The Observer, February 22, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 18
More must-see viral videos of YouTube.com
From its creation in the beginning of 2005 by former PayPal workers, YouTube has become one of the most-visited internet sites, now hosting more than 72 million videos. Purchased by Google in 2006, it has become more than just a site for watching videos on a computer: many of the videos are now found imbedded on other sites or on people's cell phones, updates about new videos are transmitted via RSS feeds, and individual user pages are almost becoming similar in style to MySpace. Viewing only stills from videos with no descriptions, the "Warp!" feature that has recently been added makes browsing videos even easier. One cannot attempt to list all the best YouTube viral videos, but I managed to name three of my current favorites.
"Powerthirst 2: Re-Domination" from College Humor
"Your thirst will be quenched. What if everything you ever wanted…came…in…a rocket can?!" I'm not really sure what makes this video so appealing. Is it the sheer ridiculousness of the faux energy drink claims and testimonials ("Drink Powerthirst, and you'll win at everything forever!"), or the parody of the more annoying commercials on television? Whatever the reason, my friends and I find ourselves watching this video non-stop, with the sound turned all the way up, memorizing and savoring every single line. I'm watching it as I'm writing this article, and I'll be watching it tomorrow morning. I'll probably even continue to watch it during class. On another note, it's interesting to note that College Humor still uploads videos to YouTube, even when they have a video hosting site of their own.
BeKindMovie user page
Organized as an official promotion for the new film "Be Kind, Rewind," this user page shows one effective way for a movie studio to use YouTube to their advantage, rather then spend time arguing about copyright violations found elsewhere. "Be Kind, Rewind" is about two guys' creative attempts to recreate all the VHS rentals in their video store, after accidentally erasing all of the original copies. The user page for the movie offers trailers for some of the films made by the two lead characters, as well as remakes made by other YouTube frequenters. Often hilarious, the videos clearly show the joy that goes into making viral videos for others' perusal. The director's own recreation of the trailer for his own movie is YouTube genius.
"Conan Fights Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart: The Brawl"
The whole taped fiasco started with Stephen Colbert saying that he created Presidential nominee Mike Huckabee, by giving him the "Colbert bump" after featuring him on his show. Conan retaliated by proving that he, in fact, had created Mike Huckabee. Enter Jon Stewart, who admits to creating everybody. Somehow, Stewart ends up "being" other nominee John McCain. Stewart's inability to keep a straight face during the whole segment proves the ridiculousness of such claims. Thank goodness the writer's strike ended.
Photos courtesy youtube.com.
