{"id":21663,"date":"2016-09-29T07:34:25","date_gmt":"2016-09-29T11:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/?p=21663"},"modified":"2016-09-29T11:11:03","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T15:11:03","slug":"pen-pineapple-apple-pen-and-the-lifecycle-of-internet-virality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/2016\/09\/29\/pen-pineapple-apple-pen-and-the-lifecycle-of-internet-virality\/","title":{"rendered":"Pen Pineapple Apple Pen and the Lifecycle of Internet Virality"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FullSizeRender\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This <\/a>is the Pen Pineapple Apple Pen (PPAP) song that started amassing virality around 25 September 2016, despite being\u00a0published on YouTube a month earlier on 25 August 2016. This<\/a>\u00a0is the tutorial from its original artist, published on 26 September 2016 in response to volumes of covers, remixes, and parodies being produced as the song approaches the climax of viral fame.<\/p>\n

The \u2018official\u2019 backstory, according to the wisdom of throngs of popular media articles churned out this week, is that the artist in the video is\u00a0Piko-Taro, a fictional\u00a0character played by entertainer\u00a0DJ Kosaka Daimaou, whose is actually a 51-year-old Mr\u00a0Kazuhiko Kosaka. His character Piko-Taro first began life as a stand-up comedian at live shows.\u00a0(For those of you who are in-tune with YouTube or Influencer culture, think Miranda Sings as the fictional character\u00a0played by microcelebrity\u00a0Colleen Ballinger who goes by the handle \u2018PsychoSoprano\u2019 on the internet. See also here<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Piko-Taro started his YouTube channel<\/a>\u00a0on 23 August 2016, posting short songs while dressed in his now-signature gaudy fashion and wig, with flamboyance in tow.\u00a0The virality of his debut PPAP video was facilitated by digital user-generated\u00a0humour platform 9GAG <\/a>on its Facebook page<\/a>. In the wake of his recent virality, Piko-Taro has been retweeting and responding to some followers<\/a>\u00a0in a smattering of English on his Twitter<\/a>, which was created just months prior in June 2016. He is on Facebook here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In this post, I discuss the circulation of PPAP, the value judgments made about\u00a0it, its characteristics and predecessors, and the potential future of Piko-Taro.<\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

Circulation & Virality<\/h2>\n

Most\u00a0viral artifacts on the internet go through a standard script as they circulate. As a viral YouTube song, PPAP has achieved these milestones of virality on YouTube and across other digital estates:<\/p>\n

1) Covers<\/strong> \u2013 by YouTubers\u00a0Chad Wild Clay<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Davison Video<\/a>, by traditional celebrityU10Seconds<\/a><\/p>\n

2) Remixes<\/strong> \u2013 metal<\/a>, Hoaprox<\/a><\/p>\n

3) Parodies<\/strong> \u2013 with cultural-specific innuendos by microcelebrities\u00a0Bie The Ska<\/a>\u00a0and Happy Pola<\/a>,\u00a0with national inside jokes by digital platform\u00a0SGAG<\/a><\/p>\n

4) Loops<\/strong> \u2013 1hr loop<\/a>,\u00a010hr loop<\/a><\/p>\n

5) Challenges<\/strong> \u2013 among Japanese teens<\/a>, among YouTubers<\/a><\/p>\n

6) Compilations<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0K\u00eanh H\u00e0i H\u01b0\u1edbc<\/a><\/p>\n

7) \u2018How to\u2019 tutorials<\/strong> \u2013 from Piko-Taro<\/a>, on keyboard<\/a>, on guitar\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

8) Reactions<\/strong> \u2013 Snow Reacts<\/a>,\u00a0YouGotKnockedOut<\/a><\/p>\n

9) Rants<\/strong> \u2013 Toma Puck<\/a><\/p>\n

10) Forum discussions<\/strong> \u2013 Reddit<\/a><\/p>\n

11) Institutionalized by internet gatekeepers<\/strong> \u2013 Know Your Meme<\/a>, Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n

12)\u00a0Adult versions<\/strong> \u2013 TheGan32d<\/a><\/p>\n

13)\u00a0Celebrity endorsements<\/strong> \u2013 Justin Bieber<\/a>\u00a0declared he was a fan via Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

14)\u00a0Merchandis<\/strong>e \u2013 t-shirts on Amazon\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

