Brands Join In The Fun As ‘Harlem Shake’ Fever Sweeps The Unruly Viral Video Chart

It’s Goodbye ‘Gangnam Style’, ‘Call Me Maybe’ And Hello ‘Harlem Shake’.

We’re just over 6 weeks into 2013 and already there is a meme sweeping the social video scene. ‘Harlem Shake’ is the new meme on the block. It started gaining traction on the Unruly Viral Video Chart just over a week ago and has showed no signs of slowing down.

For those who don’t know the Harlem Shake, here’s a quick guide. One person, usually wearing a helmet of sorts, leads the way, dancing in an empty space. A little strange you might think, but wait. As the beat to the song kicks in, the video cuts to a scene of a huge crowd of obscenely dressed partiers joining our solo dancer.

What follows is some of the most ridiculous scenes we’ve seen on the Unruly Viral Video Chart in a while. Words simply don’t do it justice. Here’s the original, and we’ve got another 400 or so other 30-second spin-offs to show you later on. As we’re seeing more and more in the Unruly Social Video Lab, brands are never far behind when any new online sensation sweeps the web.

Top brands across the globe have already jumped on Call Me Maybe and Gangnam Style over the past 6 months, but recently brands have been reacting in real-time to video trends. It’s taken less than a week to see the likes of Pepsi, Facebook and Google release their renditions of the ‘Harlem Shake’.

The power of internet memes doesn’t stop with brands amplifying brands messages through these mediums. Other can seriously profit from unexpected virality such as this. In this case, the artist whose track features in all of the ‘Harlem Shake’ videos is an American rapper by the name of Baauer. It’s probably safe to say he is coining some dollar at a result. The track ‘Harlem Shake’ has garnered so much attention, it is currently sitting in the top spot on the iTunes music chart. As Mr Baauer kindly points out for us all on Twitter.

However, it’s got a long way to go to beat the now 1.3 billion-strong Gangnam Style. Will the Harlem Shake masses help the original hit that billion view milestone? I doubt it, if I’m honest. We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess. Don’t hold out too much hope though, that’s all I’m saying.

You can see Unruly’s full chart of Harlem Shake videos here. At the time of writing this, there were some 400+ versions. I can only wonder how many more have materialised over the weekend.