Samsung

HERO DYD

Slavi Trifonov

 
Stanislav Todorov Trifonov (Bulgarian: Станислав Тодоров Трифонов) (born 18 October 1966), known as Slavi Trifonov (Bulgarian: Слави Трифонов), is a Bulgarian showman, actor, singer, viola and tambourine player, born in Pleven (Bulgarian: Плевен). Trifonov is mainly active in the folk music and chalga genres, but he has experimented with other genres such as pop-rock and punk as a part of Ku-ku Band (Bulgarian: Ку-Ку Бенд).
He is the host of Slavi's Show, bTV's late-night talk show. It is styled after the standard U.S. late-night talk shows; nevertheless, many topics and elements in the show's setup are aimed at providing a specific Bulgarian flavor.
The main scriptwriters of Slavi's Show are Ivailo Vulchev, Ivo Siromahov, Toshko Iordanov, Dragomir Petrov, and Kalinka Todorova.
Trifonov is a professionally trained violist. In the early 1990s, together with several of his classmates at NATFIZ, he created Ku-Ku. In 1996, as a cast member of Kanaleto, he took an active role in the protests that eventually led to the fall of the socialist government. He is both loved and hated in his home country. His current show is one of the most watched, although he is often criticized for his controversial humor. The concept of "Slavi's Show" has changed significantly over the years. Originally, it was based on the classic formula: for half of the show, he performed a type of "one-man show" (though not exactly; Trifonov was often accompanied by other actors and his Ku-Ku Band), and in the other half, Trifonov introduced a guest. At one point, the show became an arena for political debates before some important elections. Later on, Trifonov and his team changed the concept and made the show more music-focused. He held a contest
called "I sing in KuKu Band" in order to choose a singer for the band. Every phase of the contest was aired. The contestants had to deal with difficult singing tasks. Finally, because of the growing popularity of the contestants, Trifonov decided to continue the contest, turning it into a show. He chose the five most popular contestants (Lora, Liubena, Nadia, Svetlio, and Vlado) and let them compete for the grand prize: the winner would have the chance to record an album and have his or her own show. Meanwhile, Trifonov participated in the competition Eurovision - Bulgaria. There, he triggered a major scandal by stating that the winner was known in advance and the competition was not fair.
Trifonov has had a long-running feud with Ivan Kostov, which started because Trifonov thought that Kostov — who at the time was Bulgaria's prime minister — was the one who took Hushove off the air.
In 2005, Trifonov steered his show in a different direction. This time, the famous comedians Krasi Radkov, Liubomir Neikov, and Viktor Kalev riveted the attention of thousаnds of viewers. Later, Nikolay Stanoev joined the team of actors after being picked by Trifonov himself after another contest, but left the show. In 2006, Liubomir Neikov left Slavi's Show and joined Komitzite, and in his place, Slavi Trifonov hired a new comedian actress: Maia Bezhanska, who later also left the show.
In his show he has hosted numerous amount of debates, tournaments, shows, and contests. In 2006, Trifonov started a new reality show, "Dance with Me," and in 2008 he recorded the song "My Love" (featured on the Bulgarian edition of Ruslana's international album Wild Energy). Also, Slavi did a show called "Smart and Beautiful" (Umna i Krasiva); the winner was a Ukrainian girl.HERO DYD

Google Glass

Samsung continue to dominate the global smartphone market and also to expand its position among tablets in recent months. Korean giant plans to enter another attractive niche as already developing their own glasses of new generation. That device is designed as a competitor to Google Glass and expect its release to officially implement the exhibition IFA 2014 in Berlin in September inform DigitalTrends.

Particulars of the specifications are not known, but it will connect with our smartphones and tablets, allowing you to make calls, receive notifications, send messages, play music and take pictures. The first smart glasses Samsung developed codenamed Galaxy Glass and have built-in speakers, and a clear lens in one side, and the widget of Google. O t company are of the opinion that this niche market has great potential to become a billion dollar business, and naturally want to join it as soon as possible.

Samsung plans soon to represent the second generation of its clock Galaxy Gear, which is expected at a special event in March or April. The device will offer a completely new design and will probably oborudavno flexible displays based on OLED technology. So
the company hopes will remove the biggest drawbacks of its predecessor, to draw our attention to the second generation of Galaxy Gear.HERO DYD

Istanbul

On a windswept afternoon in mid-December, the writer Orhan Pamuk stood in a leafy square around the corner from Istanbul University, absorbed in a 40-year-old memory. He walked past parked motorcycles, sturdy oaks and a stone fountain, browsing through secondhand books in front of cluttered shops occupying the bottom floors of a quadrangle of pale yellow buildings. Sahaflar Carsisi, Istanbul’s used-book bazaar, has been a magnet for literary types since the Byzantine era.

In the early 1970s, Mr. Pamuk, then an architecture student and aspiring painter with a love for Western literature, would drive from his home across the Golden Horn to shop for Turkish translations of Thomas Mann, André Gide and other European authors. “My father was nice in giving me money, and I would come here on Saturday mornings in his car and fill the trunk with books,” the Nobel Laureate remembered, standing beside a bust of Ybrahim Muteferrika, who printed one of the first books in Turkey — an Arabic-Turkish language dictionary — in 1732.

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Mr. Pamuk was born in Istanbul in 1952 and has lived in the city for most of his life. Monique Jaques for The New York Times
“Nobody else would be here on Saturdays. I’d be haggling, talking, chatting. I would know every clerk, but it’s all changed now,” he said, referring to the somewhat touristy atmosphere and the disappearance of characters he’d come to know, such as a manuscript seller who doubled as a Sufi preacher. These days, he said, “I come only once a year.”

Mr. Pamuk was born about three and a half miles from the market, in the prosperous Nisantasi neighborhood in 1952, the son of a businessman who frittered away much of his fortune through a series of bad investments. Mr. Pamuk grew up surrounded by relatives and servants, but quarrels between his mother and father, and the ever-present sense of a family unraveling, cast his youth into uncertainty and periodic sadness.

For most of the six decades since, Mr. Pamuk has lived in Istanbul, both in Nisantasi and nearby Cihangir, alongside the Bosporus. His work is as grounded in the city as Dickens’s was in London and Naguib Mahfouz’s was in Cairo. Novels such as “The Museum of Innocence” and “The Black Book” and the autobiographical “Istanbul: Memories and the City” evoke both
a magical city and a melancholy one, reeling from the loss of empire, torn by the clash between secularism and political Islam and seduced by the West. Most of Mr. Pamuk’s characters are members of the secular elite, whose love affairs, feuds and obsessions play out in the cafes and bedrooms of a few neighborhoods.

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Leafing through a book at Sahaflar Carsisi, a used-book bazaar in Istanbul. In the early 1970s, Mr. Pamuk would fill the trunk of his father's car with books from the bazaar. Ayman Oghanna for The New York Times
“I did my first foreign travel in 1959, when I went to Geneva for the summer with my father, and I didn’t leave Istanbul again until 1982,” Mr. Pamuk told me. “I belong to this city.”

Last fall, I emailed Mr. Pamuk and asked him if he would take me on a tour of the neighborhoods that shaped his upbringing and his development as a writer. After many visits, I wanted to get beyond the tourist sights and observe the city as he sees it — a place of epic history and deep personal associations. Mr. Pamuk readily agreed, and two months later I met him at his apartment in the affluent Cihangir quarter, overlooking the Cihangir Mosque, a 16th-century monolith flanked by minarets, and, beyond it, the Bosporus, the strait that forms the boundary between Europe and Asia.


It seemed appropriate that I was visiting Mr. Pamuk during the off-season, given his focus in books like “Snow” and “Istanbul” on winter, grayness and melancholy. The air was crisp, the light was muted, and although the sun occasionally burst through the clouds, the city seemed largely drained of color. “I have always preferred the winter to the summer in Istanbul,” Mr. Pamuk wrote in “Istanbul.” “I love the early evenings when autumn is slipping into winter, when the leafless trees are trembling in the north wind, and people in black coats and jackets are rushing home through the darkening streets.” From the balcony of his apartment, he looked approvingly at the sun shining weakly through the cloud cover and pronounced it an optimal day for a walk. “If this was a hugely sunny day I would be upset,” he said. “I like the black and white city as I wrote in ‘Istanbul.’ ”

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A cafe in the affluent Cihangir quarter, where Mr. Pamuk has an apartment. Ayman Oghanna for The New York Times
I had caught up with him during the last stages of polishing his new novel, “A Strangeness in My Mind,” to be published in English in 2015, chronicling the life of an Istanbul street vendor from the 1970s to the present. He told me that he was grateful for a break. “I am an obsessive about my work, but I love it,” he said. He put on a trench coat and pulled a black baseball cap over his brow, a halfhearted effort to render himself a little less recognizable.

In 2005, Mr. Pamuk responded to an interviewer’s question about a crackdown on freedom of expression in Turkey by asserting that “a million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in this country and I’m the only one who dares to talk about it.” The offhand remark, published in a Swiss newspaper, resulted in death threats, vilification in the Turkish press and charges by an Istanbul public prosecutor of the “public denigration of Turkish identity.” Mr. Pamuk was forced to flee the country for nearly a year — his longest time out of Turkey. The charges were abandoned in January 2006 amid an international outcry, and the threats have subsided. Though Mr. Pamuk sometimes travels with bodyguards, especially during his nocturnal rambles, he now feels relatively safe.

On this cloudy afternoon we followed a zigzag route that roughly paralleled the Bosporus and took us through the heart of Cihangir, once a predominantly Greek neighborhood. In the 1960s, when Mr. Pamuk was a student at the elite Robert College prep school farther up the Bosporus, rising nationalistic fervor over a looming conflict in Cyprus came to a climax in the government’s eviction of the neighborhood’s Greek population. Deprived of its commercial class, Cihangir became the city’s red-light district.

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A woman and young girl pass a hamam, or bath house, in Cihangir. Ayman Oghanna for The New York Times
“I wrote an early novel here in the 1970s, in my grandfather’s apartment,” Mr. Pamuk said. “Every night, I used to wake up to women and their bodyguards — their macho protectors — and their clients, bargaining, throwing belts out the window.”

Cihangir is now a trendy neighborhood of artists and writers, elegant cafes, antiquarian shops and sky-high rents.

One engine of Cihangir’s revitalization is Mr. Pamuk’s own creation: the Museum of Innocence, which opened in 2012 in a burgundy building on a steep road leading down to the curving Golden Horn, which connects the Bosporus to the Sea of Marmara. The museum is a meticulously rendered time capsule of 1970s Istanbul, and a tribute to the power of obsession. It was inspired by Mr. Pamuk’s 2008 novel “The Museum of Innocence,” about an affluent Istanbul businessman, Kemal Basmaci, who falls in love with a poor shopgirl, Fusun, and becomes so consumed that he assembles a collection of every trace of contact with her.

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A vendor sells roasted chestnuts in the Karakoy area. Mr. Pamuk's memories of the area include getting his first bike there. Ayman Oghanna for The New York Times
Mr. Pamuk found the building himself, designed the exhibits and assembled his character’s fictional collection from flea markets and his own family heirlooms. Glass cases on the walls in darkened rooms are arranged chapter by chapter, filled with these supposed tokens of his character’s mostly unrequited love: crystal bottles of cologne, porcelain dogs, Istanbul postcards and 4,213 of Fusun’s cigarette butts, each one encased behind its own tiny window. “I didn’t publish a novel for years, but I have excuses,” Mr. Pamuk told me. “I did a museum in between.”

Karakoy Square, farther down the hill, is a waterfront plaza radiating outward into avenues lined with modern and Ottoman-era office buildings, food bazaars and appliance shops. Street vendors sell pomegranate juice and simit, the wheel-like bread otherwise known as a Turkish bagel.


Tucked off one steep avenue is an alley of government-sanctioned brothels guarded by the police. The Karakoy area conjures vivid memories for Mr. Pamuk of his childhood. He pointed out a row of bicycle shops, where his father bought him his first two-wheeler. A bit farther on is a passageway leading to the Tunel, one of the world’s oldest subterranean transit lines. The two-stop subway, built by French engineers, began in 1875 and still links Karakoy Square with the embassy district in the central Beyoglu district. In its early incarnation the train consisted of a steam engine that pulled two wooden cars, with separate compartments for men and women. “The empire fell apart, and there was no other subway line in Turkey for 120 more years,” said Mr. Pamuk, who loved riding the trains with his parents as a child.

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A casual lunch area, one of Mr. Pamuk's favorite places, in Karakoy. Ayman Oghanna for The New York Times
We stopped for lunch in the shadow of the Galata Bridge, a double-decker concrete-and-steel span, opened in 1994, with walkways, three lanes of traffic in each direction and tram tracks. Plastic tables and chairs stood haphazardly on a muddy patch near the water, flanked by portable grills selling fish fillets on baguettes, garnished with paprika, chile powder and chopped vegetables. A stray dog, his ear tagged as proof of his government-issued rabies shot, lay in the dirt. “He’s a local monument,” said Mr. Pamuk, who was bitten by a street dog during an evening walk 13 years ago and had to undergo a painful series of rabies shots.

Across the inlet, in stunning contrast to the scruffy surroundings, rose the silver dome of Hagia Sophia, wreathed in limestone and sandstone minarets. Built as a Greek Orthodox basilica and opened in A.D. 537 and converted into a mosque after the 1453 Islamic conquest of Constantinople, it was secularized by Kemal Ataturk, modern Turkey’s founder, and turned into a museum in 1935.

“I had little interest in Byzantium as a child,” Mr. Pamuk wrote in “Istanbul.” “I associated the word with spooky, bearded, black-robed Greek Orthodox priests, with the aqueducts that still ran through the city, with Hagia Sophia and the red-brick walls of old churches.” Legal disputes have kept this patch of waterfront property, where we were eating lunch, in limbo, resulting in a rare zone of neglect in the heart of the city. It’s one of Mr. Pamuk’s favorite places. “All my childhood was like this, but will it be like this in 20 years? No way,” he told me, as we savored the maritime smells. He is all but certain that the rapid gentrification of surrounding neighborhoods will eventually overtake this forgotten field.

