These wild trends grabbed our attention and refused to let go. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the strangest pictures, videos and trends that took the internet by storm and spread like wildfire.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00All over the internet, the dress, and nobody could agree, is this black or blue, or white and gold?
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the strangest pictures,
00:13videos, and trends that took the internet by storm and spread like wildfire.
00:21Number 20. Keyboard Cat.
00:23Since the dawn of the internet, cat videos have consistently left people deeply fascinated.
00:28Sometimes, they don't even need to feature real cats before they go viral,
00:31like in the case of the Nyan Cat.
00:38But when actual felines are involved, they're practically guaranteed to become instant
00:42internet sensations. Just ask Charlie Schmidt, who, in 2007, uploaded an old video of his cat,
00:48Fatso, playing the keyboard.
00:50Although Fatso had sadly passed away long before the clip hit the internet,
00:54it became immensely popular after a website began using it in so-called epic fail montages.
00:59Fatso may be gone, but he'll forever live on in our hearts, and our screens.
01:04Number 19. Numa Numa.
01:06Sometimes, all it takes to become a global phenomenon are your face,
01:09a pair of shoulders, and some wildly flailing arms.
01:12Shortly before YouTube debuted and revolutionized online gaming,
01:15an unknown vlogger named Gary Brozma uploaded a homemade clip to the website Newgrounds.
01:28In it, Brozma lip-synced to Dragoste Din Tei by Moldovan pop group Ozone,
01:33chanting the now-famous lyrics, Numa Numa, and waving his arms around.
01:37And just like that, one of the internet's most-watched videos was born.
01:40The Numa Numa video was the first ever to be released on YouTube,
01:45and it has since racked up a staggering 700 million views across all platforms
01:50and landed Brozma on TV.
02:01Nearly two decades later, he was kind enough to treat us to a nostalgic update.
02:05Number 18. Cash Me Outside, How About That?
02:08It's hard to wrap your head around why the internet clings to certain things,
02:11but it just does.
02:13Danielle Bregoli, or Bad Baby, was merely a teenager when she appeared on Dr. Phil in
02:18September 2016 in a segment about unruly kids. Apparently, she had made her mother's life
02:33miserable, and after the audience laughed at her, she fired back, daring them to meet her outside.
02:38But the way she said it, with that exaggerated accent, turned a simple threat into viral gold.
02:48Soon enough, song remixes of the phrase popped up. Bregoli landed a reality show and even
02:53launched a brief music career. We can only wonder if any audience member actually met her outside.
02:58Number 17. Instagram Egg
03:00If someone told you an Instagram post dethroned Kylie Jenner to become the most-liked picture,
03:06you'd probably think a new reality TV star had emerged. And you'd be right. Well, almost.
03:20In this case, that star happened to be an egg. Yep, just a picture of a speckled brown egg.
03:26In January 2019, the account, at world underscore record underscore egg, posted the photo, hoping
03:32to beat Kylie Jenner's 18.4 million likes on a picture of her daughter, Stormi. Within just 10
03:37days, the egg cracked the record and ultimately became the most-liked online picture across all
03:42platforms. Although it has since been unseated from the top, you can't deny it was a pretty
03:53egg-cellent achievement. Number 16. Chewbacca Mask Lady
03:57If anyone won the internet in 2016, it was definitely Candace Payne. Or,
04:02as she became known around the world, the Chewbacca Mask Lady.
04:18On May 19th, Payne casually posted a video of herself on Facebook,
04:22showing off a Chewbacca mask from Star Wars. Little did she know
04:26that it would send the internet into a frenzy. In the clip, Payne bursts into uncontrollable laughter
04:31as the mask makes its signature sound effects. Strange as it was, her pure joy resonated with
04:36many — and by many, we mean over 140 million views — on Facebook alone.
04:48The viral sensation not only landed her a gig with the TLC,
04:51but also $400,000 worth of scholarships from Southeastern University.
04:57Number 15. Darwin the Ikea Monkey
04:59It's not every day you encounter a dapper monkey while furniture shopping at Ikea,
05:03but that's exactly what greeted shoppers at a Toronto store in December 2012.
05:08A male Japanese macaque named Darwin had wandered from his owner's car and gotten lost.
05:22What really turned heads, though, was Darwin's stylish shearling coat and diaper ensemble.
05:29Before long, pictures and clips of the monkey had gone viral, with everyone from talk show
05:33hosts to fashion critics weighing in on his unique look. As these posts spread,
05:37it emerged that Darwin was an exotic pet and owning him was illegal. As a result,
05:42he was surrendered to an animal sanctuary where he still resides,
05:44probably plotting his next fashion statement.
05:46He's doing all kinds of monkey things, like just hanging out, eating grass,
05:53foraging in the ground for bugs and insects.
