Let me start off by saying that sure, memes are funny, but generally only for about a nanosecond.
Case in point: Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe.”
I made a point of avoiding the song for the longest time. Yes, I knew it was the song and the meme of the summer. I could know that without watching every single stupid video or newsclip that mentioned it. I don’t listen to commercial radio, so that eliminated hearing it there, and I don’t go out to bars often, and when I do, I tend to go to places where the likelihood of that song being played is incredibly low, even in an ironic fashion.
But then, Steve Kardynal, that crazy little man with the wig and the ‘stache from YouTube, decided to make his own version.
The genius in all of this is that Kardynal uses YouTube, perhaps the most populist and democratic forms of reaching out to people, and mixes it with ChatRoulette, which is probably one of the strangest experiments in internet history. He takes what could be a horrible experience and edits it into what is probably one of the funniest (and smartest) uses of a meme that I have ever seen. The best part of it is the reactions of people: they laugh. They sing along. They dance. They smile. A lot.
I never thought Carly Rae Jepsen could ever make me smile. But with a dude in a wig and a beard, and an infectious pop tune, yes she can. Enjoy.
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