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A vendor selling simit, the wheel-like bread otherwise known as a Turkish bagel. Ayman Oghanna for The New York Times
We continued across the Galata Bridge, the historic epicenter of Istanbul, stopping midway to admire the scene: tourist boats and pleasure craft floated down the Golden Horn, past the mosques of Sultan Ahmet on one side and the steep hills of Cihangir on the other. “This was originally a wooden bridge, and when I was growing up you had to pay to cross it,” he said, “but you could also hire row boats. I remember my mother taking me across by boat in the 1950s.”

Half a mile down the Golden Horn a new bridge has just opened, a sleek white span that partly blocks views of some of Istanbul’s grandest mosques. Like Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s aborted plan to raze Gezi Park in Taksim Square and put up a shopping mall in the style of an Ottoman military barracks, the bridge project has divided the city largely along socioeconomic lines: The city’s liberal elite has strongly backed the preservation of its Ottoman-era core, while the mostly poorer Islamists have tended to welcome this sweeping away of the past.

A century ago, “all the boats that came from the Sea of Marmara, from the Mediterranean, ended up here,” Mr. Pamuk told me. As he relates in “Istanbul,” Gustave Flaubert arrived here in October 1850 for a six-month stay, stricken with a case of syphilis picked up in Beirut. He still managed to frequent the city’s brothels and wrote about the “cemetery whores” who serviced soldiers by night. Another celebrated visitor of that era, the French writer and politician Alphonse de Lamartine, “described boys on the bridge shouting to the tourists, ‘Sir, give me a penny,’ ” Mr. Pamuk went on. “Tourists would throw the money into the sea, and they would jump from the bridge and dive in and the money would be theirs.”

Launch media viewerVefa Bozacisi, one of Mr. Pamuk's favorite places. Founded in 1876, the shop specializes in boza, a fermented wheat drink. Ayman Oghanna for The New York Times
On the south side of the Golden Horn, we pushed past crowds in the Baharat spice bazaar, and emerged on a busy street in the Eminonu neighborhood. In his childhood, Mr. Pamuk was fascinated by stories about the Ottoman sultans and pashas who ruled from this quarter of Istanbul, the site of rebellions, coups and secret jails where fearsome punishments were meted out. “One place in Eminonu was especially constructed for what was known as the Hook,” Mr. Pamuk wrote in “Istanbul.” “Wearing nothing but the suit in which he emerged from his mother’s womb, the condemned was winched up with pulleys, skewered with a sharp hook, and, as the cord was released, left to drop.”

RECENT COMMENTS

MR 7 hours ago
Istanbul's antiquity and location give it a cosmic quality that cannot be experienced without visiting and which is not to be missed. This...
Yasser Tariq 8 hours ago
Wonderful stroll. I had been fortunate enough to be taken on an identical excursion by one of Istanbul's favourite painters. Every nook and...
Dennis 8 hours ago
" “This was originally a wooden bridge, and when I was growing up you had to pay to cross it,” he said, “but you could also hire row boats....
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Within these few square blocks, the Ottoman rulers commissioned grandiose palaces and other buildings that proclaimed the durability of their empire. “The whole bureaucracy was here,” he said, pointing out the Sirkeci train station, a classic example of European Orientalist architecture, with colored tiles, Moorish-style archways and twin clock towers, which opened in 1890 and served as the final destination of the fabled Orient Express. The age of grandiosity didn’t last long. When Vladimir Nabokov alighted here in 1919, he found “a city in ruins,” Mr. Pamuk said. “There was no physical destruction, but this place used to get the riches of all the Middle East and the Balkans, and then it all vanished, and it was reduced to poverty.”

In “Istanbul,” Mr. Pamuk captured the melancholy, or huzun, that infused the metropolis during his boyhood, when it was still suffering a long decline after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. He described “the old Bosporus ferries moored to deserted stations in the middle of winter ... the old booksellers who lurch from one financial crisis to the next and then wait shivering all day for a customer to return.”


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The autobiography, published in 2001, brought Mr. Pamuk’s life story up to his decision to become a writer in 1973 and captured a very different time in the city’s history. “The city was poor, it wasn’t Europe, and I wanted to be a writer, and I wondered, ‘Can I be happy and live in this city and realize my ambition?’ These were the dilemmas I was facing,” he told me. “When I published it the younger generation told me, ‘Our Istanbul is not that black and white, we are happier here.’ They didn’t want to know about the melancholy, my kind of dirty history of the city.”

Not far away was another symbol of Ottoman hubris: the monumental central post office, opened in 1909, shortly after a military cabal of Young Turks seized power. “Now it’s just a local branch,” he said with an ironic laugh, sizing up the arched entryway and the cavernous, nearly empty atrium. It has deep associations for Mr. Pamuk. In 1973, at 21, he had just dropped out of architecture school to devote himself to writing. Afflicted by self-doubt and parental skepticism, he decided to test his abilities by entering a short story in a local magazine competition. The tale was a historical romance set in 15th-century Anatolia, the vast hinterland east of Istanbul. His friends frantically typed sections of the story, and Mr. Pamuk raced to this post office and handed the manuscript to a woman behind the counter just hours before the deadline. “The next day I received a note from her, telling me, ‘You paid me too little,’ ” he said, gazing at the main, gazebo-like kiosk beneath the atrium’s soaring central dome, where the moment played out. “But she’d understood that I was ambitious, submitting a literary work, and she paid the postage on her own.” One month later he learned that he had won the contest. “So I love this place just because of that,” he said.

Beyazit Square, a windswept plaza behind the book bazaar, abuts Istanbul University, formerly the Ottoman Ministry of Defense compound: a sprawling campus of brick-and-stone buildings and newer, slapdash structures behind a monumental entrance gate. The plaza seethed with protests, riots and army killings during the 1960s and 1970s. Mr. Pamuk was enrolled at the journalism school during one of the most turbulent periods, but while his friends were risking their lives facing down soldiers, he spent most days reading at home in Nisantasi. “I was an ambitious, brainy guy, and university seemed like a waste of time to me.”


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A few steps away we ducked into Vefa Bozacisi, another of his favorite places. Founded in 1876, the shop, a cozy establishment with leather banquettes and antique mirrors, specializes in boza, a fermented wheat drink that originated in southern Russia. Mixed with water and sugar and sprinkled with cinnamon, the creamy, butterscotch-colored concoction is served in glasses that were lined up by the dozens on polished wooden counters. Beside shelves of pomegranate vinegar, a case reverently displayed the shop’s most valuable heirloom: a silver boza cup used here in 1927 by Kemal Ataturk.

We entered the grounds of the Fatih Mosque, built on the orders of Fatih Sultan Mehmed, the conqueror of Constantinople, starting in 1463. It was rebuilt in 1771 after an earthquake destroyed it.

In a marble courtyard beside the massive pink sandstone mosque, considered one of the most graceful in the Islamic world, a wall poster caught Mr. Pamuk’s eye. It demanded freedom for Salih Mirzabeyogluna, a radical Islamist and author of incendiary political tracts, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison on a terrorism conviction. Mr. Pamuk — fascinated and disturbed by the rise of political Islam in Turkey and the Middle East — based one of his most memorable characters, the terrorist leader Blue in his novel “Snow,” partly upon Mr. Mirzabeyogluna. Blue is an ambiguous figure: a charismatic intellectual who espouses a violent message, while avoiding direct entanglements in acts of terror. The cases of Mirzabeyogluna and Blue were similar, Mr. Pamuk said. “Some Islamists kill, but he didn’t, but he’s been locked up for a very long time.”


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He seemed to tense up slightly as we left the mosque and wandered into one of Istanbul’s hard-core Sunni neighborhoods. “We could be in a different country,” he said in a soft voice. Salafist men with long beards and skullcaps sat on benches in tidy plazas; women in black abayas walked with their children down a cobblestone street past a madrassa, an Islamic school.

The sun had begun to set on this wintry afternoon, bathing the Golden Horn in shadow. We stood in the terraced garden of a mosque, gazing over the landmarks of Istanbul — the red roofs of Cihangir, the 13th-century Galata Tower, one of the few surviving traces of Byzantium. We had been walking for more than four hours, across half a dozen neighborhoods, peeling away Istanbul’s tourist-friendly facade to expose the complex fabric beneath it.

“That’s the beauty of living here,” Mr. Pamuk told me. Then we descended along steep cobblestone alleys leading to the Ataturk Bridge, beginning the long journey home.

Joshua Hammer is a frequent contributor to Travel. His next book, “Taking Timbuktu,” will be published by Simon & Schuster in 2015.

DETAILS

Vefa Bozacisi (Katip Celebi Caddesi 104/1, Sultanahmet; 90-212-519-4922; vefa.com.tr/english) is a cafe tucked in the shadow of the Fatih mosque that specializes in boza by the glass. Boza, which is made of millet, semolina, water and sugar, was first brewed in medieval times in Anatolia and southern Russia. The tangy drink contains just a fraction of the alcoholic content of beer. The shop opened in 1876 and was patronized in its heyday by Kemal Ataturk, whose silver chalice is prominently displayed. Available to go are bottles of home-produced lemon sauce, pomegranate sauce and balsamic vinegar.

The Museum of Innocence (Cukurcuma Caddesi, Dalgic Cikmazi 2, Beyoglu; 90-212-252-9738; masumiyetmuzesi.org)  occupies a four story, wine-red building in a lively neighborhood of antiques shops and flea markets high above the Bosporus. Featuring 83 display cases crammed with items drawn from Orhan Pamuk’s novel “The Museum of Innocence,” the museum offers free entry to anyone who brings a copy of the book (the ticket is printed on the last pages). For those who come empty handed, admission is 25 Turkish lira, or about $11.50 at 2.2 lira to the dollar.HERO DYD

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather than the year in which it is held. For example, Super Bowl I was played on January 15, 1967, following the 1966 regular season, while Super Bowl XLVIII will be played on February 2, 2014, following the 2013 season.

The game was created as part of a merger agreement between the NFL and its then-rival league, the American Football League (AFL). It was agreed that the two leagues' champion teams would play in the AFL–NFL World Championship Game until the merger was to officially begin in 1970. After the merger, each league was redesignated as a "conference", and the game was then played between the conference champions. Currently, the National Football Conference (NFC) leads the league with 25 wins to 22 wins for the American Football Conference (AFC). The Pittsburgh Steelers hold the record for Super Bowl victories with six.
The day on which the Super Bowl is played, now considered by some a de facto American national holiday,[1][2] is called "Super Bowl Sunday". It is the second-largest day for U.S. food consumption, after Thanksgiving Day.[3] In addition, the Super Bowl has frequently been the most watched American television broadcast of the year; the four most-watched broadcasts in U.S. television history are Super Bowls.[4] In 2011, Super Bowl XLV became the most-watched American television program in history with an average audience of 111 million viewers, surpassing the previous year's Super Bowl, which itself had taken over the number-one spot held for 28 years by the final episode of M*A*S*H.[5] The Super Bowl is also among the most-watched sporting events in the world, almost all audiences being North American, and is second to soccer's UEFA Champions League Final as the most watched annual sporting event worldwide.[6]
Due to the event's high viewership, commercial airtime during the Super Bowl broadcast is the most expensive of the year, leading to companies regularly developing their most expensive advertisements for this broadcast. As a result, watching and discussing the broadcast's commercials has become a significant aspect of the event.[7] In addition, popular singers and musicians including Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Whitney Houston have
performed during the event's pre-game and halftime ceremonies.

The Vince Lombardi Trophy has been awarded to the Super Bowl winner each year since its inception.
For four decades after its 1920 inception, the NFL successfully fended off several rival leagues. However, in 1960, it encountered its most serious competitor when the American Football League (AFL) was formed. The AFL vied heavily with the NFL for both players and fans, but by the middle of the decade the strain of competition led to serious merger talks between the two leagues. Prior to the 1966 season, the NFL and AFL reached a merger agreement that was to take effect for the 1970 season. As part of the merger, the champions of the two leagues agreed to meet in a "world" championship game for professional American football until the merger was effected.
Lamar Hunt, owner of the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs, first used the term "Super Bowl"[8] to refer to this game in the merger meetings. Hunt would later say the name was likely in his head because his children had been playing with a Super Ball toy (a vintage example of the ball is on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio). In a July 25, 1966, letter to NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle, Hunt wrote, "I have kiddingly called it the 'Super Bowl,' which obviously can be improved upon." Although the leagues' owners decided on the name "AFL-NFL Championship Game," the media immediately picked up on Hunt's "Super Bowl" name, which would become official beginning with the third annual game.[9]
The "Super Bowl" name was derived from the bowl game, a post-season college football game. The original "bowl game" was the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California, which was first played in 1902 as the "Tournament East-West football game" as part of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses and moved to the new Rose Bowl Stadium in 1923. The stadium got its name from the fact that the game played there was part of the Tournament of Roses and that it was shaped like a bowl, much like the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut; the Tournament of Roses football game itself eventually came to be known as the Rose Bowl Game. Exploiting the Rose Bowl Game's popularity, post-season college football contests were created for Miami (the Orange Bowl) and New Orleans (the Sugar Bowl) in 1935, and for Dallas (the Cotton Bowl) in 1937. Thus, by the time the first Super Bowl was played, the term "bowl" for any big-time American football game was well established.
After the NFL's Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls, some team owners feared for the future of the merger. At the time, many doubted the competitiveness of AFL teams compared with their NFL counterparts, though that perception changed when the AFL's New York Jets defeated the NFL's Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in Miami. One year later, the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs defeated the NFL's Minnesota Vikings 23–7 in Super Bowl IV in New Orleans, which was the final AFL-NFL World Championship Game played before the merger. Beginning with the 1970 season, the NFL realigned into two conferences; the former AFL teams plus three NFL teams (the Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Cleveland Browns) would constitute the American Football Conference (AFC), while the remaining NFL clubs would form the National Football Conference (NFC). The champions of the two conferences would play each other in the Super Bowl.
The winning team receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after the coach of the Green Bay Packers, who won the first two Super Bowl games and three of the five preceding NFL championships in 1961, 1962, and 1965. Following Lombardi's death in September, 1970, the trophy was named the Vince Lombardi Trophy, and was the first awarded as such to the Baltimore Colts following their win in Super Bowl V in Miami.
Date[edit]

