From the internet meme vault, “Leprechaun in Mobile, Alabama” is sure to be just the right kick-off to your St. Patties festivities.  A staff favourite,  @d1337 (as well as others in the @memelabs office) perform the impersonation very well.  In fact, “Where da gold at?” was our unofficial slogan during the Vancouver, Olympics.

Viral Video stats (from YouTube):
- 13,224,500 views
- 19,644 ratings
- Adding comments has been disabled for this video
- First referral from – youshouldhaveseenthis.com
- Uploaded by: botmib
- Date: March 17, 2006
- Description: Leprechaun in Crichton.

A monument to the viral nature of this video is the “I want the gold” remix, which can be seen here.

Bashful Bladder:  Movember Foundation

Sponsor Me Spring: Halloween 09

Lively Pearls: The Gap

Run like a Canuck: Chip’s Not Dead Yet memorial mile

Best Decision I ever made: Cellular South

Having already received 1,379,047 views and counting, OK Go’s This Too Shall Pass is our Viral Video of the week.

Some stats on the viral sharing of this video:

• 1,379,047 views
• 1 duplicate video
• 1,141 blog posts
• 3,098 comments
• 4,636 tweets

This video is off to a good start, following the band’s video for “Here It Goes Again,” which won a Grammy Award for “Best Short-Form Music Video” in 2007.  You can check out all their amazing music videos on YouTube.

Check out this meme-licious list compiled by Greg Rutter (his second, btw).  This list is pure gold, listing all the clips that make watching hours of online video so, so worth it.

You’ll notice that individuals aren’t the only ones contributing viral videos to the internet, but brands are also taking flint to stone, igniting memes across the interweb in an attempt to gain notoriety amongst their advocates online. The growth of online video marketing can be seen particularly by the number of brands who have a YouTube channel. For example, fifty-nine percent of U.S. companies in the Fortune Global 100 have YouTube channels compared with 52% in Europe, 35% in Asia-Pacific and 33% in Latin America.

Our staff favourites from Rutter’s list include both user generated content as well as brand advertising. We want to know which ones are your favourite and if you have one that isn’t listed.

Staff favourites include:

06) Autotune The News
– @d1337
30) Otter’s Holding Hands
– @kateleg
52) Slap Chop Rap
– @quikness
Not included) Old Spice Commercial: The man your man could smell like
– @6oz

If you’d like to know which others are worth watching, or how memelabs can help your business with video marketing contact us at info@memelabs.com.

It began in 2007 when Curtis Jackson, the Queens-born rapper known to most as 50 Cent, took a major turn in his career by signing a deal with Vitamin Water. As record sales dropped, critics claimed that Jackson was veering away from mainstream rap.

In an attempt to amp up his public persona, the deal with Vitamin Water made the rapper more appealing to the masses.  Fiddy was seen in a new light, well new hair actually, (possibly NSFW, depending on your workplace’s policy on mild cursing and characters named “Pimpin’ Curly”), as the funny guy behind of the hilarious YouTube commercials.

Now Steve Nash has jumped on board the comedy train.  The stringy haired athlete to adds some ridiculous flavour to the newly released Vitamin Water commercial, “The most ridiculous man in the world,” which spoofs Dos Equis’s Most interesting man in the world commercials.

Fiddy and Steve for Vitamin Water – which public personality will this campaign absorb next?

Sounds beautifully utilitarian. Why then have videos of pole dancing mishaps become so popular on YouTube? Because many netizens don’t appreciate its new found respectability. And seeing so many people fail confirms their suspicions that not everyone should be a pole dancer.

[youtube BWj_Q_NpR34]

This year, Chip’s Not Dead Yet is offering Vancouverites the chance to become part of the city’s history, by submitting an idea for your own theme wave. We are proud to be hosting the official event video contest!

Film and submit your idea, and you could win $1000, as well as a very satisfying 5 minutes of fame on event day–and help the BC Children’s Hospital at the same time.

As if this weren’t enough, the first 50 entrants to the contest will also receive a complimentary lululemon yoga mat, running hat, and foldin’ key cuff! Details on the site.

Are you still reading this? What are you waiting for? Get going!

In fact, I feel fantastic. Why?

Because I just watched this Nutrigrain ad. There’s a lot we can learn about the nature of going viral here. But first, watch and see what I’m talking about.

.

Nutrigrain composed a happiness virus. With one part college humor, and one part pay it forward, this viral is bound to make you laugh, think about multiple births, and crave a granola bar. Now if that is not the recipe for viral, we don’t know what is.

We wanted to end everyone’s week on a high note and give you something to pass along as we anxiously await the next happiness meme. Happy Friday memers!

The Heart of Houston video contest has been launched to celebrate and elevate local artists asking the participants to submit one minute videos showcasing a favorite local artist in the category of theater, music, dance, visual arts, crafts or creative writing allowing for diverse and rich content. Following a huge launch party hosted at the creative hub in downtown Houston, many ongoing events will showcase local events giving participants and artists first-hand access to record their videos and meet the hottest artists in their city over the 3-month contest entry period.

The Houston Arts Alliance is a nonprofit charitable organization that seeks to advance the arts industry in Greater Houston. As a result they contribute to enhancing the region’s quality of life, economic competitiveness and attractiveness with a mission to nurture, fund and promote participation in the arts in Houston and Harris County. Active in Ike recovery, they have also provided resource information for artists and organizations on their blog to increase communication and leverage support which you can learn more about here.

We are all about holiday themes here and amidst bbq’s and beaches, we are always on the look out for some breakthrough video’s. To stay within our theme, I present my 4th of July inspired video by the self-proclaimed great American Hero, Kanye West in his take on infomercials. My favorite part: The Drunk Girl. I have no doubt that Mr. America casted her himself as he threw away his tax forms while flexing in the mirror and kissing his Versace adorned biceps.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TrkrSdyIHY&eurl=http://www.viralvideochart.com/youtube/kanye_west_on_tv_doing_an_infomercial?id=2TrkrSdyIHY]

As Jenn is busy on all things social, we have truced yet again to showcase one piece as our collective favorite. And as we continue to exemplify effective democratic process, we would like to take this time to showcase democracy in action. Happy Independence Day.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=6lwbSdL2s00&feature=related]