Bottom Line: One of the Internet’s oldest memes, Star Wars Kid is also a prime example of how leaked footage, Kazaa and bad luck can transform into an Internet sensation.

On November 4, 2002 the student made a video of himself swinging a golf ball retriever around as a weapon. The video was filmed at his high school studio, and the tape left in a basement. Inadvertently, he taped it over a portion of a basketball game (as seen extremely briefly at the end of the clip). The original owner of the videotape discovered it and immediately shared it with friends. Thinking that it would be a funny prank, one of them encoded it to a WMV file and published it over the Kazaa peer-to-peer file sharing network. It was also hosted on a personal website. Within two weeks, the file had been downloaded several million times. An adapted version of the video was created, adding Star Wars music, texts, and lightsaber lights and sounds to his golf ball retriever. As of November 27, 2006 it was estimated by The Viral Factory that the videos had been viewed over 900 million times, making it the most popular “viral video” on the Internet.

Meme Anatomy: Embarrassment, Kids, Pop Culture, WTF

Urban Dictionary

An overweight Star Wars fan from Quebec. He taped himself pretending to fight a lightsaber battle (every time I try to see it I’m redirected grrr) which is supposed to be so bad it’s funny. Some of his “friends” uploaded the video to the net. Soon 5 million people saw him. Oh dear.

[Link]

Other Sources

Videos: Star Wars Kid

Pictures: Star Wars Kid

Meme Strength

Video Search Results: 10,300 – 4
Photo Search Results: 31,000 – 4
Search Volume: 2,240,000 – 4
Blog Search Results: 67,607 – 3.5
News Search Results: 661 – 3.5

Overall Rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: Combine a song originally written by Moldovan band O-zone with a webcam video of a kid grooving out to it and you have one of the oldest and most well known memes to grace the tubes. Numa Numa proves that the Internet loves nothing more than slightly off-base music performed by people who should probably never be performing music.

Numa Numa is an Internet phenomenon based on amateur videos, most notably Numa Numa Dance by Gary Brolsma, made for the song “Dragostea din tei” as performed by the CDM Project. Brolsma’s video, released in December 2004 onto the website Newgrounds.com, was the first Numa Numa-themed video to gain widespread attention. Less than three months after the release, it had been viewed more than two million times on the debut website alone. Numa Numa Dance has since spawned many parody videos, including those created for the “New Numa Contest”, sponsored by Brolsma, which promised US$45,000 in prize money for submissions. His original video was named 41st in the 2006 broadcast of 100 Greatest Funny Moments by Channel 4 in the UK.

Meme Anatomy: Embarrassment, Vaguely Foreign, Musical, Iconic Catchphrase

Urban Dictionary

A flash video submitted to newgrounds on december 6th, 2004. it scored relatively low, until site owner tom fulp put it on the front page. it then achieved major success as a hilarious flash video, and although it gained this success too late to win any awards, it still gained a score higher than 4.10 since december it has achieved more than a million views. it has been featured on vh1, cnn, and stolen from newgrounds by at least 80 other websites. and this is only after 2 months (this definition was written on 2/13/05). it is a flash phenomenon sure to beat out all your base.

[Link]

Other Sources

Videos: Numa Numa

Pictures: Numa Numa

Meme Strength

Video Search Results: 160,000 – 5
Photo Search Results: 242,000 – 5
Search Volume: 386,000 – 3
Blog Search Results: 21,078 – 3
News Search Results: 8 – 1.5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: Miss Teen South Carolina is a classic embarrassment meme with its basis in television. It has gone down in history as one of the most memorable quotations of 2007 and goes to prove that whenever you combine live television and semi-coherent ramblings a meme is on the horizon.

As part of a question and answer portion of the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant, Upton was asked by the questioner, Friday Night Lights actress Aimee Teegarden, “Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can’t locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is so?”

Upton responded:

I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some, people out there in our nation don’t have maps and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as, uh, South Africa and, uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and, I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, or, uh, should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future, for our . . . .

According to YouTube, video clips of her response on the website have had over 40 million views. It was the site’s most viewed video for the month of September 2007. Many YouTube users made their own parodies of the incident. The Yale Book of Quotations designated the response the second most memorable quote of 2007.

[Link]

Meme Anatomy: Pop Culture, Embarrassment

Urban Dictionary

A title associated with Lauren Caitlin Upton, Miss South Carolina in the Miss Teen USA Pageant 2007, made famous by her answer to the following question asked by Amiee Teegarden:

“Recent polls have shown a fifth of American’s can’t locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?”