Value judgments<\/h2>\n

As popular commentary on PPAP proliferate and the viral song approaches\u00a0its plateau, several value judgements have been cast on the song, Japanese culture, and internet virality more generally. To survey the landscape of such sentiment, I coded themes through key descriptors\u00a0in the first ten reports\u00a0for the Google search phrase \u201cpen pineapple apple pen\u201d. Articles were collected on\u00a029 September 16, at 1600hrs, GMT+8.<\/p>\n

The first ten reports were:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. bbc.com<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cHow a \u2018Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen\u2019 earworm took over the internet\u201d<\/li>\n
  2. thestar.com<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cIs \u2018Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen\u2019 the next \u2018Gangnam Style?\u2019\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. bgr.com<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cThe internet is obsessed with the next \u2018Gangnam Style\u2019, and it\u2019s about fruit\u201d<\/li>\n
  4. goodyfeed.com<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cThe Only 10 Facts You Need to Know About Pen Pineapple Apple Pen\u201d<\/li>\n
  5. straitstimes.com<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cViral Japanese song Pen-Apple-Pineapple-Pen touted as \u2018next Gangnam Style’\u201d<\/li>\n
  6. mashable.com<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cWhat\u2019s the deal with that wild Pen Pineapple Apple Pen video?\u201d<\/li>\n
  7. spoon-tamago.com<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cPen Pineapple Apple Pen (PPAP) by Piko-Taro\u201d<\/li>\n
  8. telegraph.co.uk<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cPen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen: wildly popular viral video will take over the world whether you like it or not\u201d<\/li>\n
  9. time.com<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cThis Bizarrely Hilarious Song About Pineapples and Pens May Be the Next Viral Hit\u201d<\/li>\n
  10. abc.net.au<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cWhy do songs get stuck in your head? Pen Pineapple Apple Pen and other \u2018earworms’\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The first nine articles from various popular media and news sites regurgitated content from each other, while the tenth article at abc.net.au<\/a> was the only one that consulted\u00a0expert commentary, music psychologist Dr Tim Byron, to explain the phenomenon of viral songs.<\/p>\n

    \u2013<\/p>\n

    Here are the main themes I observed and the key phrases from the articles:<\/p>\n

    1) PPAP is viral<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u201cviral\u201d,\u00a0\u201cviral craze\u201d,\u00a0\u201cviral hit\u201d,\u00a0\u201cwildly popular viral video\u201d, \u201cmonster hit\u201d,\u00a0\u201ccatchy\u201d,\u00a0\u201ccatchy song\u201d,\u00a0\u201ccatchy number\u201d,\u00a0\u201cinfectiously-catchy\u201d,\u00a0\u201cinfectiously addictive\u201d,\u00a0\u201cinane infectiousness\u201d,\u00a0\u201cincredibly addictive\u201d,\u00a0\u201cearworm\u201d, \u201cstuck in your head\u201d<\/p>\n

    2) PPAP is viral because of its beat, lyrics, and dance<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u201caddictive beat\u201d,\u00a0\u201cupbeat\u201d,\u00a0\u201crepetition of rhythms and beats\u201d,\u00a0\u201csimple but catchy track\u201d,\u00a0\u201csilly lyrics\u201d, \u201clyrics are nonsensical\u201d,\u00a0\u201cnonsensical lyrics\u201d,\u00a0\u201csimpler dance routine\u201d,\u00a0\u201crhythmic dance moves\u201d,\u00a0\u201chilariously simple dance routine\u201d, \u201cquirky dance moves\u201d<\/p>\n

    3) PPAP is funny<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u201csilly song\u201d,\u00a0\u201chilarious\u201d,\u00a0\u201cbizarrely hilarious\u201d,\u00a0\u201cutterly hilarious\u201d<\/p>\n

    4) PPAP is\u00a0strange<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u201cbizarre\u201d,\u00a0\u201cwild\u201d,\u00a0\u201cfascinating\u201d,\u00a0\u201cnonsensical\u201d,\u00a0\u201cmakes no sense whatsoever\u201d,\u00a0\u201cwrong side of Youtube\u201d,\u00a0\u201cmakes no sense\u201d<\/p>\n

    5) PPAP is annoying<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u201cannoying\u201d,\u00a0\u201cdrives them nuts\u201d,\u00a0\u201cstupid thing\u201d<\/p>\n

    6) PPAP is clever<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u201cwild genius\u201d,\u00a0\u201cmad genius\u201d,\u00a0\u201cmagical\u201d, \u201cgreatest thing on the internet right now\u201d, \u201csuccessful viral videos\u201d<\/p>\n

