What Does the Fox Say music YouTube video breaks the 100 million views mark in a little over 30 days vs Gangnam Style which took 52 days

China gets into The Fox spirit

Staff Reporter

2013-10-23

Move over Gangnam Style — a new YouTube viral hit has taken China and the world by storm. The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?), a song written and performed by Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis, was uploaded to YouTube on Sept. 3 and has become an internet sensation with more than 146 million views as of Oct. 22, breaking the 100 million views mark in a little over 30 days. To put that achievement into perspective, last year’s viral smash, Gangnam Style by South Korean artist Psy, took 52 days to reach 100 million views. In the music clip, the performers, dressed in a variety of animal costumes, go through a list of animal sounds to a catchy tune before questioning the mysterious sound of foxes with the chorus line, “What does the fox say?” Like with Gangnam Style, Chinese netizens have quickly caught on to The Fox, with many commending its “lack of commercialism” and its children-friendly animal and fantasy elements. “The lyrics are silly but not vulgar like many other internet hits, and has an adorable atmosphere that people of all ages will like,” one netizen wrote. Ylvis members Bard and Vegard Ylvisaker say their unlikely hit started off as a joke, and that they are prepared for when enthusiasm for The Fox inevitably wanes. “You can’t be amazed for an entire month,” Vegard said. “At some point, it has to level off.” “There might come a song about wolves from Denmark in the next week, and then, suddenly, we’re off the hook,” Bard said. “That’s OK. Even if that happens, it’s been fun.” The Fox is currently sixth on the US Billboard Hot 100.What Does the Fox Say: what makes an internet video go viral?

A music video about fox cries is taking the web by storm – but what makes a video more likely to be shared than others?

By Juliet Turner and Lucy Kinder

9:00AM BST 22 Oct 2013

In 2012, a little known Korean artist riding an imaginary horse clocked up more than one billion views on YouTube with his song Gangnam Style.

Now a song called ‘The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?).’ is hoping to be a similarly popular viral hit.

It was released as a joke in September by two Norwegian brothers collectively known as Ylvis using Stargate, the production team that helped create hit songs for Rihanna and Katy Perry.

The brothers, both well known comedians in Norway, said they wanted to “misuse” the talents of an A-list production team for comic effect.

“The idea was that we could go on air and say, ‘Guys we had an opportunity of our life, making a film with these producers’, but all we could come up with was this song about what sound the fox makes” Vegard Ylvisaker told the Sunday Times.

Lyrics include the line “ducks say quack, and fish go blub and the seal goes ow wow ow but theres one sound that no one knows what does the fox say?”

The song has had more than 140 million hits so far – more than Gangnam Style had at this stage of its release. According to a new survey clips like ‘The Fox’ follow a winning formula when it comes to going ‘viral’.

Internet clips go “viral” when audiences reach into the millions – or even billions – thanks to so many people forwarding the link.

According to the study, the likelihood of someone choosing to forward a video depends on the emotion provoked by that clip.

Researchers describe what they call an “arousal hierarchy” where videos eliciting positive emotion, including joy and humour, are most likely to be forwarded.

Videos eliciting feelings of alertness and attentiveness are the next most likely to be forwarded.

Clips that evoke negative arousal are near the bottom of the hierarchy, but still more likely to be forwarded than dull, non-emotional videos.

The research, led by Rosanna E. Guadagno at America’s National Science Foundation, was conducted by recruiting 256 university students to watch one of ten hits on YouTube, then asking them how they felt and whether they planned to forward it to others.