05:56Number 14. The Trollolo Man
05:59This clip proves that the internet doesn't need to understand something to be utterly obsessed
06:03with it. Originally shot in 1976, it features Russian baritone singer Edward Hill vocalizing
06:09his way through a song without any real lyrics. The only recognizable word was Trollolo,
06:23which became the video's unofficial title. In a classic case of better late than ever,
06:27Hill became a global sensation decades later after the clip landed on YouTube in 2009.
06:32His wild gesticulations and frozen smile captivated netizens, helping the video go viral.
06:37The annoyingly catchy melody of the tune certainly didn't hurt either. The clip's
06:41resurgence reignited Hill's career, leading to a comeback performance in 2011, which also went viral.
06:51Number 13. Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife
06:54A news story involving attempted sexual assault should be taken seriously,
06:57but no one could stop laughing when they watched an Alabama news station interview with Antoine
07:02Dodson. Dodson, who was recounting the story of an intruder breaking into his home and attacking
07:09his sister as she lay in her bed, became an instant internet celebrity. People thoroughly
07:14enjoyed his dramatic rage, and the phrase, Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife, was suddenly everywhere.
07:19The video was such a huge hit, it became a viral autotuned song, similar to the
07:24Ain't Nobody Got Time For That sensation. Still, the original news story is the one
07:28the masses got hooked on, giving Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife millions of views ever since.
07:39Number 12. Toronto Raccoon
07:41Normally, when a person sees a dead raccoon on the street, they get grossed out. But this
07:45wasn't the case for the citizens of Toronto. The dead raccoon quickly became known as Conrad.
07:52While caring Torontonians erected a memorial with flowers and candles by his remains,
07:57a vigil was held for the fallen furry friend, and thousands tweeted to pay their respects.
08:01The raccoon was there for 12 hours before it was picked up by pest control, with a slow response
08:05upsetting many folks. Even then, Toronto Councillor Norm Kelly tweeted in sympathy of Conrad's short
08:11life. Who knew that a dead raccoon on a city sidewalk could bring so many people together?
08:25Number 11. Damn Daniel
08:27Snapchat gags between high schoolers are an everyday occurrence, but for Daniel and Josh,
08:31theirs became a huge viral video. Josh started posting snaps of his buddy Daniel every day,
08:36and saying, Damn Daniel, or sometimes, Damn Daniel, back at it again with the white man.
08:44That was it. The snaps caught on, so the boys decided to post a video compilation to Twitter
08:48and Vine, which quickly became a YouTube sensation, receiving over 45 million views in a week,
08:54spawning memes and parody videos. What was it about these boys that captured our hearts?
08:58Was it Josh's voice? Daniel's dapper good looks? Or is Damn Daniel just a fun thing to say?
09:03We don't know, but you're still laughing.
09:06Number 10. Leave Britney Alone
09:09In 2007, celebrity stan wars weren't quite as vicious as they are today.
09:13But back then, one Britney Spears fan decided she had had enough after the pop star's VMA
09:28performance faced relentless criticism. Kara Cunningham sat in front of a camera
09:32and tearfully begged the media and the public to leave Britney alone. Her intentions were good,
09:38especially with Anna Nicole Smith's recent overdose, but the internet wasn't feeling
09:41the same compassion. They mocked Cunningham and re-shared the video until it hit over 2
09:46million views in just one day. However, years later, with the rise of the hashtag
09:51Free Britney movement, Cunningham's once-ridiculed plea became a rallying cry for the singer's
09:55liberation. I don't think it was ever really about me or, you know, it's not that I feel
10:03vindicated or anything. I'm just happy that the conversation seems to be going to a place where
10:09people are wondering why they didn't listen to me in that video.
10:13Number 9. Left Shark
10:15Every detail of the Super Bowl halftime show is closely watched. Just ask Janet Jackson. So when
10:19Katy Perry performed at the 2015 Super Bowl, fans everywhere couldn't help but notice that
10:24the dancing shark on her left side seemed to be dancing to the beat of a different drummer.
10:28Memes broke out almost instantly, as people mocked the shark's awkward freestyle,
10:33because who doesn't love a freestyling shark? The man behind the costume was Katy Perry's
10:37longtime backup dancer, Brian Gaw, and according to Perry's team, all of the
10:41Left Shark's dance moves were intentional. I think all the people were saying that I was
10:45drunk at the time, which is definitely not the case. Although, considering how subtle the shark's
10:50off-tempo moves were, it's hard to deny that the shark was drunk.
10:55Number 8. I Like Turtles
10:57Kids say the darndest things. Well, at least Jonathan Ware, the zombie kid who likes turtles,
11:02does. When a news reporter interviewed Jonathan about what he thought of his zombie-painted face,
11:06the boy replied with a straight-faced non-sequitur,
11:08I like turtles.
11:10Nothing more, just I like turtles. Maybe we love the sheer randomness of his answer,
11:14or perhaps it was the awkwardness of the reporter who didn't know what to ask as a follow-up question
11:18and just walked away. I don't know.