    7) PPAP is global<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u201cnot particularly trended on Japanese social media\u201d,\u00a0\u201cmake inroads into Western internet circles\u201d,\u00a0\u201cinternet is obsessed\u201d,\u00a0\u201ctake over the world\u201d<\/p>\n

    8) PPAP replaces a previous viral hit<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u201cthe next Gangnam Style\u201d, \u201cthe next Psy\u201d,\u00a0\u201cthe next Harlem Shake\u201d, \u201creminiscent of recent hits like Singapore actor Chen Tianwen\u2019s \u2018Unbelievable’\u201d<\/p>\n

    Folklore and conspiracy theories regarding the \u201ctrue meaning\u201d of the song have also begun to emerge, such as how it has a\u00a0\u201chidden sexual message\u201d (thebitbag.com<\/a>) because of\u00a0\u201cinnuendo[s]\u201d\u00a0(idigitaltimes.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

    \u2013<\/p>\n

    Characteristics & Predecessors<\/h2>\n

    While I am chiefly an academic, I also do consulting on the side for companies who wish to develop their social media presence and estates. Clients often ask if I can make something \u201cgo viral\u201d, or whether I can give them \u201cthe formula\u201d to achieve virality. The truth is, there are no perfect rules. Some internet researchers have studied virality in various forms (and you can read examples here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>)<\/em>. In response to my thematic codes of popular press articles above, in this section I wish to think through a few\u00a0qualities specific to PPAP\u2019s virality.<\/p>\n

    1) Visceral camp<\/strong><\/p>\n

    In my study of \u2018grotesque microecelebrity<\/a>\u2018, I borrow from American writer Susan Sontag<\/a>\u2018s notion of \u2018camp<\/a>\u2018 to understand \u2018visceral camp\u2019.\u00a0Visceral camp is the aesthetic of playful, anti-serious visual displays and theatrics that are exaggerated and outlandish, carefully curated to convey atypical taste and overwhelming to the point of ridicule and primitive gawking. In Singapore, recent viral hits of such excess include television network Mediacorp Channel 5\u2019sUnbelievable <\/a>(2015) and and musician ShiGGa Shay\u2019s Wussapa <\/a>(2015).<\/p>\n

    2) Blank canvas<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Piko-Taro and PPAP are camp performances; they present a gaudy aesthetic that is a melange of bad fashion sense, flamboyance,\u00a0internet weird<\/a>,\u00a0and internet ugly<\/a>. Yet at the same time, PPAP means nothing,\u00a0it is nonsensical and void of distinct meaning. This thus presents PPAP as a template, a blank canvas onto which viewers can project meaning, and into which viewers can invest creatively. Predecessors as such include the Harlem Shake<\/a> (2013) and What Does the Fox Say<\/a> (2013).<\/p>\n

    3) Translation &\u00a0transposition\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    As earlier\u00a0noted, PPAP is also replicable because its tune, beat, lyrics, and dance moves are simple to emulate. It also has a memorable gestural sequence and iconic catchphrase. The Macarena<\/a> (1993) and \u00a0Gwiyomi <\/a>(2013) are similar viral hits that were easy to translate across cultures, and easy to transpose across mediums as they were straightforward to copy.<\/p>\n

    4) Exoticism<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The one thing that really stood out to me was how \u2018the internet\u2019 compared PPAP to Gangnam Style<\/a> (2012). This was probably because Gangnam Style still holds the record for being the most viewed video<\/a> on YouTube, but more likely because this song was the last \u201cAsian\u201d artifact to go viral globally.<\/p>\n

    PPAP has been described as a\u00a0\u201cJpop meme\u201d or \u201canother pop meme imported from Asia\u201d that has\u00a0\u201cfinally made its way to the American internet\u201d (dailydot.com<\/a>) and\u00a0\u201cma[de] inroads into Western internet circles\u201d (mashable.com<\/a>). In other words, in the cultural hegemony of the internet and its repertoire of virality, PPAP is the exotic Other, the underdog, and\u00a0the oriental \u201cmagical\u201d\u00a0(mashable.com<\/a>) thing that has managed to successfully infiltrate the \u2018normal\u2019 internet. This exoticism also applies in other non-hegemonic \u201cWestern\u201d contexts, such as when Trololo <\/a>(2009) from the Soviet era gain virality.<\/p>\n

    Of course, the lyrical simplicity and Japanese-accented English in PPAP also\u00a0taps into the popular humour of Japlish <\/a>or Engrish<\/a>, which sometimes results in legendary internet gold such as \u201cAll Your Base Are Belong to Us<\/a>\u201c.<\/p>\n

