On September 3rd of 2013 the comedy skit turned viral sensation “What does the fox say” was uploaded to YouTube. The song, created by the Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis, quickly attracted attention from all over the world and passed a hundred million views a mere month later (Fryen). Although intended to be nothing more than an advertisement for a talk show, the song caused a pandemonium on television and computer screens worldwide as the clip was continuously shared, recreated and turned into merchandise.
According to Ylvis themselves, the song was created with the intention to fail, and therefore the success came as a tremendous surprise (Highfill). The duo had released several similar projects in the past, yet “What does the fox say” surpassed their previously most popular song by over 750 million views. Out of the multiple songs uploaded to their YouTube channel, why did this one receive the reaction that it did? It was a humorous media project intended to be sticky, to engage with their, arguably small, audience and to later make them return to watch their talk show. The unexpectant, silly and somewhat unique comedic elements of the video indeed turned out to hold a considerable amount of stickiness, and managed to attract and to keep the viewers attention. However, as the public became involved with the sharing of the clip, it also proved itself to have various spreadable qualities.
Through the efforts of millions of viewers spreading the video via multiple platforms, “What does the fox say” ended up on everyone’s lips. “Spreadability seeks to motivate and facilitate the efforts of fans and enthusiasts to “spread” the word”, Henry Jenkins explains on his website. Most of the marketing of “What does the fox say” was done through audience participation, as millions of people decided the clip was worth sharing with their friends and family. The video is light-hearted, humorous and most importantly, catchy. These are qualities repeatedly found in spreadable media found appealing by large audiences. It is also important to note that the video was uploaded to YouTube, a breeding ground for viral videos. By the click of a button, the video could be shared to hundreds of ones “closest” social media friends. It’s accessibility and universal sense of humor resulted in the video eventually reaching 780 million views.
To conclude, though the video was intended to “stick” to a much smaller, loyal audience, public participation and choice of platform helped “What does the fox say” spread across the world of media like a plague.
Citations:
Fryen, Stian. “‘The Fox’ Har Passert 100 Millioner Visninger.” Dagbladet, 9 Oct. 2013, www.dagbladet.no/kultur/the-fox-har-passert-100-millioner-visninger/62243341.
Highfill, Samantha. “Meet Ylvis, the Comedic Brothers behind ‘What Does the Fox Say?’.” EW.com, 14 Oct. 2013, ew.com/article/2013/10/14/ylvis-what-does-the-fox-say/.
Jenkins, Henry. If It Doesn’t Spread, It’s Dead (Part Two): Sticky and Spreadable — Two Paradigms. 13 Feb. 2009, henryjenkins.org/blog/2009/02/if_it_doesnt_spread_its_dead_p_1.html.