Top 10 Memes of the Month – #KittenCamp Playlist

Next Kitten Camp confirmed June 8th -RSVP: http://kittencamp.eventbrite.com/

UPDATE – pics of the evening:

Welcome to the first Kitten Camp playlist of the top 10 memes of the month.

It seems only fitting that we kick off Kitten Camp with a search for the one cat clip to rule them all on the internet.

1. Standing, OMG and Trololo cat via Know Your Meme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiHY8_j7n_Q http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XALVPwkor7U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdoHHK27RMM

2. Chain Reaction

These clips work so well because they can combat some people’s short attention spans on YouTube and the reactions just keep us going and going right until the end (quite nifty in reaching that penultimate brand message). BBH NY’s marvelous work for Google Chrome draws on the cog meme Honda Accord might’ve started in ad land but which OK GO confirmed on YouTube:

Now enjoy the Google Chrome Speed Tests:

3. Downfall Meme – Kitten Camp Tribute

In April Downfall went meta as Constantin Films stupidly ordered the takedown of any clip off YouTube and pissed on all the exposure the internet community had given their movie.

Downfall goes meta:

We also really enjoyed this reenactment of one person playing all the characters as it’s one which cannot be taken down. He’s known as that “YouTube impression” guy and is considered a meme unto himself:

Oddly the earliest known subtitle spoof of Downfall was uploaded by YouTube user DReaperF4 on August 10th, 2006. Titled “Sim Heil: Der untersim” and subbed in Spanish, the video shows Hitler fuming over the lack of new features in the demo trial of Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X. Surprising that such an imaginative but very, very niche start to the meme got it so far.

4. Augmented Reality 1.0 – Urban Landscape Hacking

(AR) has become a massive internet meme format in its own right over the last 12 months, with one of the best examples being Iron Man 2’s recent AR effort. However, it’s always nice to see technology eating itself and going back to basics. Augmented reality 1.0 does exactly this by hacking reality the old school way – using objects, photos and even pencils. Michael Hughes was one of the first on the scene with this analogue approach to augmenting reality by replacing iconic landmarks with cheap souvenir replicas. This analogue landscape hacking meme has now spread, with a trend towards mashing up old photos into street scenes, and pencil sketches . All proof that analogue can often do memes better than digital . . . [Thanks to Brain Pickings for this tip].

5. Gap Yah

Last week’s NMA UGC viral video chart drew attention to the ‘Gap Yah’ student phenomenon, which with the advent of a sequel appears to be transcending into a fully-fledged internet meme. As we face the prospect of a government headed by ex-Bullingdonites, perhaps ‘Gap Yah’ student is a sign of deep seated anxiety among some that the UK is on the brink of being run by Eton’s 6th form college.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKFjWR7X5dU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNz-P5WMQ8w

6. Lego Films

We believe this meme originated in a film context 3 years back by virtue of an Eddie Izzard comedy sketch about the Death Star canteen. It was brought to life on the internets by an animator who used Lego people to reenact it and to date it has over 10 million views. Fast-forward to 2009 and we then witnessed a Matrix Lego remix.

Naturally as a meme accelerates the production can get better and better as each version attempts to improve on a previous one. With Star Wars and Lego you’re always going to get a geek meme whammy. This fully plasticised mise-en-scene version cinematically crams the Star Wars story into 2 minutes.

And we love this Star Wars mash-up – perhaps the most clever, if not funniest marriage we’ve seen with a brand:

7. 8 Bit

8-bit music and art have become a staple of internet culture. This is definitely one meme that has hit the most obscure of remix points – it’s become so recombinant that it’s been mashed up with other splices of internet culture such as Keyboard Cat Mario Bros and we’ve even witnessed classic rock culture references hit the 8 bit format such as Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.

However, nothing made 8 bit seem more AFC (away from console) and real than this 8 bit attack on New York:

[dailymotion]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcv6dv_pixels-by-patrick-jean_creation[/dailymotion]

8. School Kid Hollywood

YouTube’s somewhat amateur equivalent of Bugsy Malone spread to us via a fake school play version of Scarface last month. We think it may take its cues from this kid’s performance in Glengarry Glen Ross Jr. A large part of its shareability was affixed in the conversations of whether it was indeeed real or fake.

And who to score such films but a school orchestra?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKH3iemEd-A

And in this mini kid film universe on YouTube it’s nice to know there’s also critics such as this famed 3 year old Star Wars reviewer.

9. Social Media Campaigner Awesomeness

Perhaps nothing is more memetic for marketer’s than the over-triumphalism of a successful social media campaign. This meme is more idea than content. We’ve laughed at the guru. Now laugh at the campaign:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOcujXpbkhg

10. Unicorns

In the fantasy world of an awesome and cartooned internet nothing holds more awesomenimity than a unicorn. Confirmed by Dallas Clayton’s very awesome book.

Serenading Unicorn is the latest addition to the unicorn meme. One we’re pretty certain that Charlie the Unicorn really brought to the fore: