The Internet has given us easy access to a wealth of information and the ability to quickly share ideas with the global community. It has also given us videos of dogs riding skateboards, delirious dental patients and thousands of embarrassingly bad teenage singer-songwriters.
As numerous struggling bands and businesses can tell you, making a truly great, and popular, viral video is not easy. Only a small fraction of the videos uploaded to Youtube actually achieve "viral" status. However, these videos managed to stand out above the rest. Here are my choices for the top viral videos of the 2012:
10. "Presenting…Mudd"
No creature on Earth exhibits pure joy quite like a dog. In this case, it's a bulldog named Mudd who loves bouncing on a trampoline. Extra points for the impressive back flip.
9. "Please Move the Deer Crossing"
Proving that not all successful viral videos need to be visual, this sound bite from a Fargo, N.D., radio station features a misguided caller named Donna complaining about the location of "Deer Crossing" signs. "They can direct the deer population anywhere they want to by moving that sign," she moans. "I mean, why in the world would they place it on the highway or the interstate?" Oh, Donna.
8. "Shit Girls Say"
This video technically came out in December 2011, but its popularity blew up in the first part of 2012 and spawned numerous parodies, including "Shit Guys Say," "Shit White Girls Say to Black Girls" and even "Shit Gay Guys Say to Their Cats." As a woman, I almost want to be offended by the stereotyping, but dammit, I do say those things. TWINSIES!!!!
7. "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: Slow Jam the News with Barack Obama"
Even if you don't agree with his politics, you have to admire President Obama's ability to appeal to young voters. In April, he made a surprise visit to "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" where he shed light on proposed changes to student loans in the one of the show's popular "Slow Jam the News" skits. I only wish Obama would have put a little more emotion into the ending "Ohhhhh yeahhhhh."
6. "11-month-old Twins Dancing to Dad's Guitar"
Unlike most people, I'm not easily impressed by babies. In my opinion, a kitten or puppy is almost always cuter than a human baby. However, those adorable sisters managed to melt my ice-cold heart with their joyful dancing. Awwwww…
5. "DollarShaveClub.com"
A lot of businesses these days are trying to create viral videos, but the truth is that most of them suck. Thankfully, this ad for a $1-a-month shaver club does not. I'm pretty sure the owners of this company can buy a lot of shavers with the money they made off of new members (and saved on advertising) after this video went viral.
4. "Catch the Ice Dude"
The premise is simple: A macho dude (in skimpy a European-style swimsuit!) attempts to show off by doing a cannonball into a frozen pool; however, the jump doesn't go as smoothly as he expects. I dare you to watch this video with cringing.
3. "Henri 2, Paw de Deux"
This subtitled, black-and-white video about an existential tuxedo cat won the "Golden Kitty" award for best video at the Walker Art Center's Internet Cat Film Festival back in August (yes, there was a film festival featuring nothing but cat videos, and yes, I attended said film festival). With at least four videos already circulating the web, Henri is one of the biggest stars feline stars on the Internet.
2. "Sesame Street: Share it Maybe"
In the summer of 2012 you couldn't turn on the radio or walk into a mall without hearing Carly Rae Jepsen's pop anthem "Call My Maybe." Youtube is filled with covers and spoofs of her hit, but none of them hold a candle to Cookie Monster singing about his favorite topic. You gotta smile when our favorite sugar-loving Muppet sings about his urge to get some "skim milk flowing" and needing to call the Girl Scouts. "It's hard to look at / your snack, baby / But you got cookie / so share it maybe!"
1. "Gangnam Style"
The top viral video of 2012 was a no-brainer. Rapper Psy's cheesy K-pop music video was the first to reach 1 billion views on Youtube, making it not only the top video of the year, but also the most-watched video of all time. I wasn't particularly impressed the first time I watched it; I didn't quite understand what all the hoopla was about. But like so many others, I couldn't get the song out of my head and soon found myself returning the video again and again to get my fix. Sure, it's not the funniest video or the most sophisticated song, but it is definitely fun. Oppa Gangham Style!
NOTE: This is the last post in my “Best of 2012″ series. If you’re interested, you can also check out my picks for best TV shows, movies and books.
The post Best of 2012: My Top 10 Viral Videos appeared first on How to Get Rid of Things™.
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