The game is played annually on a Sunday as the final game of the NFL Playoffs. Originally, the game took place in early to mid-January, following a fourteen-game regular season and two rounds of playoffs. Over the years, the date of the Super Bowl has progressed from the second Sunday in January, to the third, then the fourth Sunday in January; the game is currently played on the first Sunday in February, given the current seventeen-week (sixteen games and one bye week) regular season and three rounds of playoffs. Also, February is television's "sweeps" month, thus affording the television network carrying the game an immense opportunity to pad its viewership when negotiating for advertising revenue. The progression of the dates of the Super Bowl was caused by several factors: the expansion of the NFL's regular season in 1978 from fourteen games to sixteen; the expansion of the pre-Super Bowl playoff field from six teams (two AFL and four NFL) prior to the merger, to eight in the 1970–71 season, then to ten in 1978–79, and finally twelve in 1990–91, necessitating additional rounds of playoffs; the addition of the regular season bye-week in the 1990s; and the decision to start the regular season the week following Labor Day.
To date, 36 games have been played in January, and 11 in February. The earliest game played was Super Bowl XI on January 9, 1977. The latest played was Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010. The most frequent date for the game has been January 26, with four games played. Between January 9 and February 7, the only dates not to feature the game have been January 10, 19 and 23. Super Bowl XLVIII will be the first Super Bowl played on February 2, a date commonly celebrated as Groundhog Day.
Game history[edit]

For a full list of Super Bowl games and champions, see List of Super Bowl champions.
Total Super Bowl titles
Team Titles
Pittsburgh Steelers 6
Dallas Cowboys 5
San Francisco 49ers 5
Green Bay Packers 4**
New York Giants 4
Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders 3
New England Patriots 3
Washington Redskins 3
Baltimore Ravens 2
Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts 2
Denver Broncos 2
Miami Dolphins 2
Chicago Bears 1
Kansas City Chiefs 1*
St. Louis Rams 1
New Orleans Saints 1
New York Jets 1*
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1
Nr of * Includes Super Bowl title(s) before the 1970 AFL–NFL merger when it was also known as the AFL–NFL World Championship Game.
Further information:
List of Super Bowl champions
The Pittsburgh Steelers have won six Super Bowls, the most of any team; the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers have five victories each; and both the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants have four Super Bowl championships. Thirteen other NFL franchises have won at least one Super Bowl. Ten teams have appeared in Super Bowl games without a win. The Minnesota Vikings were the first team to have appeared a record four times without a win. The Buffalo Bills played in a record four Super Bowls in a row, and lost every one. Four teams (the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Houston Texans) have never appeared in a Super Bowl. The Browns and Lions both won NFL Championships prior to the Super Bowl's creation, while the Jaguars (1995) and Texans (2002) are both recent NFL expansion teams. The Minnesota Vikings won the last NFL Championship before the merger, but lost to the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl IV.
1960s: Early history[edit]
The Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders following the 1966 and 1967 seasons, respectively. The Packers were led by quarterback Bart Starr, who was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for both games. These two championships, coupled with the Packers' NFL championships in 1961, 1962, and 1965, amount to the most successful stretch in NFL History; five championships in seven years. As owners of arguably the only true NFL dynasty, Green Bay, Wisconsin has been named "Titletown, USA".[10][11]
In Super Bowl III, the AFL's New York Jets defeated the eighteen-point favorite Baltimore Colts of the NFL, 16–7. The Jets were led by quarterback Joe Namath (who had famously guaranteed a Jets win prior to the game) and former Colts head coach Weeb Ewbank, and their victory proved that the AFL was the NFL's competitive equal. This was reinforced the following year, when the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs defeated the NFL's Minnesota Vikings 23–7 in Super Bowl IV.
1970s: Dominant franchises[edit]


The six Vince Lombardi Trophies won by the Pittsburgh Steelers
After the AFL-NFL merger was completed in 1970, three franchises – the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, and Pittsburgh Steelers – would go on to dominate the 1970s, winning a combined eight Super Bowls in the decade.
The Baltimore Colts, now a member of the AFC, would start the decade by defeating the Cowboys in Super Bowl V, a game which is notable as being the only Super Bowl to date in which a player from the losing team won the MVP award (Cowboys' linebacker Chuck Howley).
The Cowboys, coming back from a loss the previous season, won Super Bowl VI over the Dolphins. However, this would be the Dolphins' final loss in over a year, as the next year, the Dolphins would go 14–0 in the regular season, and cap it off with a victory in Super Bowl VII, becoming the first and only team to finish an entire regular season and post season perfect. The Dolphins would win Super Bowl VIII a year later.
In the late 1970s, the Steelers became the first NFL dynasty of the post-merger era by winning four Super Bowls (IX, X, XIII, and XIV) in six years. They were led by head coach Chuck Noll, the play of offensive stars Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, and Mike Webster, and their dominant "Steel Curtain" defense, led by "Mean" Joe Greene, L.C. Greenwood, Ernie Holmes, Mel Blount, Jack Ham, and Jack Lambert. The coaches and administrators also were part of the dynasty's greatness as evidenced by the team's "final pieces" being part of the famous 1974 draft. The selections in that class have been considered the best by any pro franchise ever, as Pittsburgh selected four future Hall of Famers, the most for any team in any sport in a single draft. The Steelers were the first team to win three and then four Super Bowls and appeared in six AFC Championship Games during the decade, making the playoffs in eight straight seasons. Nine players and three coaches and administrators on the team have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Pittsburgh still remains the only team to win back-to-back Super Bowls twice and four Super Bowls in a six-year period.
The Steelers' dynasty was interrupted only by the Cowboys winning their second Super Bowl of the decade and the Oakland Raiders' Super Bowl XI win.
1980s and 1990s: The NFC's winning streak[edit]
In the 1980s and 1990s, the tables turned for the AFC, as the NFC dominated the Super Bowls of the new decade and most of those of the 1990s. The NFC won 16 of the 20 Super Bowls during these two decades, including 13 straight from Super Bowl XIX to Super Bowl XXXI.
The most successful team of the 1980s was the San Francisco 49ers, which featured the West Coast offense of Hall of Fame head coach Bill Walsh. This offense was led by three-time Super Bowl MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, Super Bowl MVP and Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, and tight end Brent Jones. Under their leadership, the 49ers won four Super Bowls in the decade (XVI, XIX, XXIII, and XXIV) and made nine playoff appearances between 1981 and 1990, including eight division championships, becoming the second dynasty of the post-merger NFL.
The 1980s also produced the 1985 Chicago Bears, who posted an 18–1 record under head coach Mike Ditka; colorful quarterback Jim McMahon; and Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton. Their team won Super Bowl XX in dominating fashion. The Washington Redskins and New York Giants were also top teams of this period; the Redskins won Super Bowls XVII, XXII and XXVI. The Giants claimed Super Bowls XXI and XXV. As in the 1970s, the Oakland Raiders were the only team to interrupt the Super Bowl dominance of other teams; they won Super Bowls XV and XVIII (the latter as the Los Angeles Raiders).
Following several seasons with poor records in 1980s, the Dallas Cowboys rose back to prominence in the 1990s. During this decade, the Cowboys made post season appearances every year except for the seasons of 1990 and 1997. From 1992 to 1996, the Cowboys won their division championship each year. In this same period, the Buffalo Bills had made their mark reaching the Super Bowl for 4 consecutive years, only to lose in all of them. After Super Bowl championships by division rivals New York (1990) and Washington (1991), the Cowboys won three of the next four Super Bowls (XXVII, XXVIII, and XXX) led by quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, and wide receiver Michael Irvin. All three of these players went to the Hall of Fame. The Cowboy's streak was interrupted by the 49ers, who won their league-leading fifth title overall with Super Bowl XXIX in dominating fashion under Super Bowl MVP and Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young, Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, and Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders; however, the Cowboys' victory in Super Bowl XXX the next year also gave them five titles overall and they did so with Deion Sanders after he won the Super Bowl the previous year with the 49ers. The NFC's winning streak was continued by the Green Bay Packers who, under quarterback Brett Favre, won Super Bowl XXXI, their first championship since Super Bowl II in the late 1960s.
1997–2007: AFC resurgence[edit]
During this period, the Denver Broncos ended the NFC's long Super Bowl streak and started a stretch of its own in which AFC teams won 9 out of 12 Super Bowls. The remainder were won between the Patriots, Steelers, Ravens, and Colts. In the years between 2001 and 2011, three teams – the Patriots, Steelers, and Colts – accounted for ten of the AFC Super Bowl appearances, with those same teams often meeting each other earlier in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the NFC saw a different representative in the Super Bowl every season from 2001 through 2010.
Super Bowl XXXII saw quarterback John Elway and running back Terrell Davis lead the Denver Broncos to an upset victory over the defending champion Packers, snapping the NFC's winning streak and starting a streak in which AFC teams would win eight of the next ten Super Bowls. This marked Elway's first Super Bowl championship in four attempts. The Broncos defeated the Atlanta Falcons in the following Super Bowl, which would be Elway's final game. The surprising St. Louis Rams would close out the 1990s by logging an NFC win in Super Bowl XXXIV.
Super Bowl XXXV was played by the AFC's Baltimore Ravens and the NFC's New York Giants. The Ravens defeated the Giants by the score of 34–7. The game was played on January 28, 2001, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
The New England Patriots became the dominant team throughout the early 2000s, winning the championship three out of four years early in the decade. They would become only the second team in the history of the NFL to do so (after the 1990s Dallas Cowboys). In Super Bowl XXXVI, first-year starting quarterback Tom Brady led his team to a 20–17 upset victory over the St. Louis Rams. Brady would go on to win the MVP award for this game. The Patriots also won Super Bowls XXXVIII[12] and XXXIX defeating the Carolina Panthers and the Philadelphia Eagles respectively. This four-year stretch of Patriot dominance was only interrupted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Super Bowl XXXVII victory.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts continued the era of AFC dominance by winning Super Bowls XL and XLI.
2008–Present: Parity[edit]
The late 2000s and early 2010s saw an era of parity among both conferences. Between 2008 and 2013, five teams won the Super Bowl and nine played in it, with the Giants winning twice (2008, 2012).[13]
In the 2007 season, the Patriots became the second team in NFL history to have a perfect regular season record, after the 1972 Miami Dolphins, and the first to finish 16–0. They easily marched through the AFC playoffs and were heavy favorites in Super Bowl XLII. However, they lost that game to the New York Giants 17–14.
The Giants won another title after the 2011 season, again defeating the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI. Between the Giants' two titles, the Steelers logged their record sixth Super Bowl title (XLIII), the New Orleans Saints won their first (XLIV), and the Green Bay Packers won their fourth Super Bowl (XLV) and record thirteenth NFL championship overall.
The Baltimore Ravens continued the cycle by winning Super Bowl XLVII.
Super Bowl XLVIII, scheduled for New Jersey's MetLife Stadium in February 2014, will be the first Super Bowl held outdoors in a cold weather environment. The game will match the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks.
The Super Bowls of the late 2000s and early 2010s are marked by the performances of several of the winning quarterbacks. Tom Brady twice, Ben Roethlisberger twice, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning twice, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and Joe Flacco all added championships and Super Bowl MVP awards to their lists of individual accomplishments.
Television coverage and ratings[edit]

