Weezer Strike Gold With Pork And Beans
by Damian Burke
Granted, the headline of this post might not make much sense to many, but stick with me – you’ll soon be humming the tune.
The modest Los Angeles based kings of I-can't-believe-it's-not-Brit-Pop, Weezer, have released a YouTube video for their first single from their sixth studio album titled The Red Album.
The video features a smorgasbord of Internet celebrities (especially YouTube celebrities) and references to memes and online in-jokes. The ingenious production is also flanked by various other viral videos.
Included in the cut-and-paste pop culture compilation are some of my favourite online personalities and references such as Liam Kyle Sullivan, Tay Zonday, Star Wars Kid and Peanut Butter Jelly. Personally, I could have done without that Chris Crocker, but I tend to trust Rivers Cuomo and his new-fangled moustache to the bitter end.
In true Weezer tradition, this catchy, sugary-sweet, melody driven single has already generated quite a buzz among Weezer fans, but also extensive coverage by online inhabitants due to its topical content. The video accrued 1.2 million views in 24 hours and has been viewed over 4 million times in less than a week.
In an online interview, the video director, Mathew Cullen, referred to it as, “a celebration for those who are familiar with all of these things, and for those who aren’t, it’s a quick guide to getting into Internet pop culture… I just wanted to express this reinvention of media and celebrate what’s happening.”
As one YouTube user commented “They just won the internet” and I couldn’t agree more.
Comments
post a commentSpot on, they honestly have won the internet. They get the perfect balance between manufacturing a viral video and accidently having a hit. Some big companies/acts/organisations try to hard and really make a hash of it. Weezer got is 100% right.
Posted by Nic on 2008/05/31
I'm with you, Nic.
Weezer have always represented cultural trends in their music and videos, from Dungeons and Dragons and Star Wars to The Muppets and Superman.
The video doesn't come across as a desperate attempt to attract viewers by cramming the cool "cult" factor (Family Guy, for example, is often guilty of this in my opinion), but rather as a fun visual representation of the track that perfectly positioned.
Typical Weezer cool.
http:www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MrXdaxbvwo
http:www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV5iQJLpVnM
Posted by Damian Burke on 2008/06/02
The making of Pork and Beans:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=35220533
...I haven't watched it yet though.
Posted by Damian Burke on 2008/06/04
Subscribe
RSS to Email
Get our latest blog posts delivered straight to your inbox.
eMarketing News
Subscribe to our fortnightly newsletter which is packed with interesting eMarketing news, views and other quirky titbits.
December
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
Archives
Categories
- General (586)
- PPC & Affiliates (30)
- Search Engine Marketing (94)
- WebPR (38)
- Online Reputation Management (38)
- Email Marketing (12)
- Design (18)
- Viral Marketing (192)
- Conversion Optimisation (14)
- Website Development (38)
- Industry Events (60)
- Quirky Stuff (115)
- Social Media (87)
- Work at Quirk (10)
- Friday Fact Box (24)
- Interviews (13)
- Guest Posts (4)
- Nice Finds of the Week (4)
Recent Posts
- A Day in the Life of Marketing
- Designing for the iPhone
- With Nandos We Can COPE
- Bike Hero
- Heineken Shows the Signs
Recent Comments
- gavich on Designing for the iPhone
- Janine on Designing for the iPhone
- Kelly on With Nandos We Can COPE
- Guy McLaren on With Nandos We Can COPE
- Tony Roocroft on Conversion Optimisation Tools
More photos of the QuirkStars At Play
Name:
Friends of Quirk
Websites:
www.quirk.biz
This is just so well put together.. It is like we have all (everyone on the net) been at the cinema together. I remember watching all of this and to see the work that has gone into this compilation gives me muchos respect for Weezer.. :)
Posted by Documentally on 2008/05/31