Moo Deng and Her Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Viral sensations come and go.

One of the most recent entrants in the “Viral Sensation” sweepstakes is Moo Deng, a pygmy hippopotamus, born in the summer of 2024, and living in a zoo in Thailand (pictured above). C’mon, she’s cute as hell, right?

These days, social media, and, more broadly, the internet itself determines who and what is culturally popular. Another harbinger of viral sensation-ness is the presence of internet memes. By these measures, Moo Deng is undeniably a viral sensation - just Google “Moo Deng,” and see for yourself. We’ll see how long Moo Deng remains in the cultural zeitgeist - the over/under for these sorts of things is typically six months or so.

Can you think of some examples of viral sensations which have surfaced in recent years? Sure you can - here are a few samples identified by Rule of Three’s Viral Internet Sensation Identification Team (“VISIT”):

• Bernie Sanders Mittens - this photo of Bernie Sanders, taken at Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony in 2021, launched a thousand memes. Also, c’mon, he’s cute as hell, right?

  

• The Ice Bucket Challenge - remember that exercise, from ten years ago, ostensibly developed to increase awareness of ALS, and to provide funding? Yes, I participated, but in the interest of stroking my inner Rule No. 3 (you know, the one about “amusing myself”), I doused myself not with a bucket of ice water, but with a bucket of rice. Clever, eh? Yeah, I thought so too, until I discovered to my horror that friggin’ Miley Cyrus had done the very same thing. Ouch!

• Cinnamon Challenge - this one dates to around 2007, and involved filming oneself attempting to ingest a spoonful of cinnamon in under sixty seconds, without drinking anything. According to Wikipedia, the challenge is difficult and carries substantial health risks because the cinnamon can coat and dry the mouth and throat, possibly resulting in coughing, gagging, vomiting, and inhalation of cinnamon, which can in turn lead to throat irritation, breathing difficulties, and risk of pneumonia or a collapsed lung. Sounds like a hoot! I’d prefer to dump a bucket of ice water (or, rice) on my head.

• Dabbing - dabbing, demonstrated by the youngsters in the below photo, was, apparently, a gesture of triumph or playfulness, popularized by Carolina Panthers quarterback, Cam Newton, beginning in 2015, and became a cultural phenomenon. I cannot recall ever dabbing, can you?

  

• JK Wedding Entrance Dance - I encountered this one the same way most of you did: I saw it parodied on an episode of The Office. I had never seen the original video until conducting exhaustive research for this column; the video was filmed at an actual wedding in 2009, at which Jill and Kevin got married (hence the “JK” tag). And, yes, much like dabbing, this video reflects a triumphant and playful approach to getting married, but, honestly, have you ever seen more brown at a wedding than at this one?

• Nigerian Prince scam - Who among us has not been baited with the Nigerian Prince email request? And, who among us has provided funding to the Prince in response? Show of hands?

• Barbenheimer - this mashup of two very unlikely film-mates, Barbie and Oppenheimer, which premiered on the same date in July, 2023 was adorable, no?

• Hitler Scene Parodies - I’ve seen a bunch of these parodies, but never knew from which film the scene was lifted - it’s from a 2005 movie entitled, Downfall. The attached parody is a good one - I can also heartily recommend the Red Velvet cupcake scenario. But, if I were you, I’d limit yourself to no more than two of these - three, tops - being discovered watching Hitler video, in any way shape or form, is not a good look.

• The Dress - you remember this controversy, right? Viewers of the photograph of the dress pictured below couldn’t agree on whether the dress was blue and black, or white and gold. To me, there’s no debate: it’s clearly blue and black.

  

• Grumpy Cat - wait a minute, I’ve seen that look. . .from my wife.

  

• McKayla is Not Impressed - this look, adopted by Olympic gymnast, McKayla Maroney on the medals podium at the 2012 Olympics in London, is only slightly more encouraging.

  

• Double Rainbow - now, here’s a guy who has clearly never sported either of the two previous faces in his entire life - pure joy!

• Pizza Rat - doesn’t this NYC rat know that pizza can be delivered to his home in thirty minutes or less?

Certainly there were viral sensations prior to the advent of social media and the internet. It just took longer for the buzz to develop, a consequence of having to travel through newsroom story budget meetings and newspaper production cycles and broadcast television production meetings before giving readers/viewers a taste of the developing craze. Some of these viral sensations from “olden times” include:

• The Beatles - The Beatles landed in the U.S. in early 1964, and “Beatlemania” developed immediately.

• Moon Landing - Neil Armstrong landing on the Moon in 1969 was an event like no other - a sharp contrast to the ho-hum response to space travel today. And, no, I’m not going to dignify the Moon landing hoax conspiracy theory by speaking to it here; I watched it live, on television, on July 20, 1969, so I know that it actually happened.

• Watergate - this was truly a watershed moment in American politics - seems quite tame today, no?

• Jaws - one of the promotional taglines used to promote this 1975 movie was, “You’ll never go in the water again!” Terrifying! And, truly a viral sensation.

  

• Pet Rocks - another 1975 viral sensation was the pet rock, sold in a container with air holes and a book detailing how to care for your pet rock - that’s right. . .what can I say - it was the ‘70’s, man!

  

• Rubik’s Cube - this one came a bit later, exploding on the scene in 1980 - I don’t think I ever solved it.

  

• O.J. Simpson - this saga definitely had legs: the slow white Bronco; the glove that didn’t fit; Kato Kaelin; Judge Lance Ito; acquittal; it captured our attention for months during the trial.

• Various Collectibles - think Beanie Babies, Tickle Me Elmo, Pokemon, Cabbage Patch Dolls - you know, the things that parents agonized over at Christmastime, because they were sold out of stores everywhere.

• Y2K - remember that? The world was going to end, and the clock on the microwave was going to blink 12:00 forever!

• Who Shot J.R.? - another 1980 offering, this one a promotional tagline feeding off the season-ending cliffhanger of Dallas, in which the main character, J.R. Ewing was shot, and the the shooter, Bing Crosby’s daughter (you know, the actress Mary Crosby’s character on the show), was not revealed until the next season, some eight months later. A lot of t-shirts were sold during that period. Related content: “Jump the Shark!” a catchphrase emanating from an episode of Happy Days, in which Fonzie jumps over a shark, while waterskiing, and which has come to mark the point at which a TV series has completely run out of plotline ideas; that one has probably sold a lot fewer t-shirts.

  

• Hula Hoop - this one predates my birth, but the toy company, Wham-O (best toy company name ever!) introduced its plastic version in 1958, and it quickly became a sensation, of the viral variety.

• Coonskin Cap - also originating in the 1950’s, the coonskin cap craze was inspired by a Disney television show, Davy Crockett. I remember owning one as a youth, ten years later, so that’s why it made this lineup.

I suppose that, baked in to the definition of a viral sensation, is the fact that they are short-lived. Andy Warhol is credited with coining the phrase, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” This axiom, which evidence suggests Warhol never uttered, has been used to describe the fleeting nature of the popularity of people, things and events.

So, sorry, Moo Deng, your time is almost up. We’ll be flitting off to the next big thing very soon.

Were you able to recall any of these viral sensations, either social media and internet-aided, or those of an earlier vintage? It may be that Rule of Three missed one or two; after all, we’re still awaiting our own fifteen minutes of fame. But, feel free to share with us those missing links in the comments section below.

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