See also: List of most watched television broadcasts#United States


The Super Bowl XXXV broadcasting compound, full of satellite trucks.
The Super Bowl is one of the most watched annual sporting events in the world. The only other annual event that gathers more viewers is the UEFA Champions League final, which surpassed the Super Bowl XLIII in 2009 to become the most watched that year. For many years, the Super Bowl has possessed a large US and global television viewership, and it is often the most watched United States originating television program of the year.[14] The game tends to have high Nielsen television ratings, which is usually around a 40 rating and 60 share. This means that on average, 80 to 90 million people from the United States are tuned into the Super Bowl at any given moment.
In press releases preceding each year's event, the NFL typically claims that that year's Super Bowl will have a potential worldwide audience of around one billion people in over 200 countries.[15] This figure refers to the number of people able to watch the game, not the number of people actually watching. However the statements have been frequently misinterpreted in various media as referring to the latter figure, leading to a common misperception about the game's actual global audience.[16][17] The New York-based media research firm Initiative measured the global audience for the 2005 Super Bowl at 93 million people, with 98 percent of that figure being viewers in North America, which meant roughly 2 million people outside North America watched the Super Bowl that year.[16]
2012's Super Bowl XLVI holds the record for total number of U.S. viewers, attracting an average U.S. audience of over 111 million and an estimated total audience of nearly 167 million, making the game the most-viewed television broadcast of any kind in American history.[18]
The highest-rated game according to Nielsen was Super Bowl XVI in 1982, which was watched in 49.1 percent of households (73 share), or 40,020,000 households at the time. Ratings for that game, a San Francisco victory over Cincinnati, may have been aided by a large blizzard that had affected much of the northeastern United States on game day, leaving residents to stay at home more than usual. Also, because network television was still the predominant means of viewership and pay television services (cable, and later satellite) were still relatively unavailable, there were not many choices of things to watch on television.[citation needed] Super Bowl XVI still ranks fourth on Nielsen's list of top-rated programs of all time, and three other Super Bowls, XII, XVII, and XX, made the top ten.[19]
Famous commercial campaigns include the Budweiser "Bud Bowl" campaign and the 1999 and 2000 dot-com ads. Prices have increased every year, with advertisers paying as much as $3.5 million for a thirty-second spot during Super Bowl XLVI in 2012.[20] A segment of the audience tunes into the Super Bowl solely to view commercials.[7] The Super Bowl halftime show has spawned another set of alternative entertainment such as the Lingerie Bowl, the Beer Bottle Bowl, and other facets of American culture.
The Super Bowl is scheduled for East Coast viewers, and has begun between 6:19 and 6:41 EST since 1991[21] .
Super Bowl on TV[edit]
Network Number broadcast Years broadcast Future scheduled telecasts**[›]
ABC*[›] 7 1985, 1988, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2006 *[›]
CBS 18 1967***[›], 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1992, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013 2016, 2019, 2022
Fox 6 1997, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011 2014, 2017, 2020, 2023
NBC 17 1967***[›], 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2009, 2012 2015, 2018, 2021
Note: Years listed are the year the game was actually played rather than what NFL season it is considered to have been
^ *: Not currently broadcasting NFL.
^ **: The extended current TV contracts with the networks expire after the 2022 season (or Super Bowl LVII in early 2023) and the Super Bowl is rotated annually between CBS, Fox and NBC in that order.
^ ***: The first Super Bowl was simultaneously broadcast by CBS and NBC, with each network using the same video feed, but providing its own commentary.
Super Bowls I–VI were blacked out in the television markets of the host cities, due to league restrictions then in place.[22]
Game analyst John Madden is the only person to broadcast a Super Bowl for each of the four networks that have televised the game (5 with CBS, 3 with FOX, 2 with ABC, 1 with NBC).
Lead-out programming[edit]
See also: List of Super Bowl lead-out programs
The Super Bowl provides an extremely strong lead-in to programming following it on the same channel, the effects of which can last for several hours. For instance, in discussing the ratings of a local TV station, Buffalo television critic Alan Pergament noted on the coattails from Super Bowl XLVII, which aired on CBS: "A paid program that ran on Channel 4 (WIVB-TV) at 2:30 in the morning had a 1.3 rating. That’s higher than some CW prime time shows get on WNLO-TV, Channel 4’s sister station."[23]
Because of this strong coattail effect, the network that airs the Super Bowl typically takes advantage of the large audience to air an episode of a hit series, or to premiere the pilot of a promising new one in the lead-out slot, which immediately follows the Super Bowl and post-game coverage.[24]
Entertainment[edit]

See also: List of national anthem performers at the Super Bowl and List of Super Bowl halftime shows
Initially, it was sort of a novelty and so it didn't quite feel right. But it was just like, this is the year. ... Bands of our generation, you can sort of be seen on a stage like this or, like, not seen. There's not a lot of middle places. It is a tremendous venue.

— Bruce Springsteen on why he turned down several invitations to perform at the Super Bowl before finally agreeing to appear in Super Bowl XLIII.[25]



Jennifer Hudson sings the national anthem at Super Bowl XLIII.


Madonna performing with LMFAO during the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show.
Early Super Bowls featured a halftime show consisting of marching bands from local colleges or high schools; but as the popularity of the game increased, a trend where popular singers and musicians performed during its pre-game ceremonies and the halftime show, or simply sang the national anthem of the United States, emerged.[26] Unlike regular season or playoff games, thirty minutes are allocated for the Super Bowl halftime. The first halftime show to have featured only one star performer was Super Bowl XXVII in 1993, at which Michael Jackson performed. The NFL specifically went after him to increase viewership and to continue expanding the Super Bowl's realm.[27] Sports bloggers have ranked Jackson's appearance as the No. 1 Super Bowl halftime show since its inception.[28] Another notable performance came during Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002, when U2 performed; during their third song, "Where the Streets Have No Name", the band played under a large projection screen which scrolled through names of the victims of the September 11 attacks.
The halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 generated controversy when Justin Timberlake removed a piece of Janet Jackson's top, exposing her right breast with a star-shaped pastie around the nipple. Timberlake and Jackson have maintained that the incident was accidental, calling it a "wardrobe malfunction". The game was airing live on CBS, and MTV had produced the halftime show. Immediately after the moment, the footage jump-cut to a wide-angle shot and went to a commercial break; however, video captures of the moment in detail circulated quickly on the internet. The NFL, embarrassed by the incident, permanently banned MTV from conducting future halftime shows. This also led to the FCC tightening controls on indecency and fining CBS and CBS-owned stations a total of $550,000 for the incident. The fine was later reversed in July 2008. CBS and MTV eventually split into two separate companies in part because of the fiasco,[citation needed] with CBS going under the control of CBS Corporation and MTV falling under the banner of Viacom (although both corporations remain under the ownership of National Amusements). For six years following the incident, all of the performers in Super Bowl halftime shows were artists associated with the classic rock genre of the 1970s and 1980s (including three acts from the British Invasion of the 1960s), with only one act playing the entire halftime show. Paul McCartney (formerly of The Beatles) played Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005, The Rolling Stones played Super Bowl XL in 2006, and The Who played Super Bowl XLIV in 2010. The halftime show returned to a modern act in 2011 with The Black Eyed Peas. But during the halftime show of Super Bowl XLVI in 2012, M.I.A. gave the middle finger during a performance of "Give Me All Your Luvin'" with Madonna, which was caught by TV cameras. An attempt to censor the gesture by blurring the entire screen came late.[29]
Excluding Super Bowl XXXIX, the famous "I'm going to Disney World!" advertising campaign took place at every Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXI, when quarterback Phil Simms from the New York Giants became the first player to say the tagline. The Walt Disney Company ran the ad several times during the game[which?], showing several players from both teams practicing the catch-phrase.[citation needed]
In 2011, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said, "It's commonly known as the single largest human trafficking incident in the United States." According to Forbes, 10,000 prostitutes were brought to Miami in 2010 for the Super Bowl.[30]
Venue[edit]

For a full list of Super Bowl games and venues, see List of Super Bowl games.


Detroit's Ford Field the night of Super Bowl XL in 2006.
As of Super Bowl XLVII, 27 of 47 Super Bowls have been played in three cities; New Orleans (ten times), the Greater Miami area (ten times), or the Greater Los Angeles area (seven times). Stadiums that do not host an NFL franchise are not, by rule, prohibited from hosting the Super Bowl, and non-NFL stadiums have hosted the game nine times, with the Rose Bowl accounting for five of these. To date, however, no market or region without an NFL franchise has ever hosted a Super Bowl; all five Rose Bowl Super Bowls were hosted before the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Raiders left for St. Louis and Oakland respectively in 1995.
No team has ever played the Super Bowl in its home stadium. The closest have been the San Francisco 49ers who played Super Bowl XIX in Stanford Stadium, rather than Candlestick Park, and the Los Angeles Rams who played Super Bowl XIV in the Rose Bowl, rather than the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In both cases, the stadium in which the Super Bowl was held was perceived to be a better stadium for a large, high-profile event than the stadiums the Rams and 49ers were playing in at the time; this situation has not arisen since 1993, in part because the league has traditionally awarded the Super Bowl in modern times to the newest stadiums. Besides those two, the only other Super Bowl venue that was not the home stadium to an NFL team at the time was Rice Stadium in Houston: the Houston Oilers had played there previously, but moved to the Astrodome several years prior to Super Bowl VIII. The Orange Bowl was the only AFL stadium to host a Super Bowl and the only stadium to host consecutive Super Bowls, hosting Super Bowls II and III.
Traditionally, the NFL does not award Super Bowls to stadiums that are located in climates with an expected average daily temperature less than 50°F (10°C) on game day unless the field can be completely covered by a fixed or retractable roof. Four Super Bowls have been played in northern cities: two in the Detroit area—Super Bowl XVI at Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan and Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit—, one in Minneapolis—Super Bowl XXVI, and one in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium for Super Bowl XLVI. These four stadiums all have a roof. However, despite not having a retractable roof, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey was chosen for Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014, in an apparent waiver of the warm-climate rule.
There have been a few instances where the league has yanked the Super Bowl from cities. Super Bowl XXVII in 1993 was originally awarded to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, but after Arizona voted to not recognize Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 1990, the NFL moved the game to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California in protest.[31] After Arizona opted to create the holiday by ballot in 1992, Super Bowl XXX in 1996 was awarded to Tempe. Super Bowl XLIV, slated for February 7, 2010, was withdrawn from New York City's proposed West Side Stadium, because the city, state, and proposed tenants New York Jets could not agree on funding. Super Bowl XLIV was then eventually awarded to Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. And Super Bowl XLIX in 2015 was originally given to Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, but after two sales taxes failed to pass at the ballot box, and opposition by local business leaders and politicians increased, Kansas City eventually withdrew its request to host the game.[32] Super Bowl XLIX was then eventually awarded to University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Selection process[edit]
The location of the Super Bowl is chosen by the NFL well in advance, usually three to five years before the game. Cities place bids to host a Super Bowl and are evaluated in terms of stadium renovation and their ability to host.[33] The NFL owners then meet to make a selection on the site. In 2007, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suggested that a Super Bowl might be played in London, England, perhaps at Wembley Stadium.[34] The game has never been played in a region that lacks an NFL franchise; seven Super Bowls have been played in Los Angeles, but none since the Los Angeles Raiders and Los Angeles Rams relocated to Oakland and St. Louis respectively in 1995. New Orleans, the site of the 2013 Super Bowl, invested more than $1 billion in infrastructure improvements in the years leading up to the game.[35]
Home team designation[edit]
The designated "home team" alternates between the NFC team in odd-numbered games and the AFC team in even-numbered games.[36][37] This alternation was initiated with the first Super Bowl, when the Green Bay Packers were the designated home team. Regardless of being the home or away team of record, each team has their team wordmark painted in one of the end zones along with their conference designation. Designated away teams have won 27 of 47 Super Bowls to date (57.4%).
Since Super Bowl XIII in January 1979, the home team is given the choice of wearing their colored or white jerseys. Formerly, the designated home team was specified to wear their colored jerseys, which resulted in Dallas donning their less familiar dark blue jerseys for Super Bowl V. While most of the home teams in the Super Bowl have chosen to wear their colored jerseys, there have been four exceptions; the Cowboys during Super Bowl XIII and XXVII, the Washington Redskins during Super Bowl XVII, and the Pittsburgh Steelers during Super Bowl XL. The Cowboys, since 1965, and Redskins, since the arrival of coach Joe Gibbs in 1981,[needs update] have traditionally worn white jerseys at home. Meanwhile, the Steelers, who have always worn their black jerseys at home since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, opted for the white jerseys after winning three consecutive playoff games on the road, wearing white. The Steelers' decision was compared with the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX; the Patriots had worn white jerseys at home during the 1985 season, but after winning road playoff games against the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins wearing red jerseys, New England opted to switch to red for the Super Bowl as the designated home team. White-shirted teams have won 29 of 47 Super Bowls to date (61.7%).
Host cities/regions[edit]
For a full list of Super Bowl venues, see List of Super Bowl games.
Super Bowl is located in United States

Miami

New Orleans

L.A. Area

Tampa

San Diego

Houston

Detroit

Atlanta

Phoenix

Minneapolis

Jacksonville

S.F. Bay Area

Dallas‑Fort Worth

Indianapolis

N.Y. Metro Area
Super Bowl host cities/regions (Future regions that have never hosted before in italics)
Fifteen different regions have hosted, or are scheduled to host, Super Bowls.
City/Region No. hosted Years hosted
Miami Area 10 1968, 1969, 1971, 1976, 1979, 1989, 1995, 1999, 2007, 2010
New Orleans 10 1970, 1972, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1986, 1990, 1997, 2002, 2013
Los Angeles Metropolitan Area 7 1967, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1993
Tampa Bay Area 4 1984, 1991, 2001, 2009
San Diego 3 1988, 1998, 2003
Phoenix Area 3 1996, 2008, 2015
Houston 3 1974, 2004, 2017
Metro Detroit 2 1982, 2006
Atlanta 2 1994, 2000
San Francisco Bay Area 2 1985, 2016
Minneapolis–Saint Paul 1 1992
Jacksonville 1 2005
Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex 1 2011
Indianapolis 1 2012
New York Metropolitan Area 1 2014
Note: Years listed are the year the game was actually played rather than what NFL season it is considered to have been
Host stadiums[edit]
A total of twenty-two different stadiums have hosted, or are scheduled to host, Super Bowls.
Stadium Location No. hosted Years hosted
Louisiana/Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana 7 1978, 1981, 1986, 1990, 1997, 2002, 2013
Miami Orange Bowl Miami, Florida 5 1968, 1969, 1971, 1976, 1979
Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphin/Sun Life Stadium Miami Gardens, Florida 5 1989, 1995, 1999, 2007, 2010
Rose Bowl Pasadena, California 5 1977, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1993
Tulane Stadium New Orleans, Louisiana 3 1970, 1972, 1975
Jack Murphy/Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, California 3 1988, 1998, 2003
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, California 2 1967, 1973
Tampa Stadium Tampa, Florida 2 1984, 1991
Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia 2 1994, 2000
Raymond James Stadium Tampa, Florida 2 2001, 2009
University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, Arizona 2* 2008, 2015
Reliant Stadium Houston, Texas 2* 2004, 2017
Rice Stadium Houston, Texas 1 1974
Pontiac Silverdome Pontiac, Michigan 1 1982
Stanford Stadium† Stanford, California 1 1985
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, Minnesota 1 1992
Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, Arizona 1 1996
EverBank Field Jacksonville, Florida 1 2005
Ford Field Detroit, Michigan 1 2006
AT&T Stadium Arlington, Texas 1 2011
Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, Indiana 1 2012
MetLife Stadium East Rutherford, New Jersey 1* 2014
Levi's Stadium Santa Clara, California 1* 2016
Note: Years listed are the year the game was actually played rather than what NFL season it is considered to have been
Italics indicate a stadium that is now demolished.
† The original Stanford Stadium, which hosted Super Bowl XIX, was demolished and replaced with a new stadium in 2006.
* references a future Super Bowl site
2014 – MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey (1)
2015 – University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona (2)
2016 – Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California (2)
2017 – Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas (3)
2018 – Site to be selected in May 2014 from the following finalists: Vikings Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana; and Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana[38]
The game has never been played in a region that lacked an NFL franchise, though cities without NFL teams are not categorically ineligible to host the event. London, England has occasionally been mentioned as a host city for a Super Bowl in the near future.[39] Wembley Stadium has hosted several NFL games as part of the NFL International Series and is specifically designed for large, individual events. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has openly discussed the possibility on different occasions.[40][41][42][43] Time zone complications are a significant obstacle to a Super Bowl in London; a typical 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time start would result in the game beginning at 11:30 p.m. local time in London, an unusually late hour to be holding spectator sports (the NFL has never in its history started a game later than 9:15 p.m. local time).[43]
Super Bowl trademark[edit]

