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What Does the Fox Say

You might remember it as Ylvis The Fox, ring ding ding ding song, The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)

YouTube hall of fame40 of 40

2013·The social era·funny

The most-watched video of its year and a permanent fixture of children's internet culture.

At a glanceThe facts

Remembered as
Ylvis The Fox
Spread in
2013
Format
Video
Era
The social era
Performed by
Ylvis: the brothers Bård and Vegard Ylvisåker
Taken from
A promotional song for the third season of the Norwegian talk show I kveld med Ylvis
Record
A hundred million views in 35 days, against 51 for Gangnam Style
Origin
Origin not yet established
Available
Playable from the source

Why it matteredWhat changed

Two Norwegian comedians called in a favour from the production duo Stargate to make a song for their chat show that was meant to flop. It reached a hundred million views faster than Gangnam Style had.

TimelineIn order

  1. Posted

    The video is released on the YouTube channel of the Norwegian broadcaster TVNorge.1

  2. Mainstream

    The song enters the Billboard Hot 100 at number 29. It peaks at number six.1

  3. Record

    It reaches number one in Norway, where it stays for four weeks.1

  4. Remixed

    Simon & Schuster publishes it as a children’s picture book, which sells more than sixty thousand copies in a week.1

What people misrememberSet straight

Commonly remembered asA calculated attempt at a hit.

ActuallyIt was made to be a flop for a Norwegian audience, and the brothers said its success surprised them.1

How it spreadFrom one place to everywhere

LegacyWhat it left behind

Why it is here: something the internet still knows by name · a moment that changed what the internet did next · it got out of its own corner of the internet fast · still being watched and quoted years later

The version shown here is an official copy on YouTube, published by a rights holder.

Where it came fromWhat we know

Original source uncertain. This is the earliest copy currently known.

View the official copy on YouTube

No original upload has been established for this record. The index is showing the earliest copy it currently knows about, and says so rather than guessing.

Not established. This index only names a creator where the evidence supports it.

More from the social eraMore of the archive

SourcesWhat was read

  1. Wikipedia — The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)

Sources last read on . That date is about the history on this page. Whether the media still plays is checked separately and can change any day. How ViralWorld documents things

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