The Boy With The Idiotic Viral Video
The Boy with the Idiotic Viral Video
Timeline:
12/16/2018: Text from Derek with video
12/17/2018: Derek tweets it
12/20/2018: On Comedy Central FB show “Every Damn Day”
Start of 2019: Becomes “Tik Tok meme”
January 2019: Man and child with door
August 2019: Lady with oven, covered by ABC News on Aug 15
Original tweet stats:
5.8M Views, over 1,000 Comments, 117K Retweets, 311K Likes
On December 16th, 2018, my boyfriend Derek sent me an incredibly stupid video of him at work. It is only 7 seconds long, and involves his arm, a desk, and a file organizer. By moving the file organizer a few inches, he figured out that it utters a pitch. A total of three pitches, to be exact. These three pitches, when “played” in the right order, sounds quite a bit like the main theme in “Yeah!” by Usher ft. Lil Jon. The entire process is incredibly mundane, but the video certainly puts a smile on my face. I told him if he tweets this, he will go viral.
For about a year prior, it was a trend on Twitter that unpopular accounts were getting huge recognition for a single tweet, oftentimes a video. A video of a dog jumping in puddles would be posted by its owner and would get 80K retweets and millions of views. It would be cross-posted to other media sharing sites like Reddit, Facebook, and Instagram, and would even get uploaded to YouTube--all posted by different users who wanted to reap some of the benefits of the popularity. This happened almost daily in my timeline alone. It happens to this day.
Anyway, he tweeted the video on his Twitter account later the next day. It picked up a little attention within hours but it was nothing even remotely “viral.” We went to bed. The next morning, thousands of people had seen and shared it. Hundreds of comments were coming in. Derek responded and “liked” every one for a few days, because at this point it was still a very personal post. All of the comments were positive. People really seemed to enjoy it! Popularity kept growing, and soon, the video reached a million views. He was truly basking in the glory of it all. I saw the video scrolling along some random Instagram accounts. I saw it on every social media site I’m on. It was EVERYWHERE. UNILAD on Facebook made an agreement with Derek too--that they’d post it and he’d get some of the profits, if any. They never ended up posting it.
I only knew one other person who had gone viral--my sister’s best friend Lily was the girl who posted about her “Sad Grandma,” you know, the one who had no one show up to her art show. She made it to Buzzfeed soon enough. Seriously. Just google “Sad Grandma” and you’ll see. Anyway, Derek’s sister Jillian works as a production assistant at Comedy Central in NYC, and was producing a web show called “Every Damn Day” at the time. She was typically behind the scenes, but a few days after Derek tweeted the video, she needed to share it on the show. In the short segment, Jillian was asked how she felt about his new popularity and she stated, “I am very happy for him, but also very, just, shocked, because it is so dumb… I love him, I’m very proud of him, but uh, Twitter, you’re crazy.”
All of the people in his close quarters were just very confused. It is an extremely strange thing to have such superficial popularity in such a short time, and I believe that most of us just really had no idea what to think of it. People were making memes out of it, setting it to music, making their own versions, the list goes on and on. Some of the knock-offs even got more popularity in the coming months than Derek’s original video--this is the part that blew my mind.
At the beginning of 2019, Derek’s audio became a “TikTok meme.” Pardon my ignorance, but the only TiK ToK that I acknowledge and appreciate is by Ke$ha. I also haven’t done much research on the extent of this app or this videos on it. Please don’t make me go there. But from what I have gathered on my skim, the first ripped-audio video that really gained traction was a boy and his father (Grandfather? Father figure?) with an old door. This was all the rage for a while, and people just started believing that this was the true original video.
I can’t even begin to explain correctly how deeply this infuriated me. At first, I was just upset that people were reposting his video without credit. That stung a little. But then, taking the audio and pretending you’re making the sound? Unbelievable! THIS was the one that was on the rise, and LIL JON POSTED IT ON FACEBOOK. He also mentioned it on a podcast by KFC Radio. (Start at 44:40)
The anger inside of me was building by the minute. Totally unprovoked, by the way. I was alone on this ship. Derek just thought it was all very funny, and was honored to have had Lil Jon at least hear his audio. I knew my anger was unreasonable but I just couldn’t stand it! This all happened in December and January, then kind of disappeared for a few months. Good thing too, because I had heard this 7-second clip too many times. Until the most viral of the viral videos happened--Mom with oven.
This was in the Summer of 2019. Don’t let these YouTube numbers fool you! It was HUGE. It was EVERYWHERE. More than Derek’s original video. More than the guy and the kid with the door. It was millions. I still see it casually. It is the worst thing that has ever happened to the human race. It was such big news, that ABC News did an entire segment on it. They interviewed the family involved. I’m very shocked that Ellen didn’t get ahold of it.
Watching that clip, I was just waiting for them to claim that the audio was theirs. That they totally did it on their own. It didn’t happen, and I’m thankful for that, my mental state wouldn’t have been able to deal with it! It was like I was shouting into the void every time this happened. I’m hoping the trend is dead now, that every single person in the world has heard this audio, and that it’s DEAD. You have all KILLED IT. This waking nightmare is OVER.
The worst part is the people who know the audio is ripped, but then point to the wrong video as the source. I’ve corrected people on occasion, but none of it is really worth the trouble. This is just how the Internet works, ya know? Everything is everyone’s and everyone's just clueless. This was my story, but I wanted to get some involved parties’ opinions on the entire thing.
Interview with Derek
Halie: What’s been the best thing about this video becoming viral, and what’s the worst thing?