The NFL is vigilant on stopping what it says is unauthorized commercial use of its trademarked terms "NFL," "Super Bowl," and "Super Sunday." As a result, many events and promotions tied to the game, but not sanctioned by the NFL, are forced to refer to it with colloquialisms such as "The Big Game," or other generic descriptions.[44] A radio spot for Planters nuts parodied this, by saying "it would be super...to have a bowl...of Planters nuts while watching the big game!" and comedian Stephen Colbert began referring to the game in 2014 as the "Superb Owl." The NFL claims that the use of the phrase "Super Bowl" implies an NFL affiliation, and on this basis the league asserts broad rights to restrict how the game may be shown publicly; for example, the league says Super Bowl showings are prohibited in churches or at other events that "promote a message," while venues that do not regularly show sporting events cannot show the Super Bowl on any television screen larger than 55 inches.[45] Some critics say the NFL is exaggerating its ownership rights by stating that "any use is prohibited," as this contradicts the broad doctrine of fair use in the United States.[45] Legislation was proposed by Utah Senator Orrin Hatch in 2008 "to provide an exemption from exclusive rights in copyright for certain nonprofit organizations to display live football games," and "for other purposes."[46]
In 2006, the NFL made an attempt to trademark "The Big Game" as well; however, it withdrew the application in 2007 due to growing commercial and public-relations opposition to the move, mostly from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley and their fans, as the Stanford Cardinal football and California Golden Bears football teams compete in the Big Game, which has been played since 1892 (28 years before the formation of the NFL and 75 years before Super Bowl I).[47] Additionally, the Mega Millions lottery game was known as The Big Game from 1996–2002.[48]
Use of the phrase "world champions"[edit]

Main article: Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada#Use of the phrase "world champions"
Like the other major professional leagues in the United States, the winner of the Super Bowl is usually declared "world champions", a title often mocked by non-Americans.[49][50] Although American football is broadcast around the world, professional teams are scarce outside of the United States, since the 2007 demise of the NFL Europe league. That leads some, even those close to "world champions" themselves, to question whether the title is accurate. Others feel the title is fitting, since it's the only professional league of its kind.[51]
The practice by the U.S. major leagues of using the "World Champion" moniker originates from the World Series, and it was later used during the first three Super Bowls when they were referred to as AFL-NFL World Championship Games. The phrase is still engraved on the Super Bowl rings.HERO DYD