Other Sources

Videos: Miss Teen South Carolina

Pictures: Miss Teen South Carolina

Meme Strength

Video Search Results: 4,320 – 3
Photo Search Results: 17,400 – 4
Search Volume: 63,900 – 2.5
Blog Search Results: 7,660 – 2.5
News Search Results: 250 – 3

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: Like LOLCats before it, FAIL is a meta-meme. The formula is simple, take something embarrassing (preferably violent) and slap the words FAIL on it. FAIL also has the advantage of finding its way into the vernacular along with its kissing cousin Epic FAIL.

“Fail” is the name of a popular Internet meme where users superimpose a caption, often the word “fail” or “epic fail,” onto photos or short videos depicting unsuccessful events or people falling short of expectations. In July 2003, a contributor to Urban Dictionary wrote that the term, “fail,” could be used as an interjection, “when one disapproves of something,” citing the example: “You actually bought that? FAIL.” This most likely originated as a shortened form of “You fail” or, more fully, “You fail it,” the taunting “game over” message in the late 1990s Japanese video game Blazing Star, notorious for its fractured English.

[Link]

Meme Anatomy: Iconic Catchphrase, Embarrassment, WTF

Urban Dictionary

Either an interjection used when one disapproves of something, or a verb meaning approximately the same thing as the slang form of suck.

Other Sources

Videos: Fail

Pictures: Fail

Meme Strength

Video Search Results: 748,000 – 5
Photo Search Results: 537 – 2.5
Search Volume: 12,100,000 – 5
Blog Search Results: 27,354 – 3
News Search Results: 17 – 2

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: Edgar’s Fall is a meme that plays on the fact that the Internet loves to see people hurt themselves, especially if those people need subtitles.

The video features a young Mexican kid named Edgar and his cousin Fernando hiking in a ranch near their home town of Monterrey. The video starts with Edgar being afraid of trying to cross a small stream using two long branches as a bridge. Soon after Edgar starts crossing, Fernando starts moving one of the branches, making Edgar curse angrily with a Mexican “norteño” (northern) accent until he finally loses his balance, plunges into the stream and curses even more as he emerges from the water.

Edgar’s fall was the subject of much media exposure in México which included newspapers and the clip being shown on the TV news.

There are ringtones, games, parodies, remixes and even a web page where Edgar is proposed for Mexico’s presidency. There are over 20 versions of the video including Star Wars, Mario Bros, Street Fighter, and Pokémon. Some publicity campaigns have made use of the video without worries of copyright issues, for example Nike’s Joga Bonito campaign. Edgar has also gained other media exposure, appearing on TV shows and in newspapers.

Meme Anatomy: Vaguely Foreign, Embarrassment, Overreactions, Leaked, Kids

Other Sources

Videos: Edgar’s Fall

Pictures: Edgar’s Fall

Meme Strength

Video Search Results: 1,400 – 3
Photo Search Results: 392 – 2
Search Volume: 129,000 – 3
Blog Search Results: 88 – 1
News Search Results: 0 – 1

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: Leave Britney Alone is a vintage embarrassment / overreaction meme that features everyone’s favorite YouTube personality Chris Crocker. If a tearful rant about a celebrity wasn’t enough to get this one on everyone’s lips he managed to do it right at the height of Miss Spears less than ideal return to the public spotlight.

Crocker is best known for his Britney Spears videos, posted to YouTube in September 2007. The first part of the infamous work though was posted September 9, 2007 called “Leave Britney Alone pt.1″ to his MySpace page, while the better-known “LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!” (part 2) was posted to both MySpace and YouTube. In “Leave Britney Alone pt.1″, an emotional Crocker stated that he did not want fellow Southerner and gay icon Britney Spears to spiral out of control like Anna Nicole Smith, who had died in February 2007. As of January 2009[update], the video has been viewed over 3.5 million times and has accumulated a total of nearly 500,000 comments. It is just a few seconds shorter than the second part, and Crocker, although emotional, remains relatively calm and composed, becoming teary only at the very end.
Screen capture showing an upset Chris Crocker from his LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE! video.

In the videos, Crocker lashes out at gossip columnists such as Perez Hilton, and at reality TV star Simon Cowell, who criticized Britney Spears’ onstage music performance at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas. Within the first 24 hours of its posting, the video had accumulated over 2 million views. As of January 2009[update], it has accumulated a total of 24 million views and is the second most discussed video of all time on the site (in all categories), with over 350,000 comments. “LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!” is one of YouTube’s fastest “climbing” videos, reaching the minimum seven million views needed (as of September 2007[update]) to be included in the “Top 100″. The video was nominated in the Commentary category in the 2007 YouTube Awards. The video received worldwide attention and earned Crocker interviews on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, The Today Show, Maury, The Howard Stern Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS-FM morning show. Crocker and his video were also commented on in the mainstream media by shows like The View and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. YouTube said “the melodramatic two-minute clip made Crocker an instant YouTube star” and named it one of the top videos of 2007. Wired magazine named it the top video of 2007.

