Warning: YouTube prank spoiler here. If you haven’t spent some time on YouTube’s homepage today, stop reading immediately.
If you have been there, you might have noticed that each of the attractive thumbnails take you to the same video. Rick Astley’s supah cheesy “Never Gonna Give You Up.” You’ve been “rickrolled.”
My hats off to the person that sold this internally. I’ve watched this video recently, and I’m quite sure I didn’t find it on my own. I wish I could remember where I found it. According to Wikipedia, Around the year 2007, posting mislabeled links to the video on the Internet became popular, in a prank known as “rickrolling.”
I can just hear the discussion at a YouTube “April’s Fool Brainstorming” meeting last week in San Bruno.
- The prankster: So here’s my big idea. All these captivating homepage thumbnails, but every click goes to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
- Stephen Chen: Who? Who’s Ricky Ashley?
- Prankster: A 1980s star. When were you bor… never mind.
- Editorial: That would give Astley an unfair advantage above other 1980s musicians trying to lift themselves out of oblivian. Like Weird Al. Then again, he’s big on Revver.
- Tall, Balding Advertising Guy: It would give him millions and millions of views. Would we charge his agent a CPM or “per click”?
- Community Lady: Who invited the bald guy with the bad breath? Anyway, I’m not sure people will get it. And they may get annoyed.
- Advertising Guy: Wait, Goth Lady- can we host the video and take 100% of the advertising revenue? Like we’d just post it on a “house” partner’s account?
- Stephen Chen: I don’t know. I’d rather go back to the original idea of putting the logo upside down. That smacks of comedic brilliance.
- Mark Day: Righto, Stephen! That’s hysterical. Upside down logo.
LOLLOLLLOLLLL. I can hear them now: “hey, is my computer upside down?” Can I walk you to your car. Mr. Chen? It looks like it’s raining again. - Stephen Chen: Yes, Smithers. Then it’s settled (he says dismissively, before leaving conference room with Mark Day by side).
- Technical Guy: I liked your idea.
- Prankster: Sighs. Well it would have been funny.
- Technical Guy: Correction- it will be funny.
- Prankster: Won’t Stephen get pissed?
- Technical Guy: Nope. He hasn’t visited YouTube in 11 weeks. He’ll never know.
- Stephen Chen (voice audible from hallway): Mark, I’d just assume you wait out here while I pee. I’m not sure I want the world knowing I drop my pants and undies below my knees when using the urinal.
“Community Lady: Who invited the bald guy with the bad breath? Anyway, I’m not sure people will get it. And they may get annoyed.”
OMG – As a former Community Lady, I must say you have this pegged. Were you in on our meetings? Can I TELL you how many times those words came out of my mouth? Ha!
Talia- think Mia or Micky Krimmel or Felicia or BigJoe would be so brave to admit that?!
This brings back bad memories of when I was first Rickrolled.
But I was Duckrolled before I was Rickrolled, and that sucked too.
LOL this is so realistic, love the bald guy with the bad breath
” Would we charge his agent a CPM or “per click”? ” lol again
“I can hear them now: “hey, is my computer upside down?” hihihi
lol
Why not? I was referring to the bald guy comment. 🙂
Glad you posted this. i never watch featured videos as a protest against youtube’s failure to feature me, so I never would have seen the joke.
and I never heard of rickrolled before. Obviously, I’m behind the curve.
I clicked the Hotforwords one…
That says a lot about Reubnick, right there.
You can no more pass “hotforwords” without clicking than drive by an accident scene without straining the neck. BTW, Sukatra… I heard the editorial group is monitoring the homepage views, and have observed that they’re exactly one view behind projections. Mia will be calling.
Ha ha ha nalts. I’m glad my neuroses can serve as fodder for your jokes. Really I am. I mean, it’s the least I owe you, since your neuroses have been giving me oodles of fun for the last year and a half.
That’s right, I said it. Oodles.
I’ve had this video in my weird like funny guts page for a while and didn’t realize how much this guy reminds me of sxephil till now.
Youtube features videos!?
So my son sends it to me and I am watching it. I then write to him and tellhim I don’t get it. I like it. I actually bought his album. I alos like the video.Not great, but not a train wreck. What’s the punch line?
He replies:
“what is so funny?”
“interesting question because the song was incredibly gay. the song was so gay in fact that gay people the world round listened to it and went, “well hot damn, that is reaalllly gay.”
the video was even gayer. perhaps you need to watch it again and try to get it to stop playing which is what the rest of the world would do if I sent that link to them and what I tried to do when that asshole nate rohulich sent it to me. you too, should have at least made the attempt. seriously. you really should have at least tried. I it is so lame and gay at the same time that even really lame gay guys are going “damn, that is lame and gay.”
you bought the album. you know it. i know it. your other son and daughter have probably allowed their brains to push that memory deep into their subconscious but, i think it’s best at this point that we pretend you never bought this album.”
I still don’t get it. JW