom line is that, no matter how much people would like Bigfoot to exist, he doesn't. The good news is that we can mess with and have fun with this character all we want, much like Geico messes with the Cavemen. But oh yeah, unlike the mythical Bigfoot they turned out to be still around.