Phenomena

This is a partial list of social and cultural phenomena specific to the Internet, such as popular themes, catchphrases, images, viral videos, jokes, and more. When such fads and sensations occur online, they tend to grow rapidly and become more widespread because the instant communication facilitates word of mouth. Contents [hide] 1 Advertising 2 Animation and comics 3 Email 4 Film 5 Gaming 6 Images 7 Music 8 Videos 9 Other phenomena 10 See also 11 References 12 External links Advertising The Shake Weight Blendtec – The blender product, claimed by its creator Tom Dickson to be the most powerful blender, is featured in a series of YouTube videos, "Will It Blend?" where numerous food and non-food items are used within the blender.[1] Cooks Source infringement controversy – An advertising-supported publication's dismissive response to copyright infringement complaint causes online backlash.[2] Elf Yourself (2006) and its related Scrooge Yourself (2007) are both interactive websites created by Jason Zada and Evolution Bureau for OfficeMax's holiday season advertising campaign. Elf Yourself allows visitors to upload images of themselves or their friends, see them as dancing elves,[3][4] and includes options to post the created video to other sites or save it as a personalized mini-film.[5] According to ClickZ, visiting the Elf Yourself site "has become an annual tradition that people look forward to".[6] While not selling any one specific product, the two were created to raise consumer awareness of the sponsoring firm.[7] Embrace Life – A public service announcement for seatbelt advocacy made for a local area of the United Kingdom that achieved a million hits on its first two weeks on YouTube in 2010.[8][9] FreeCreditReport.com – A series of TV commercials that were posted on the Internet; many spoofs of the commercials were made and posted on YouTube.[10] HeadOn – A June 2006 advertisement for a homeopathic product claimed to relieve headaches. Ads featured the tagline, "HeadOn. Apply directly to the forehead", stated three times in succession, accompanied by a video of a model using the product without ever directly stating the product's
purpose. The ads were successively parodied on sites such as YouTube and rapper Lil Jon even made fun of it.[11] Little Darth Vader – An advertisement by Volkswagen featuring young Max Page dressed in a Darth Vader costume running around his house trying to use "The Force". It was released on the Internet a few days prior to Super Bowl XLV in 2011, and quickly became popular.[12] It eventually became the most shared ad of all-time.[13] LowerMyBills.com – Banner ads from this mortgage company feature endless loops of cowboys, women, aliens, and office workers dancing.[14][15] The Man Your Man Could Smell Like – A television commercial starring Isaiah Mustafa reciting a quick, deadpan monologue while shirtless about how "anything is possible" if men use Old Spice. It eventually led to a popular viral marketing campaign which had Mustafa responding to various Internet comments in short YouTube videos on Old Spice's YouTube channel.[16] "Nope, Chuck Testa" – A local commercial made for Ojai Valley Taxidermy, owned by Chuck Testa, suggesting that the stuffed creatures were alive until Testa appeared, saying "Nope, Chuck Testa!"; the ad soon went viral.[17][18] Shake Weight – Infomercial clips of the modified dumbbell went viral as a result of the product's sexually suggestive nature.[19] Animation and comics Neil Cicierega, creator of several Flash-based animations Evan and Gregg Spiridellis, founders of JibJab The adult brony fans of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic grew from its 4chan roots xkcd's "Wikipedian Protestor" comic Animutations – Early Flash-based animations, pioneered by Neil Cicierega in 2001, typically featuring foreign language songs (primary Japanese, such as "Yatta"), set to random pop-culture images. The form is said to have launched the use of Flash for inexpensive animations that are now more common on the Internet.[20][21][22] Axe Cop – Initially a web comic series with stories created by five-year-old Malachai Nicolle and drawn into comic form by his 29-year-old brother Ethan; the series gained viral popularity on the Internet due to the vividness and non sequitur nature of Malachai's imagination, and has led to physical publication and a series of animated shorts in the 2012–2013 season for the Fox Television Network.[23][24][25] Badger Badger Badger – A hypnotic loop of animal calisthenics set to the chant of "badger, badger, badger", created by Jonti "Weebl" Picking. "Caramelldansen" – A spoof from the Japanese visual novel opening Popotan that shows the two main characters doing a hip swing dance with their hands over their heads, imitating rabbit ears, while the background song plays the sped-up version of the song "Caramelldansen", sung by the Swedish music group Caramell. Also known as Caramelldansen Speedycake Remix or Uma uma dance in Japan, the song was parodied by artists and fans who then copy the animation and include characters from other anime performing the dance.[26][27][28] Charlie the Unicorn – A four-part series of videos involving a unicorn who is repeatedly hoodwinked by two other unnamed unicorns, colored blue and pink, who take him on elaborate adventures in order to steal his belongings or cause him physical harm.[29] Dancing baby – A 3D-rendered dancing baby that first appeared in 1996 by the creators of Character Studio for 3D Studio MAX, and became something of a late 1990s cultural icon in part due to its exposure on world-wide commercials, editorials about Character Studio, and the popular television series Ally McBeal.[30] Happy Tree Friends – A series of Flash cartoons featuring cute cartoon animals experiencing violent and gruesome accidents.[31] Homestar Runner – A Flash animated Internet cartoon by Mike Chapman and Craig Zobel, created in 1996 and popularized in 2000, along with Matt Chapman. The cartoon contains many references to popular culture from the 1980s and 1990s, including video games, television, and popular music.[32] Joe Cartoon – Alias of online cartoonist Joe Shields. Best known for his interactive Flash animations Frog in a Blender[33] and Gerbil in a Microwave,[34] released in 1999.[35] Two of the first Flash cartoons to receive fame on the Internet.[36] Loituma Girl (also known as Leekspin) – Loop of Orihime Inoue from Bleach twirling a leek set to the music of Loituma.[37] My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic – Hasbro's 2010 animated series to revive its toy line was discovered by members of 4chan and subsequently spawned a large adult, mostly male fanbase calling themselves "bronies" and creating numerous Internet memes and mashups based on elements from the show.[38][39] Nyan Cat – A YouTube video of an animated flying cat, set to a Utau song.[40] Rage comics – A large set of pre-drawn images including crudely drawn stick figures, clip art, and other art work, typically assembled through website generators, to allow anyone to assemble a comic and post to various websites and boards; the New York Times claims thousands of these are created daily.[41] Typically these are drawn in response to a real-life event that has angered the comic's creator, hence the term "rage comics", but comics assembled for any other purpose can also be made. Certain images from rage comics are known by specific titles, such as "trollface" (a widely grinning man), "forever alone" (a man crying to himself), or "rage guy" (a man shouting "FUUUUU..."). Salad Fingers – A Flash animation series surrounding a schizophrenic green man in a desolate world populated mostly by deformed, functionally mute people.[42] This Land – Flash animation produced by JibJab featuring cartoon faces of George W. Bush and John Kerry singing a parody of "This Land is Your Land" that spoofs the United States presidential election, 2004. The video became a viral hit and viewed by over 100 million, leading to the production of other JibJab hits, including Good to be in D.C. and Big Box Mart.[43] Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny – A lethal battle royal between many notable real and fictitious characters from popular culture. Set to a song of the same name, written and performed by Neil Cicierega under his musician alias, "Lemon Demon."[44] Weebl and Bob – A series of flash cartoons created by Jonti Picking featuring two egg-shaped characters that like pie and speak in a styleistic manner.[45] xkcd – A webcomic created by Randall Munroe, popularized on the Internet due to a high level of math-, science- and geek-related humor,[46] with certain jokes being reflected in real-life, such as using Wikipedia's "[citation needed]" tag on real world signs[47] or the addition of an audio preview for YouTube comments.[48] Email See also: Virus hoax and Chain-letter Bill Gates Email Beta Test – An email chain-letter that first appeared in 1997 and was still circulating as recently as 2007. The message claims that America Online and Microsoft are conducting a beta test and for each person you forward the email to, you will receive a payment from Bill Gates of more than $200. Realistic contact information for a lawyer appears in the message.[49][50] Craig Shergold – a British former cancer patient who is most famous for receiving an estimated 350 million greeting cards, earning him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1991 and 1992. Variations of the plea for greeting cards sent out on his behalf in 1989 are still being distributed through the Internet, making the plea one of the most persistent urban legends.[51] Goodtimes virus – An infamous, fraudulent virus warning that first appeared in 1994. The email claimed that an email virus with the subject line "Good Times" was spreading, which would "send your CPU into a nth-complexity infinite binary loop", among other dire predictions.[52][53] Lighthouse and naval vessel urban legend – Purportedly an actual transcript of an increasingly heated radio conversation between a U.S. Navy ship and a Canadian who insists the naval vessel change a collision course, ending in the punchline. This urban legend first appeared on the Internet in its commonly quoted format in 1995, although versions of the story predate it by several decades.[54] It continues to circulate; the Military Officers Association of America reported in 2011 that it is forwarded to them an average of three times a day.[55] The Navy has a page specifically devoted to pointing out that many of the ships named weren't even in service at the time.[56] MAKE.MONEY.FAST – One of the first spam messages that was spread primarily through Usenet, or even earlier BBS systems, in the late 1980s or early 1990s. The original email is attributed to an individual who used the name "Dave Rhodes", who may or may not have existed.[57] The message is a classic pyramid scheme – you receive an email with a list of names and are asked to send $5 by postal mail to the person whose name is at the top of the list, add your own name to the bottom, and forward the updated list to a number of other people.[58] A computer mouse from 1983, with a removable mouse ball Mouse Ball Replacement Memo – A memorandum circulated to IBM field service technicians detailing the proper procedures for replacing mouse balls, yet filled with a number of sexual innuendos. The memo actually was written by someone at IBM and distributed to technicians, but it was distributed as a corporate in-joke, and not as an actual policy or procedure. On the Internet, the memo can be traced as far back as 1989.[59] Neiman Marcus Cookie recipe – An email chain-letter dating back to the early 1990s, but originating as Xeroxlore, in which a person tells a story about being ripped off for over $200 for a cookie recipe from Neiman Marcus. The email claims the person is attempting to exact revenge by passing the recipe out for free.[60][61] Nigerian Scam/419 scam – A mail scam attempt popularized by the ability to send millions of emails. The scam claims the sender is a high-ranking official of Nigeria with knowledge of a large sum of money or equivalent goods that they cannot claim but must divest themselves of it; to do so, they claim to require a smaller sum of money up front to access the sum to send to the receiver. The nature of the scam has mutated to be from any number of countries, high-ranking persons, barristers, or relationships to said people.[62] Film Tommy Wiseau of The Room (2003) The Blair Witch Project – The film's producers used Internet marketing to create the impression that the documentary-style horror film featured real, as opposed to fictional, events.[63] Brokeback Mountain – inspired many online parody trailers.[64] Cloverfield – Paramount Pictures used a viral marketing campaign to promote this monster movie.[65] Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus – The theatrical trailer released in mid-May 2009 became a viral hit, scoring over one million hits on MTV.com and another 300,000 hits on YouTube upon launch, prompting brisk pre-orders of the DVD.[66] Re-cut/Mashup Movie Trailers – User-made trailers for established films, using scenes, voice-overs, and music, to alter the appearance of the film's true genre or meaning or to create a new, apparently seamless, film. Examples include casting the thriller-drama The Shining into a romantic comedy, or using footage from the respective films to create Robocop vs. Terminator.[67][68] RedLetterMedia/Mr. Plinkett Reviews – Independent filmmaker Mike Stoklasa's long, in-depth critical reviews of the Star Wars prequel trilogy and several other large budget films, re-enacted under his crotchety "Mr. Plinkett" persona, became highly popular through word-of-mouth on the Internet.[69] Snakes on a Plane – Attracted attention a year before its planned release, and before any promotional material was released, due to the film's working title, its seemingly absurd premise, and the piquing of actor Samuel L. Jackson's interest to work on the film. Producers of the film responded to the Internet buzz by adding several scenes and dialogue imagined by the fans.[70] Marble Hornets is a documentary-style horror, suspense short film series based on alternate reality experiences of the Slenderman tale. Marble Hornets was instrumental in codifying parts of the Slender Man mythos, but is not part of the intercontinuity crossover that includes many of the blogs and vlogs that followed it, although MH does feature in other canons as either a chronicle of real events or a fictional series.[71][72][73] The Room (2003) – Written, produced, directed, and starring Tommy Wiseau, the low budget independent film is considered one of the worst films ever made, but though social media and interest from comedians, gained a large number of fans of movie while further becoming a popular source for memes based on some of the poorly delivered lines in the movie, such as "You're tearing me apart, Lisa!" [74][75] Take This Lollipop (2011) is an interactive horror short film and Facebook app, written and directed by Jason Zada to personalize and underscore the dangers inherent in posting too much personal information about oneself on the Internet. Information gathered from a viewer's Facebook profile by the film's app, used once and then deleted, makes the film different for each viewer.[76][77][78] Gaming "The cake is a lie", based on the false promise of a Black Forest cake as a reward, is popularized from the video game series Portal. Actor Kevin Bacon is the centerpiece of the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. "All your base are belong to us" – Badly translated English from the opening cutscene of the European Sega Genesis/Mega Drive version of the 1989 arcade game Zero Wing, which has become a catchphrase, inspiring videos and other derivative works.[79] Giant Enemy Crab – The meme originated during the demonstration of Genji: Days of the Blade at the Sony E3 2006 press conference. The producer Bill Ritch claimed that Genji 2's epic battles were based on "famous battles which actually took place in ancient Japan." Almost immediately after this was spoken, the gameplay footage showed a boss battle against, in his own words, a "giant enemy crab." Popular memes originating from the Genji demonstration included the game features described such as "you attack its weak point for massive damage" and "real-time...weapon change," despite neither of these being at all new to video gaming, being staples of classic 1980s games such as Metroid. In IGN's E3 2006 wrap-up, they listed a number of Genji 2 quotes.[80] Leeroy Jenkins – A World of Warcraft player charges into a high-level dungeon with a distinctive cry of "Leeeeeeeerooooy... Jeeenkins!", ruining the meticulous attack plans of his group and getting them all killed.[81] Line Rider – A Flash game where the player draws lines that act as ramps and hills for a small rider on a sled.[82] I Love Bees – An alternate reality game that was spread virally after a one second mention inside a Halo 2 advertisement. Purported to be a website about Honey Bees that was infected and damaged by a strange Artificial Intelligence, done in a disjointed, chaotic style resembling a crashing computer. At its height, over 500,000 people were checking the website every time it updated.[83] "I Took An Arrow in the Knee" – Non-player characters in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim repeat the line: "I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee". The latter part of this phrase quickly took off as a meme in the form of "I used to X, but then I took an arrow in the knee" with numerous image macros and video parodies created, and soon became overused and considered an annoyance; it was mentioned in an episode of NCIS.[84][85][86] Portal/Portal 2 – The popular video games Portal and its sequel, both written with black humor undertones, introduced several Internet memes, including the phrase "the cake is a lie",[87] the song "Still Alive",[88] and the space-obsessed "Space Core" character.[89] QWOP – A browser based game requiring the player to control a sprint runner by using the Q, W, O, and P keys to control the runner's limbs. The game is notorious difficult to control, typically leaving the runner character flailing about. The concept developed into memes based on the game, as well as describing real-life mishaps as attributable to QWOP.[90] Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon – A trivia/parlor game based around linking an actor to Kevin Bacon through a chain of co-starring actors in films, television, and other productions, with the hypothesis that no actor was more than six connections away from Bacon, similar to the theory of six degrees of separation or the Erdős number in mathematics. The game was created in 1994, just at the start of the wider spread of Internet use, populated further with the creation of movie database sites like IMDb, and since has become a board game and contributed towards the field of network science.[91][92][93] Surgeon Simulator 2013 – An absurd, unrealistic surgical simulation game with game play consisting of the player attempting to perform various surgical procedures, either in an operating room or an ambulance, using difficult controls similar to those of the game QWOP. Initially created by Bossa Studios in a 48-hour period for the 2013 Global Game Jam and released in January 2013, the game was further developed and later released as a full version via Steam in April 2013.[94][95] Images A LOLcat U.S. President Barack Obama jokingly mimics the "McKayla is not impressed" expression in the Oval Office, November 2012. Tron Guy Ate my balls – An early example of an Internet meme. Created to depict a particular celebrity or fictional character eating testicles.[96] Baidu 10 Mythical Creatures – A popular meme in the People's Republic of China regarding a series of mythical creatures, with names which referred to various Chinese profanities.[97][98] Seen as a form of protest against increased Internet censorship in China introduced in early 2009.[99][100] Bert is Evil – A satirical website stated that Bert of Sesame Street is the root of many evils. A juxtaposition of Bert and Osama Bin Laden subsequently appeared in a real poster in a Bangladesh protest.[101][102] Rosinés Chávez – In January 2012, Rosinés Chávez, the 14-year-old daughter of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, posted a picture of herself on Instagram holding U.S. currency.