Still from 'Sesame Street: The Hungry Games- Catching Fur (Hunger Games: Catching Fire Parody)' by Sesame Street on YouTube
We take a look at some of the most-viewed and most-shared videos on the web. This week features a Hunger Games parody, a dramatic reconstruction, rain in LA, another epic split, a Rube Goldberg machine for the girls, and more.
About 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, 500 years of video watched on Facebook every day, and more than 700 YouTube videos shared on Twitter each minute, ensuring there is always video trending on the web.
With so much video available for viewing, we take a look at some of the viral videos that have caught our eye this week.
Jenko’s epic split
Last week, we brought you an ‘epic split’ from none other than Jean-Claude Van Damme, and it’s a viral stunt many YouTubers have since tried to recreate. Here we have actor Channing Tatum’s attempt, in character as Jenko from the upcoming 22 Jump Street.
Uploaded: 19 November 2013
Sesame Street’s The Hungry Games
Another popular remake on YouTube this week is Sesame Street’s take on The Hunger Games, reimagining the second film in the franchise with Cookie Monster starring as Cookieness Evereat and – a stroke of genius – Peeta Mellark played by a pitta. May the cookies be ever in their flavour.
Uploaded: 18 November 2013
GoldieBlox’s ‘Princess Machine’
GoldieBlox, a series of toys aimed at encouraging an interest in engineering among young girls, sends up the pink-washing of toys for girls in this massively popular viral video. Reaching over 7m views in a week, the clip features a Rube Goldberg machine intent on destroying the old assumptions of what a ‘girl’s toy’ can mean. Beastie Boys, whose song ‘Girls’ has been rewritten for the video, are not so impressed, though, so make sure you check this one out before the lawyers have it taken down.
Uploaded: 17 November 2013
UPDATE 27 November 14:07: As expected, GoldieBlox has made the original ad featuring their version of the Beastie Boys track unavilable, but you can still see the Rube Goldberg machine in action below.
Italy travelogue music video
Another video the Beastie Boys might not be happy with this week belongs to Matt Cadwallader, who decided to document his trip to Italy with this mother by making a music video to the tune of ‘So What’cha Want’. Ladies and gentleman: a new standard for the holiday video has been set.
Uploaded: 21 November 2013
Breaking LA news
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, California, things appear to have come a cropper after a few rain showers plagued the city. This one’s a must-watch for our Irish readers, who will be wondering how these poor folk would manage on a trip to our fair (-ly saturated) isle.
Uploaded: 20 November 2013
YouTube comment war – a dramatic reconstruction
YouTube comedy channel Dead Parrot knows that the comments section of the video network can often be more entertaining than the videos themselves, so they did the only logical thing and made a video from them. Behold: a dramatic re-enactment of a comment war involving two One Direction fans, scathing to its very core.
Uploaded: 20 November 2013
Jingle balls
Warning: our final video contains large doses of Christmas cheer. We know it’s still November but we just couldn’t leave you without a look at this cheeky ad for Joe Boxer, which has been receiving some backlash (along with over 12.5m views) for its subject matter. We don’t know what all the fuss is about, though – they’re clearly just a uniquely talented bunch of lads.
Uploaded: 15 November 2013
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