11:21But fear not. The internet knew how to respond to Jonathan,
11:24with memes about turtles and video parodies breaking out everywhere.
11:28Number 7. What Are Those?
11:30Oddly enough, this is the second entry on our list that involves someone freaking out
11:34over a pair of shoes. In this short video, Instagram user Brandon Moore asked a police officer,
11:39What are those?
11:41Well, probably because he was so drunk, he didn't know what to say.
11:45Instagram user Brandon Moore asked a police officer,
11:47What are those?
11:50while pointing the camera to the officer's shoes. The video was quickly reposted onto Vine,
11:54and within a few weeks, it had received over 200,000 views and had numerous parodies.
11:59What are these?
11:59The real question is, what are those?
12:03The phrase, what are those, quickly became an urban dictionary term meaning someone without
12:07shoe game. What is it about this video that made us laugh so much? Was it the fact that he was
12:12mocking a police officer's footwear? Whatever it was, the world loved it.
12:16Number 6. PPAP. Pen Pineapple Apple Pen.
12:20What do you get when you combine a pen, an apple, and a pineapple?
12:24That's right, a pen pineapple apple pen.
12:34That may make no sense whatsoever, but that's exactly what catapulted this clip into the
12:38stratosphere of online virality. Japanese comedian Daiohmao Kosaka knew what he was
12:44doing when he created his 2016 hit, PPAP, Pen Pineapple Apple Pen. He wanted to go viral,
12:50and that's exactly what he did. With its infectious beat and nonsensical lyrics,
12:54it was destined to become an internet sensation.
13:03The clip has since drawn over 400 million views on YouTube,
13:06bringing laugher to some and driving others to the brink of insanity.
13:10Number 5. Deez Nuts. What's so funny about this video clip?
13:18The video's sensation with over 29 million views is a brief phone conversation between two guys.
13:23That's it. So what made this so funny? Are we laughing with him or at him? Are we enjoying
13:28this guy's supreme confidence at nailing such a lame joke, or his sincerity at enjoying such a
13:33lame joke? We may never know. Perhaps some questions are best left unanswered. According
13:37to Urban Dictionary, Deez Nuts is something you say to annoy or frustrate. Apparently,
13:51it's also something you say to make people laugh and watch your video over and over again.
13:56Number 4. Alex from Target. People love looking at pictures of good-looking people. That's why
14:01we have models. Alex was a teenage boy working a Target checkout counter in Texas when a teenage
14:06girl found him attractive, took a picture of him, and posted it on Twitter. Another girl saw the
14:21photo and posted it on Tumblr. That's pretty much all it took for girls everywhere to fall in love
14:26with Alex from Target. Alex went from having 144 Twitter followers to over 30,000 in just 24 hours.
14:33Other people have become famous for their appearance, such as the ridiculously photogenic
14:37guy, but he was in the middle of a race. Alex was just a guy doing his job, and maybe that's what
14:41makes his story special. Number 3. Pizza Rat. In New York City, pizza and subway rats are famous,
14:50so we guess it's no surprise that the New York Pizza Rat video became an instant viral hit.
14:56It spawned memes, a popular Halloween costume, and over 10 million views on YouTube. Some would say
15:14the pizza rat became a symbol of what it takes to make it in New York City. People admired the rat's
15:19resourcefulness and persistence, dragging a slice of pizza twice as big as himself down the subway
15:24stairs in the wee hours of the night. However, others argued that it also showcased just how
15:41gross the New York subway system is. Either way, people cared. Number 2. Baby Shark. Children's
15:47songs are designed to entertain and sometimes educate the little ones, mostly to keep them
15:51from causing chaos. And that's how Baby Shark came to be. However, while the song has helped
16:03to placate a lot of kids, for many others around the world, it has become an absolute pain in the
16:08ear. The song possesses endlessly repetitive lyrics that are impossible to forget, whether
16:13or not you even speak English. As a result, it's traversed the globe, charting in several countries
16:18and racking up over 15 billion views. Now, it's not just your least favorite earworm,
16:31it also holds the title as the most viewed YouTube video of all time.
16:48Number 1. The Dress. It all started when a girl posted a photo of a dress on Tumblr
16:55and asked what color it was. Oddly, it only took a few hours for practically everyone
17:00in the world to have an opinion. At one point, the dress was so big, it was receiving 11,000
17:10tweets per minute, with half the world believing the dress was blue and black, and the other half
17:15believing it was white and gold. Office productivity dropped, families were torn apart,
17:19and tempers were seriously tested, we assume. No one could understand how any of it was possible.
17:25Even though the dress had been proven to be blue and black, you can still find people arguing over
17:29it. What weird post do you think should have gone viral but didn't? Let us know in the comments
17:38below. Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,
17:49and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.