[103][104] The Washington Post reported "In polarized Venezuela, where the president excoriates businessmen and calls capitalism a scourge on humanity, the photo touched off a controversy as critics went to social media sites to mock the first family."[105] Soon afterward, other people posted similar pictures of themselves holding cooking oil, coffee, sugar, and other staples which are sometimes hard to obtain in the country.[106] Cigar guy – An October 2010 photograph of Tiger Woods at the 2010 Ryder cup included a costumed man with a wig and cigar, which spread widely and was photoshopped.[107] Crasher Squirrel – A photograph by Melissa Brandts of a squirrel which popped up into a timer-delayed shot of Brandts and her husband while vacationing in Banff National Park, Canada, just as the camera went off. The image of the squirrel has since been added into numerous images on the Internet.[108][109][110] Eastwooding – After Clint Eastwood's speech at the 2012 Republican National Convention, in which he spoke to an empty chair representing President Barack Obama, photos were posted by users on the Internet of people talking to empty chairs, with various captions referring to the chair as either Obama or Eastwood.[111][112][113] Dog shaming – Originating on Tumblr, these images feature images of dogs photographed with signs explaining what antics they recently got up to.[114] Doge - Images of dogs, typically of the Shiba Inus, overlaid with simple but poor grammatical expressions, typically in the Comic Sans MS font, though have since been applied to any picture as a form of commentary.[115] Ecce Homo / Ecce Mono / Potato Jesus – An attempt in August 2012 by a local woman to restore Elías García Martínez's aging fresco of Jesus in Borja, Spain leads to a botched, amateur-ish, monkey-looking image, leading to several image-based memes.[116][117] Goatse.cx – A shock image of a distended anus.[118] Grumpy Cat - A cat named Tardar Sauce that appears to have a permanent scowl on her face due to feline dwarfism, according to its owner. Pictures of the cat circulated the Internet, leading it to win the 2013 Webby for Meme of the Year, and her popularity has led to star in a feature film.[119] Heineken Looter Guy / Lootie – An Associated Press photo taken in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, under the caption, "A looter carries a bucket of beer out of a grocery store in New Orleans." The original photo shows a black man in waist-deep waters carrying a tub full of bottles of beer. This image and the man's face were incorporated into a parody of a Heineken magazine advertisement.[120][121] The image has since shown up in hundreds of photoshopped images across the web. Islamic Rage Boy – A series of photos of Shakeel Bhat, a Muslim activist whose face became a personification of angry Islamism in the western media. The first photo dates back to his appearance in 2007 at a rally in Srinigar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir. Several other photos in other media outlets followed, and by November 2007, there were over one million hits for "Islamic Rage Boy" on Google and his face appeared on boxer shorts and bumper stickers.[122][123] Keep Calm and Carry On - a phrasal template or snowclone that was originally a motivational poster produced by the UK government in 1939 intended to raise public morale. It was rediscovered in 2000, became increasingly used during the 2009 global recession, and has spawned various parodies and imitations.[124][125] Kermit Bale – An Internet meme[126] from the Livejournal gossip blog Oh No They Didn't in which the original poster constructed a detailed post pointing out the similarities between Kermit the Frog and actor Christian Bale.[127][128] In a mock interview with Netscape, Kermit "commented" on the phenomenon, saying: "I had absolutely no idea. But, now that I look at the Internet, there sure are a lot of similarities between us. Christian and I haven't met, but I'm really looking forward to talking to him about this. As for the rumors that we're related: well, it's pretty unlikely, but since I'm one of 2,353 brothers and sisters, anything is a possibility."[129] Little Fatty – Starting in 2003, the face of Qian Zhijun, a student from Shanghai, was superimposed onto various other images.[130][131] LOLcat – A collection of humorous image macros featuring cats with misspelled phrases, such as, "I Can Has Cheezburger?".[132] The earliest versions of LOLcats appeared on 4chan, usually on Saturdays, which were designated "Caturday", as a day to post photos of cats.[133] McKayla is not impressed – A tumblr blog that went viral after taking an image of McKayla Maroney, the American gymnast who won the silver medal in the vault at the 2012 Summer Olympics, on the medal podium with a disappointed look on her face, and photoshopping it into various "impressive" places and situations, e.g. on top of the Great Wall of China and standing next to Usain Bolt.[134][135][136] O RLY? – Originally a text phrase on Something Awful, and then an image macro done for 4chan. Based around a picture of a snowy owl.[137] Oolong – Photos featured on a popular Japanese website of a rabbit that is famous for its ability to balance a variety of objects on its head.[138] Ridiculously Photogenic Guy – A picture of one of the runners – later identified as Zeddie Little – during a local 2012 marathon in Charleston, South Carolina, was called out for how photogenic he looked, and later spread virally.[139] The Saugeen Stripper – A female student at the University of Western Ontario performed a striptease at a birthday party and dozens of digital images of the party ended up on the Internet.[140] "Seriously McDonalds" – A photograph apparently showing racist policies introduced by McDonald's. The photograph, which is a hoax, went viral, especially on Twitter, in June 2011.[141] Allison Stokke – A high school track athlete whose 2006 photo of herself adjusting her hair at a track meet in New York made its way across the Internet. She had more than 1,000 new messages on MySpace. A three-minute video of Stokke standing against a wall and analyzing her performance at another meet had been posted on YouTube and viewed 150,000 times.[142] Tron Guy – Jay Maynard, a computer consultant, designed a Tron costume, complete with skin-tight spandex and light-up plastic armor, in 2003 for Penguicon 1.0 in Detroit, Michigan. The Internet phenomenon began when an article was posted to Slashdot, followed by Fark, including images of this costume.[143] Vancouver Riot Kiss – An image of a young couple lying on the ground kissing each other behind a group of rioters during the riots following the Vancouver Canucks' Stanley Cup loss to the Boston Bruins on 15 June 2011. The couple, later identified as Australian Scott Jones and local resident Alexandra Thomas, actually were not kissing but Jones was consoling Thomas after being knocked down by a police charge.[144] Music Gary Brolsma, aka "The Numa Numa Guy" Psy's "Gangnam Style" video was the most-watched video on YouTube as of November 2012. The band OK Go in their first viral video "Here It Goes Again". Bed Intruder Song – a remix by the Gregory Brothers of a televised news interview of Antoine Dodson, the brother of a victim of a home invasion and attempted assault. The music video became a mainstream success, reaching the Billboard Hot 100, and became the most watched YouTube video of 2010.[145] "Canon Rock" – A rock arrangement of the Canon in D by JerryC which became famous when covered by funtwo and others.[146][147] "Chocolate Rain" – A song and music video written and performed by Tay Zonday (also known as Adam Nyerere Bahner). After being posted on YouTube on 22 April 2007, the song quickly became a popular viral video. By December 2009, the video had received over 40 million views.[148][149] Dancing Banana – A banana dancing to the song "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" by the Buckwheat Boyz.[150] Dear Sister – a reference to a Saturday Night Live skit which has repeated shootings with the refrain from Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek" playing as each character dies in slow motion.[151] "DMK: "Everything Counts"" – A music video featuring Dicken Schrader and his two children, Milah and Korben, performing a cover of Depeche Mode's "Everything Counts" using an old keyboard and various musical toy instruments and household items.[152][153] Dumb Ways to Die – a music video featuring "a variety of cute characters killing themselves in increasingly idiotic ways" that went viral through sharing and social media. It was part of a public service announcement advertisement campaign by Metro Trains in Melbourne, Australia to promote rail safety.[154][155] Ekrem Jevrić, immigrant construction worker and cab driver from New York City. In 2010 he recorded video spot "Kuća poso" (House, work), a video detailing the hard life of immigrants, which became an instant hit across former Yugoslavia.[156][157] "The Fox" - A song and associated video by the Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis prepared for their upcoming television show. The song's verses note the noises other animals make, but in the chorus, ask what noise a fox makes, at which point the song offers nonsense phrases like "gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!" and "fraka-kaka-kaka-kaka-kow!", while the video takes a similarly funny turn. The video saw over 43 million hits within a few weeks of its release, topping music charts, and leading to Ylvis being signed for more music by Warner Bros. Records.[158] "Friday" – A music video sung by 13-year-old Rebecca Black, partially funded by her mother, which received over 200 million views on YouTube[159] and spread in popularity through social media services.[160] "Gangnam Style" – A song and music video by South Korean rapper, Psy, showing him doing an "invisible horse dance" and saying the catchphrase "Oppan Gangnam Style" across a number of odd locations, leading to its viral spread as well as the single's reaching international music charts.[161][162] The video has since become the most watched video on YouTube as of November 2012.[163] "Gwiyomi" – is a K-pop single by the South Korean indie musician Hari. The song was released on February 18, 2013 and is based on an Internet meme known as the Gwiyomi Player, which was invented in October 2012 by the K-pop idol Jung Il Hoon and has inspired many similar versions uploaded onto the Internet by Asian netizens.[164][165] Hampster Dance – A page filled with hamsters dancing, linking to other animated pages. It spawned a fictional band complete with its own CD album release.[166] Hurra Torpedo – A Norwegian band whose coast-to-coast tour was a viral campaign to promote the Ford Fusion car.[167] JK Wedding Entrance Dance – The wedding procession for Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz of St. Paul, Minnesota, choreographed to the song Forever by Chris Brown. Popularized on YouTube with 1.75 million views in less than five days in 2009.[168] The video was later imitated in an episode of The Office on NBC.[169] Literal music video – Covers of music videos where the original lyrics have been replaced with ones that literally describe the events that occur in the video, typically disconnected with the original lyrics of the song.[170][171] Little Superstar – A video of Thavakalai, a short Indian actor, break-dancing to MC Miker G & DJ Sven's remix of the Madonna song "Holiday", in a clip from a 1990 Tamil film Adhisaya Piravi, featuring actor Rajnikanth.[172][173] Lucian Piane, aka RevoLucian – Created several popular celebrity techno remixes, including a spoof on actor Christian Bale titled "Bale Out"[174] "The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody" – A 2009 music video featuring The Muppets performing a modified version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". The video received over seven million hits within its first week of release on YouTube, and by 2012, it had earned over 25 million hits. The video won the "Viral Video" category in the 14th Annual Webby Awards.[175] McDonald's rap – Two amateur MCs from Indiana who rapped their order into a McDonald's drive-through speaker[176][177][178] Numa Numa – Gary Brolsma lip-syncs the Romanian song "Dragostea din tei" by O-Zone.[148][179] OK Go music videos – Several of the band's award-winning videos incorporate unique concepts, such as dancing on treadmills in "Here It Goes Again",[180] a giant Rube Goldberg machine in "This Too Shall Pass",[181][182] or a choreographed one-shot routine using over a dozen trained dogs in "White Knuckles".[183] As such, they often go viral within a few days of their release. Their music video for "The Muppet Show Theme Song" won a Webby Award for "Viral Video" in 2012.[184] "One Pound Fish" - A sales pitch song written and sang by Muhammad Shahid Nazir, a fish stall vendor in London, that became a viral hit and led to Nazir getting a recording contract.[185] "Pants on the Ground" – First sung by "General" Larry Platt during the season 9 auditions of American Idol in Atlanta, Georgia, on 13 January 2010. Within one week, the video was seen by approximately 5 million on YouTube, had over 1 million fans on Facebook, and was repeated on television by Jimmy Fallon and Brett Favre.[186] "Pop Culture" – A 2011 YouTube video of a live mash-up by the musician Hugo Pierre Leclercq aka "Madeon", aged 17 at the time, using a Novaion touchpad to mix samples from 39 different songs. The video went viral within a few days of posted, and led to Leclercq's fame in the electronica music genre.[187][188] "Red Solo Cup" – Toby Keith's recording of a drinking song devoted to the Solo disposable cup became a viral hit, with the video logging over seven million views on YouTube and the song eventually becoming Keith's biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100.[189][190] Techno Viking – A Nordic raver dancing in a procession in Berlin.[191] Thriller viral video – A recreation of Michael Jackson's hit performed by prisoners at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) in the Philippines by the CPDRC Dancing Inmates.[192] As of January 2010, it is among the ten most popular videos on YouTube with over 20 million hits.[193] Trololo – A 1976 televised performance of Russian singer Eduard Khil lip-syncing the song I Am Glad to Finally Be Home (Я очень рад, ведь я, наконец, возвращаюсь домой). The video's first mainstream appearance was on The Colbert Report, on 3 March 2010;[194] since then, its popularity has escalated, occasionally being used as part of a bait and switch prank, similar to Rickrolling.[195][196] "Twelve Days of Christmas" by a cappella group Straight No Chaser went viral in 2007 and led to the group being signed by Atlantic Records.[197] "United Breaks Guitars" – a video by the band Sons of Maxwell, recounting how United Airlines broke a guitar belonging to band member Dave Carroll. The video reached 11 million views, was named one of the top ten of 2009,[198] and created speculation that it had caused a $180 million drop in the airline's stock value.[199] "We Gon Rock" a music video showing a 17-year-old Canadian rapper by the name of Boostalk. The video gained popularity when it was shown on G4TV during the '"Around the Net" segment of Attack of the Show.[200] The music video is often mocked on the Internet due to its lack of production value and claims that Boostalk is the "Worst Rapper Ever".[201] Videos 2 Girls 1 Cup – Videos of two girls engaging in coprophilia.[202] This video has also originated a series of amateur videos showing the reactions of people seeing the original video. Angry German Kid/Keyboard Crasher – A video of a German teenage boy getting so frustrated in playing an online video game that he begins ranting at the screen and smashing his keyboard. Though later shown to be staged, numerous parodies of the video were made, with made-up translations from the initial ranting, and became popular in Japan under the name "Keyboard Crasher".[203][204] Anime Music Videos/MADs – A staple of anime conventions both in Japan and Western countries, these fan-made videos take footage from various anime works and re-edit them in different order, addition of new soundtracks (including to full-length songs), and other manipulations such as lip-syncing characters to lyrics; with the propagation of the Internet and popularity of anime in the United States in 2003, this type of user-created content flourished, and grew to include footage from other works including video games and Western animated shows.[205][206] The Annoying Orange – A series of comedy sketches featuring a talking orange annoying other fruits and vegetables, as well as some appliances, with his one-liners and puns.[207] "Arrest of Vladimir Putin" – A viral video showing mock arrest of Vladimir Putin and his trial.[208][209] Ask a Ninja – Popular podcast featuring a ninja who answers viewers' questions.[148] Diet Coke and Mentos eruption Auto-tune the News/Songify This – a web series by the Gregory Brothers of news videos auto-tuned and remixed into songs. The group achieved mainstream success with their "Bed Intruder Song" video, which became the most watched YouTube video of 2010 and a Billboard Hot 100 hit.[210] Benny Lava – A video created as a soramimi to Kalluri Vaanil by Indian dancer Prabhu Deva.[211] Boom goes the dynamite – Brian Collins, a nervous sports anchor, fumbles highlights, concluding with this infamous catch phrase.[148][212] Popularly used in an episode of Family Guy among numerous other popular references, and made popular by Will Smith when he flubbed a line on stage during the 81st Academy Awards telecast. As of March 2009, Collins was a reporter for KXXV in Waco, Texas. Charlie Bit My Finger – It features two young brothers; the younger bites the finger of the older brother.[213][214] Charlie Chaplin Time Travel Video – A YouTube video posted in October 2010 by Irish filmmaker George Clarke in which he suggested that additional footage contained in a DVD release of the Charlie Chaplin film The Circus depicted a time traveler talking on a cell phone received millions of hits and became the subject of widespread Internet discussion.[215] The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger – A YouTube video posted in 2011 by Randall featuring a comedic narration dubbed over pre-existing National Geographic footage.[216] Dancing Matt – Video game designer Matt Harding became famous in 2003 when he filmed himself dancing in front of various world landmarks. Eventually, a chewing gum company sent him off to dance on seven continents, and by October 2006, five million viewers have seen his videos.[217][218] Harding compiled two similar videos in 2008[219] and 2012.[220] Diet Coke and Mentos – Geysers of carbonated drink mixed with Mentos.[148][221] Double Rainbow – a video posted to YouTube by Paul Vasquez of him filming a rainbow with a secondary one at Yosemite National Park. Vasquez, possibly intoxicated during the filming by the tone of his voice, is heard to say amazing and philosophical questions about the rainbows, such as "what do they mean?". Subsequently, the video went viral, and an auto-tuned remix named the "Double Rainbow Song" using the video's audio track was later released by the Gregory Brothers, receiving more than 30 million views and becoming another meme.[222][223] Don't Tase Me, Bro! – An incident at a campus talk by Senator John Kerry.[224] Downfall Parodies – A series of videos featuring a scene of Adolf Hitler (portrayed in this film by Swiss actor Bruno Ganz) ranting in German, from the 2004 film Downfall. The original English subtitles have been removed and mock subtitles added to give the appearance that Hitler is ranting about modern, often trivial topics, reviews, just the audio and without the actual image of Hitler doing something and sometimes even breaking the fourth wall. While the clips are frequently removed for copyright violations, the film's director, Oliver Hirschbiegel, has stated that he enjoys them, and claims to have seen about 145 of them.[225][226] By 2010, there were thousands of such parodies, including many in which a self-aware Hitler is incensed that people keep making Downfall parodies. Dramatic Chipmunk – A video featuring a prairie dog (almost always inaccurately called a chipmunk in the video title) turning its head suddenly toward the camera, with a zoom-in on its face while suspense music is playing.