Derek: The best thing is a two way tie between having been featured on a Comedy Central show TWICE, and knowing that Lil Jon himself has actually heard the audio. Having been a pretty big fan of almost everything Comedy Central since I was but a tot, it was pretty surreal to see something that I created make its way onto one of their programs. However, the fact that Lil Jon himself, a contributor to the original song, heard and acknowledged my stupid dumb audio was kind of a dream come true moment. I'm not going to lie and say I'm his number one fan or anything because I'm certainly not, but the dude is certainly an icon and knowing that we've shared something in this lifetime, no matter how small, is pretty insane.
The worst thing about all this is kind of harder to pin down. My thoughts and feelings on it are kind of ever evolving, but overall I think the biggest bummer of it all was having signed a contract with UNILAD wherein I would be compensated a certain amount should they make any profit off the video...and then they never posted it anywhere! So basically I'm locked into a 5 year contract with them, where if I happen to make any money on MY video, I actually have to pay them out a certain percentage (I will emphasize that this deal works both ways...but still). Quick advice to other potential viral stars: don't bother with any of these big internet reposters like UNILAD, Ladbible, FuckJerry, etc. At the end of the day, your content is going to blow up either way and all those guys want is a slice of the pie even though they've done nothing to earn it.
Halie: Are you upset with all of the knock-offs? Why or why not?
Derek: Again, I'm really conflicted about this. I think my biggest issue with the knock-offs is when they're done shamelessly, and that actually ends up being most of them. I've seen a few decent ones that I think do the original audio justice, but most of them are just pumped out by some TikTok "star" who's just trying to sling some shitty product. I will give it up to the mom who took the audio and pretended her oven was squeaky, embarrassing her daughter...she gets it.
Halie: How much monetary compensation do you believe you deserve?
Derek: I don't think I deserve any per se, I mean all I did was screw around at work and got somewhat famous for doing so. It was really a wonder I didn't get fired for the whole ordeal! What really irks me, again, is the TikTok crowd, Buzzfeed, etc. who are clearly trying to use or repost my content to make their money...like, I did very little, but you did NOTHING!
Halie: Does it feel great or shitty that you helped so many other people go viral?
Derek: It's actually really kind of cool. I think of it less as helping other people go viral, and more of me solidifying my place on the internet. It's kind of amazing to know that something stupid that I came up with in about 10 minutes has been seen millions of times by people all around the world, and that it's still referenced practically on a daily basis. I think the fact that other people "rip it off" is just kind of a sign that the content is good, and yada yada yada something about imitation being the most sincere form of flattery.
Halie: Do you think I’m unreasonably angry about this?
Derek: I have since day one.
Halie: Do you love fame more than you love your family?
Derek: I plead the fifth.
Interview with Jillian
Halie: How does it feel being the sibling of someone who has gone viral?
Jillian: Am I proud? 100%. I love my brother very much. He’s definitely my best friend. Was I jealous? 0%. Because I learned how to make his success MY success. We’re siblings and share blood, we’re practically one. So, whatever great things he achieves, and vice versa, becomes the other siblings’ success. It is important to note though that this only works for positive awards and accolades. Any fuck ups? Yeah, that’s totally on him. There is this thing called FREE WILL. So yes. I am happy that he’s gone viral, because I will always manage to find a way to make it about me.
Halie: Would you give him a job in the entertainment industry based on his incredible artistry regarding musical file organizers? If so, how much would you pay him yearly? Would he get benefits?
Jillian: As someone who works in the entertainment industry, I would definitely hire him. His content went viral overnight somehow, even though he has only a smattering of loyal followers. He averages usually 9 likes, so that is a huge hit. It’s impressive to see this rags to riches on social media spike, so he would definitely be a great asset for drawing in numbers and hitting goals. As for file organizers, we are mostly paperless, but I’m sure he will find something else to make music with.
Once he is hired, I would love to pay him on an intern’s salary just until he proves himself. After that, we would discuss a raise. Artists need to starve to create great content.
As for health coverage, he will have access to Dr. Nick from the Simpsons.
Halie: Are you still the favorite child even after this has happened? Do you think your family cares?
Jillian: I would confidently say so. His fame, while groundbreaking, had the shelf life of a work week...everyone ultimately is excited for the weekend to come around again. I would be the weekend. I am very happy that he got a taste of the support and acknowledgement, but alas, the sun must set sometime.
Interview with Zach
Halie: How much business has Derek brought into the company with his viral video?
Zach: I haven't really seen any. I don't think you can generate much interest from only one piece of viral content. It seems like you need to consistently make things that are viral to get anything out of it. Which is why so many people get stuck in a loop doing tons of stupid crap in hopes that if they do it enough they'll start to be recognized. That's the big mistake most people make. If your content goes viral it changes very little, and it won't go viral if you're forcing it. It's better to just produce consistently good content and hope for the best.
Halie: Is your file organizer equally as talented?
Zach: I'm not gonna lie, if it doesn't start pulling its weight around here I'm going to fire it... out of a cannon... into the sun.
Halie: Have your bosses seen what really goes on in the office?
Zach: They've seen what we've allowed them to see, but they have no idea how deep the rabbit hole really goes.
Halie: Are you proud of your friend? Or is he now seen as an enemy?
Zach: The official status is I'm proud of him. I just hope nothing bad happens to him…workplace accidents DO happen all the time, you know.
Me, feverishly Googling “how to block file organizer music”
Conclusion
Overall, being close to someone who (or, more accurately, their audio) has gone viral can be pretty soul-crushing. For me at least. Everyone one else seems to have a better sense of humor about this. A year later, a year dumber, a year more frustrated with Internet monstrosities. I wish Derek had been interviewed for ABC News, and not those SHAMEFUL POSERS. I sincerely hope that no money was made. That is all.