Meme Anatomy: Iconic Catchphrase, Celebrity, Embarrassment, WTF

Urban Dictionary

An exclamation made when your friends or family are teasing you to a point where you can’t handle it anymore and a hissy fit is in order.

Derived from a YouTube user’s famed outburst following Britney’s lackluster performance at the 2007 VMA’s.

Other Sources

Videos: Leave Britney Alone

Pictures: Leave Britney Alone

Meme Strength

Video Search Results: 9,350 – 4
Photo Search Results: 39,500 – 4
Search Volume: 259,000 – 3
Blog Search Results: 23,299 – 3
News Search Results: 487 – 3.5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: One of the godfather’s of Internet memes, Chocolate Rain combines our love of musical comedy with our unceasing desire to share awkward human tricks.

“Chocolate Rain” is a song and music video written and performed by Tay Zonday, a singer and songwriter.

After being posted on YouTube on April 22, 2007, the song quickly became popular. By 2009 the video had over 40 million views. The music video portrays a bespectacled Zonday in a recording studio wearing a white T-shirt and singing into a condenser microphone. Occasional cutbacks to Zonday playing a digital piano are also shown. The video is also famous for a caption displayed early in the video “**I move away from the mic to breathe in,” which has been parodied many times. The song, and its writer/performer, attracted major media attention.

“Chocolate Rain” is ranked as the hottest viral video of Summer 2007 by CTV.ca and as the number 2 viral video in the world by utalkmarketing.com. It was the winner in the Music category in the 2007 YouTube Awards.

Meme Anatomy: Musical, Iconic Catchphrase, Embarrassment

Urban Dictionary

“Chocolate Rain” is a euphemism for racism created by Tay Zonday in his hit YouTube song “Chocolate Rain”.

Chocolate Rain

The school books say it can’t be here again

Chocolate Rain

The prisons make you wonder where it went

Other Sources

Videos: Chocolate Rain

Pictures: Chocolate Rain

Meme Strength

Video Search Results: 73,800 – 4.5
Photo Search Results: 22,200 – 4
Search Volume: 946,000 – 4
Blog Search Results: 37,812 – 3
News Search Results: 545 – 3.5

Overall Rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: Epic levels of ego backfiring has always been fertile ground for memes, that’s why celebrity faux pas always seem to do so well. Impossible Is Nothing shows that you don’t have to be rich or famous to get your self-love thrown back in your face. The low numbers you see may be the result of Aleksey’s rather significant attempts to wipe himself off the face of the Internet.

The self-aggrandizing video resume of a Yale Student, Aleksey Vayner, to the wealth management company UBS. It almost seems designed for the internet, complete with a ballroom dancing scene and a rambling staged interview. The video spread across the web and led to threats of legal action against UBS, YouTube and a number of other entities by Vayner.

Mr. Vayner seems to have scrubbed his video from the Internet, unfortunately that means we can only show you this spoof that pretty accurately parodies the incident. If you have a link to a working copy of the video, leave it in the comments.

Meme Anatomy: Embarrassment, Leaked

Other Sources

Videos: Impossible Is Nothing

Pictures: Impossible Is Nothing

Meme Strength

Video Search Results: 41 – 1
Photo Search Results: 677 – 2.5
Search Volume: 4,150 – 1
Blog Search Results: 431 – 1
News Search Results: 61 – 3

Overall Rating: 1.7 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line: The Internet loves a good catchphrase, especially when it is mixed in with a healthy dose of embarrassment. Boom Goes The Dynamite has all of the authenticity of found footage combined with the joy of watching someone publicly lose face. Add to that the fact that it was on local television and a meme is born.

Brian Collins, a college sports anchor, fumbles his way through a highlight reel. Most of the video is incoherent except, of course, for the now famous catch-phrase. Internet celebrity followed close at its heels.

Meme Anatomy: Embarrassment, Iconic Catchphrase

Urban Dictionary

Phrase coined by a Ball State news anchor during what was to become the worst sports broadcast ever performed. Attempting to be like the guys on Sports Center, this ridiculous phrase constituted the only semi-coherent words spoken throughout the broadcast, indicating to the general public that his entire session was centered around this laughable quip.

Other Sources

Videos: Boom Goes The Dynamite

Pictures: Boom Goes The Dynamite

Meme Strength

Video Search Results: 565 – 2.5
Photo Search Results: 14,200 – 4
Search Volume: 82,500 – 2.5
Blog Search Results: 13,200 – 3
News Search Results: 132 – 4

Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 5 stars