[148] Edgar's fall – A video in which a Mexican boy tries to cross a river over a branch, which gets thrown off by his cousin.[227][228] eHarmony Video Bio – Video of a woman calling herself "Debbie" in an online dating video who ends up getting very emotional over her affection for cats. The video, which received over 3 million hits on YouTube between 3 and 12 June 2011, was later attributed to Cara Hartmann, a 23-year-old entertainer and a resident of the United States.[229] Epic Beard Man – Video of a bus fight in Oakland, California in which 67-year-old Thomas Bruso physically defends himself against an African-American man after being accused of racial prejudice then punched by him.[230] Within a week of the video's posting on YouTube, there were over 700,000 hits.[231] Evolution of Dance – A video of a six-minute live performance of motivational speaker Judson Laipply's routine consisting of several recognizable dance movies to respective songs. The video was one of the earliest examples of a viral video posted on YouTube, having received 23 million hits within 2 weeks of posting in mid-2006, and was marked as an example of low budget, user-generated content achieving broadcast television-sized audiences.[232][233] Fenton – Video of a dog chasing deer in Richmond Park, London, and its owner's attempts to call it off. The video was taken by the owner's 13-year-old son and gained over 800,000 hits on YouTube in November 2011.[234] Fred Figglehorn – Video series featuring a fictional six-year-old named Fred with "anger-management issues", who lives with his alcoholic mother and whose father is doing jail time. Fred is portrayed by 18-year-old actor Lucas Cruikshank, and his YouTube channel had over 250,000 subscribers and was the fourth most subscribed channel in 2008.[235] He now has three films and a show on Nickelodeon. Greatest Freakout Ever Series. A series of videos about a kid named Stephen Quire and him having a freak attack at various situations he is in. The channel, wafflepwn, has seen over 5 million hits per video since their release. It is unknown if they are real or fake. http://www.youtube.com/user/wafflepwn Two screenshots from before and after the drop in a Harlem Shake video. Harlem Shake – A video based on Harlem shake dance, originally created by vlogger Filthy Frank and using an electronica version of the song by Baauer. In such videos, one person is dancing or acting strange among a room full of others going about routine business, until after the drop and a video cut, everyone starts dancing or acting strangely. The attempts to recreate the dance has led to a viral spread on YouTube.[236][237] Heroine of Hackney – showing a local woman from Hackney berating looters during the 2011 England riots.[238] I Like Turtles – A video news clip of 10-year-old Jonathon Ware at the Portland Rose Festival on 31 May 2007. His face was painted like a zombie, and when asked for comment by a news reporter, responded with the non sequitur "I like turtles!" The video was viewed more than 500,000 times by 30 July.[239] Impossible Is Nothing – An exaggerated and falsehood-filled video résumé by Yale student Aleksey Vayner.[240] It was spoofed by actor Michael Cera in a video called "Impossible is the Opposite of Possible." Jag har mensvärk! (Swedish for I have period pains!) – Nattliv quiz show hostess Eva Nazemson, suffering from menstruation-related nausea, vomits on-air while taking a call from a viewer.[241][242][243] She later went on to discuss the incident on The Tyra Banks Show[243] and The Graham Norton Show[244] after the video was posted on YouTube. The original video received 4.8 million views by mid-2010.[245] "Ken Lee" – Badly garbled song sung by Bulgarian Music Idol hopeful Valentina Hasan. The name "Ken Lee" was misunderstood from the English lyric "Can't live," as in "Can't live, if living is without you" from the song "Without You" by Badfinger[246][247] Kersal Massive – Three young chavs, apparently from Kersal (near Manchester, UK), attempting to perform a gangsta rap and expressing their dislike for the nearby suburb of Levenshulme.[248] Keyboard Cat – Footage of a cat playing an electric keyboard that is appended to the end of blooper or other video as if to play the participants off stage after a mistake or gaffe.[132][249] Kony 2012 – An online video created by Invisible Children, Inc. to highlight the criminal acts of Joseph Kony to an international spotlight as part of a campaign to seek his capture and arrest, quickly gained tens of millions of viewers within a week, becoming, according to CNN, "the most viral YouTube video of all time".[250][251] The Last Lecture – Carnegie Mellon University professor Randy Pausch, dying of pancreatic cancer, delivers an upbeat lecture on Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.[252] League of Ireland fan – An interview clip with a possibly intoxicated man claiming to be a supporter of Irish soccer team St Patrick's Athletic.[253][254] "Leave Britney Alone!" – A video posted on YouTube by Chris Crocker in response to the media's harsh treatment of Britney Spears. The video was seen by 8 million viewers by September 2007 and saw many repeat versions and parodies.[148][255][256] Amber Lee Ettinger, a.k.a. "Obama Girl" lonelygirl15 – A popular viral video spread via YouTube featuring a teenage girl named "Bree", who would post video updates about a variety of issues dealing with the life of a typical teenager. It was later found to be a professionally made, fictional work, produced by Mesh Flinders in Beverly Hills and starring Jessica Lee Rose.[257] Maru the cat – A running series of videos of a Scottish Fold cat taken by his Japanese owner that has a propensity to dive or jump into and out of boxes.[258][259] Mélissa Theuriau – A French journalist and news anchor for M6. She became an Internet phenomenon after a compilation video, entitled "Beautiful News Reporter",[260] was posted online. She was voted by Maxim readers as "TV's sexiest news anchor" in 2007.[261] Michelle Jenneke – "michelle jenneke dancing sexy as hell at junior world championships in Barcelona 2012" is a video of 19-year-old hurdler Michelle Jenneke during her pre-race warm-up at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona. The video of Jenneke dancing pre-race was uploaded on 25 July on YouTube and had more than 13 million views in less than a week. The video made Jenneke an instant online celebrity.[262] Music Is My Hot Hot Sex – Used in advertising, then reached the top of YouTube's most watched list, due perhaps to a hack.[263][264] Nek Minnit – A 10-second YouTube video from New Zealand featuring skater Levi Hawkin.[265] This video inspired the term Nek Minnit, which is used at the end of a sentence in place of the words Next Minute. The video has received over two million views and has been parodied several times on YouTube; the TV3 show The Jono Project ran a series of clips titled Food in a Nek Minnit which parodied a nightly advertisement called Food in a Minute. As a result of the video, the term Nek Minnit was the most searched for word on Google in New Zealand for 2011.[266] Obama Girl – A series of videos on YouTube featuring Amber Lee Ettinger that circulated during the 2008 US presidential election, starting with her singing, "I Got a Crush... on Obama". It caught the attention of bloggers, mainstream media, and other candidates, and achieved 12.5 million views on YouTube by 1 January 2009.[267] The Peckham Terminator – A video filmed by two youths on 1 August 2010 of a man in his twenties screaming abuse at fellow passengers on the 37 bus at Rye Lane. The man uses racial abuse and tries to pick a fight with one passenger. The man finally smashes through the glass of the rear doors (after making a few attempts beforehand) and walks off unscathed. The youths filming the incident dub him the "Peckham Terminator", after the Arnold Schwarzenegger character.[268][269] Potter Puppet Pals – a live action puppet show web series created by Neil Cicierega parodying the Harry Potter novel/film series by J. K. Rowling. The "The Mysterious Ticking Noise" video in the series has received more than 77 (135 million as of 2012) views, making it the most famous video of the series.[270] Puppy-throwing Marine viral video – A video from March 2008 of a US Marine on patrol in Iraq throwing a puppy off of a cliff. The video sparked outrage from numerous animal rights groups and was later removed from YouTube. The Marine was later identified as Lance Corporal David Motari, who was removed from the Marine Corps and received a non-judicial punishment. His accomplice, Sergeant Crismarvin Banez Encarnacion, received a non-judicial punishment as well.[271][272] Ray William Johnson - YouTube celebrity known for providing commentary on other viral videos.[273] A Rick Astley impersonator rickrolling a basketball game Rickrolling – A phenomenon involving posting a URL in an Internet forum that appears to be relevant to the topic at hand, but is, in fact, a link to a video of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". The practice originated on 4chan as a "Duckroll", in which an image of a duck on wheels was what was linked to. The practice of Rickrolling became popular after April Fools' Day in 2008 when YouTube rigged every feature video on its home page to Rick Astley's song.[274][275] Shreds – A series of mock videos, initially created by Santeri Ojala a.k.a. StSanders. The original videos show footage of famous rock guitarists and/or bands in their "shredding" moments, but feature Ojala's own purposely warped, yet precisely synchronized, guitar playing in place of the original audio.[276][277] Star Wars Kid – A Québécois teenager became known as the "Star Wars Kid" after a video appeared on the Internet showing him swinging a golf ball retriever as if it were a lightsaber. Many parodies of the video were also made and circulated.[148][278] Supercuts – Videos consisting of numerous clips from movies and television typically highlighting the reuse of a common phrase or trope within each clip. Such can be specific to a show (such as highlighting every swear stated in the film The Big Lebowski), an oft-quoted line (numerous reality television show contestants saying they're not played to make friends) or as non-verbal critique of a specific medium (reuse of similar dialog lines throughout shows created by Aaron Sorkin).[279][280] "This is my story" – A two-part video of 18-year-old American Internet personality Ben Breedlove, explaining about his heart condition, using note cards as a visual aid. The YouTube video was released on December 18, 2011, a week prior to Breedlove's death, and received world-wide attention.[281] Tourettes Guy – A series of videos featuring an apparent Tourette's syndrome sufferer by the name of "Danny" and several events in his daily life, including many interactions with his son, who always remains behind the camera. In 2007, it was reported that Danny had died; however, a video released of him in 2008 disproved this.[282] Twin Baby Boys Having a Conversation – A video of 17-month-old twin boys, Sam and Ren, having a "conversation" in their own special "language" was posted to YouTube by their mother and viewed by thousands of people in the next 24 hours.[283][284] "Ty kto takoy? Davay, do svidaniya!" ("Who are you? Come on, goodbye!" in Russian) – A video of Azerbaijani meykhana performers, that gained over 2 million views on YouTube.[285] The jingle "Ty kto takoy? Davay, do svidaniya!" started trending on Twitter with the Russian hashtag #путинтыктотакойдавайдосвидания[286] and a number of songs sampled the jingle since then. Tyson – Videos featuring a skateboarding bulldog.[287] UFO Phil – A series of music videos and short films featuring cult celebrity UFO Phil, whose real name is Phil Hill. Phil is an American novelty songwriter most notable for appearing with George Noory on the radio program Coast to Coast AM.[288][289] Very erotic very violent – An Internet catchphrase in the People's Republic of China, after a report by Xinwen Lianbo, the most viewed of China's state-sponsored news programs, where a young girl was reported to have come across content on the Internet which was "very erotic, very violent". This incident sparked wide forms of parody on the Internet, and also questioned the credibility of the state broadcaster's newscasts.[290][291][292] YouTube musicians from Lisa Lavie's online collaboration video "We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)" met on the same stage for a live reunion performance ten months later in Washington, D.C.[293][294] "We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)" is a massively collaborative crowdsourced charity video, involving 57 geographically distributed unsigned or independent contributors, that was produced by Canadian singer-songwriter and YouTube personality Lisa Lavie to raise money for victims of 12 January 2010 Haiti earthquake.[295] The video received repeated coverage on CNN,[295] and the video's participants were collectively named ABC News "Persons of the Week" on U.S. national television by television journalist Diane Sawyer in March 2010.[296] What What (In the Butt) – A viral music video set to a song about anal sex by gay recording artist Samwell. The video was posted on Valentine's Day 2007, and two weeks later had already been viewed 500,000 times.[297] It was subsequently parodied on the South Park episode, "Canada on Strike", which poked fun at several other Internet memes and personalities. Wii Fit Girl – A video entitled "Why every guy should buy their girlfriend a Wii Fit" showing 25-year-old Lauren Bernat hula hooping with the fitness video game in only her T-shirt and panties. The video was viewed more than 10 million times on YouTube by September 2010, and was suspected as being a viral marketing plot because both Bernat, and her boyfriend Giovanny Gutierrez, who filmed the footage, work in advertising. Nintendo has since denied the claim that it was a marketing plot.[298][299] Winnebago Man – A series of profane video outtakes first circulated underground on VHS tape before YouTube videos turned them into an online sensation. The reclusive Rebney is the subject of a feature film, Winnebago Man.[300][301] Xtranormal – A website allowing users to create videos by scripting the dialog and choosing from a menu of camera angles and predesigned CGI characters and scenes. Though originally designed to be used to ease storyboard development for filmmakers, the site quickly became popular after videos made with the tool, including "iPhone 4 vs HTC Evo", became viral.[302][303] YouTube Poop – Video mashups in which users deconstruct and piece together video for psychedelic or absurdist effect.[304] Zangief Kid (a.k.a. "Little Zangief") – A video clip first seen on YouTube depicting a fight in school between two students, which begins with the smaller pupil punching the taller sixteen-year-old boy Casey Heynes, who in turn retaliates by lifting the boy upside down and slamming him on the ground. Casey has been nicknamed "The Zangief Kid" by many Internet users as the grappling move used closely resembles the Spinning Piledriver, the signature special move of the character Zangief from the Street Fighter video game series.[305] Other phenomena Chuck Norris facts – satirical factoids about martial artist and actor Chuck Norris that became popular culture after spreading through the Internet.[306] Creepypasta – urban legends or scary stories circulating on the Internet, many times revolving around specific videos, pictures or video games.[307] Video game "creepypasta" often involves a hacked, glitched, bootleg, or beta copy of the game, typically found in thrift shops or garage sales. They often describe gameplay changes which are particularly violent, sadistic or demonic. Figwit (abbreviated from "Frodo is great...who is that?") – a background elf character with only seconds of screen time and one line of dialog from The Lord of the Rings film trilogy played by Flight of the Conchords member Bret McKenzie, which became a fascination with a large number of fans. This ultimately led to McKenzie being brought back to play an elf in The Hobbit.[308][309][310] Freecycling – The exchange of unwanted goods via the Internet.[311] Horse ebooks / Pronunciation Book - A five-year long viral marketing alternate reality game for a larger art project developed by Synydyne. "Horse_ebooks" was a Twitter account that seemed to promote e-books, while "Pronunciation Book" was a YouTube channel that provided ways to pronounce English words. Both accounts engaged in non-sequitors, making some believe that the accounts were run by automated services. Pronunciation Book shifted to pronouncing numerals in a countdown fashion in mid-2013, concluding in late September 2013 revealing the connection to Horse_ebook and identity of Synydyne behind the accounts, and the introduction of their next art project.[312][313] I am lonely will anyone speak to me – A thread created on MovieCodec.com's forums, which has been described as the "Web's Top Hangout for Lonely Folk" by Wired magazine.[314] Illegal flower tribute – when Google China began considering withdrawing from the country because of disputes with the government over censorship and the Chinese government's intrusion into their computer systems, supporters of Google from around Beijing laid flowers at the company's headquarters in Zhongguancun. The flowers donated by previous visitors were promptly removed by the security guards, one of whom said that people needed to apply for government permits in order not to make an "illegal flower tribute".[315][316] The paperclip that Kyle MacDonald traded for a house Jeff the Killer- Jeff is depicted as a serial killer who stabs people to death in their beds.[317] He is the main character in a well-known creepypsta, appears as an internet meme with the caption “go to sleep” and was the inspiration of an independent game and several gaming mods.[318] The origin of the “go to sleep” meme is unknown, although 4chan and promotional material for Saw V have both been suggested as the original source.[319] Miss Me Yet? – inspired a series of themed merchandise from online agencies such as CafePress.[320] One red paperclip – The story of a Canadian blogger who bartered his way from a red paperclip to a house in a year's time.[321] Rules of the Internet – An informal body of observed "laws" gathered over time that typically apply to discussions and forums on the Internet that project the type of behavior and content that can be expected. Such rules include Godwin's law: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1"; Poe's law: "Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to create a parody of fundamentalism that someone won't mistake for the real thing", and Rule 34: "If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions."[322][323][324] Slender Man or Slenderman is a creepypasta meme and urban-legend fakelore tale created on 8 June 2009 by user Victor Surge on Something Awful as part of a contest to edit photographs to contain "supernatural" entities and then pass them off as legitimate on paranormal forums. The Slender Man gained prominence as a frightening malevolent entity: a tall thin man wearing a suit and lacking a face with "his" head only being blank, white, and featureless. After the initial creation, numerous stories and videos were created by fans of the character.[71][73] Slender Man was later adapted into a video game in 2012 and became more widely known. The Rake- A humanoid Creepypasta cryptid that is depicted as infrequently stalking people, sometimes appearing at the foot of the victims bed, and has been known to mutilate and abduct children. The Rake originated as a Creepypasta created by an anonymous poster on 4chan's /b/ imageboard in late 2005.[325] The Rake has appeared in many hoax videos and YouTube videos.[326] It is often depicted as existing within the same canon as the Slender Man. Three Wolf Moon – A t-shirt with many ironic reviews on Amazon.[327] Vuvuzelas – The near-constant playing of the buzz-sounding vuvuzela instrument during games of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa led to numerous vuvuzela-based memes, including YouTube temporarily adding a vuvuzela effect that could be added to any video during the World CupHERO DYD