    5) Cultural flows<\/strong><\/p>\n

    In media scholar Koichi Iwabuchi\u2019s work on Japanese popular culture<\/a> (2002) and anthropologist Christine Yano\u2019s study on Hello Kitty<\/a> (2013), they discuss \u201crecentering globalization\u201d and \u201cdecentering globalization\u201d respectively with regards to how popular culture trends emerge and circulate.\u00a0Global trends usually originate at a \u2018core\u2019 before flowing across national, geo-political, and socio-cultural boundaries to the \u2018periphery\u2019 where they are then taken up.<\/p>\n

    In the past, the core was usually the USA from which\u00a0trends would\u00a0spread to the rest of the world. However, with the proliferation of Jpop and the recent emergence of Kpop, these global cultural flows have been changing and shifting, such that\u00a0the core is situated outside of the USA and in places such as Japan (i.e. Jpop, PPAP)<\/em> or Korea (i.e. Kpop)<\/em> for example. PPAP and Gangnam Styles are great case studies for how such cultural flows are\u00a0“recentered” or “decentered”<\/p>\n

    \u2013<\/p>\n

    Where to from here?<\/h2>\n

    What DJ Kosaka Daimaou\/Mr Kazuhiko Kosaka will do with\u00a0Piko-Taro’s new internet virality is any one\u2019s guess, although given his background in the entertainment industry, Piko-Taro is likely to evolve from a viral artifact\u00a0of transience to a celebrity \u00a0icon with longevity. However, making the leap from virality to micro\/celebrity is not an easy task. Even though Piko-Taro is now an internet-household name, his digital estates have not been clocking the views and traffic he has accumulated \u2013 after all, his fame was largely catapulted by 9GAG who reposted a video from a user that did not link back to Piko-Taro\u2019s original YouTube video.\u00a0Even now, much of the traffic is redirected to various copies and reposts rather than his original video.<\/p>\n

    Digital estates aside, Piko-Taro seems to have a memorable brand on track, with his\u00a0formulaic and trademark fashion (gaudy gold)<\/em>, setting (all videos on YouTube show the\u00a0same white back ground)<\/em>, lyrics (nonsense, humour, Japanese\/English)<\/em>, and dance moves (i can\u2019t even)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    In the lifecycle\u00a0of his virality, and as with most predecessors, I anticipate that Piko-Taro will soon produce his own official merchandize (as opposed to random Amazon users profiting off the hype with homemade goods)<\/em>, appear and perform on a prime time slot in the USA (such as the Ellen show),\u00a0<\/em>and be approached to endorse brands (Apple, obviously?).\u00a0<\/em>But here is where it gets tricky, because commerce and over-exposure is where virality starts to plateau and memes begin to die. As a scholar of internet culture, I\u2019d be excited to watch the Piko-Taro hype unfold in the next few weeks. For now, PEN PINEAPPLE APPLE PEN.<\/p>\n

    \u2013<\/p>\n

    If you\u2019re interested in viral internet songs, I catalogued\u00a0how soundbites become remixed into viral\u00a0songs in Singapore here<\/a>, and how eyewitness accounts become (racist) viral songs here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    PS: Remember the Badger Song<\/a> (2008)? The Duck Song<\/a> (2009)? Nyan Cat<\/a> (2011)? The internet is truly a wonderful blackhole.<\/p>\n

    PPS: I wrote this blogpost while listening to a\u00a010-hour loop of PPAP<\/a> on YouTube. I take my craft very seriously. (But I also gave up at the 1hr 55min 14sec mark to retain my sanity).<\/em><\/p>\n

    –<\/p>\n

    Dr Crystal Abidin is an anthropologist and an ethnographer. Reach her at wishcrys.com and @wishcrys.\u00a0This post was first published on wishcrys.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This is the Pen Pineapple Apple Pen (PPAP) song that started amassing virality around 25 September 2016, despite being\u00a0published on YouTube a month earlier on 25 August 2016. This\u00a0is the tutorial from its original artist, published on 26 September 2016 in response to volumes of covers, remixes, and parodies being produced as the song approaches […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2067,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9967],"tags":[36506,36524,36523,18497,389],"class_list":["post-21663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","tag-microcelebrity","tag-pen-pineapple-apple-pen","tag-ppap","tag-virality","tag-youtube"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2067"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21663"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21672,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21663\/revisions\/21672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}