Top 10 Viral Moments of 2023
#10: Rihanna’s Halftime Show
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Glendale, Arizona was the place to be on February 12, 2023. Not only could you watch a great Super Bowl between the Chiefs and Eagles, but you could watch Rihanna put on one of the greatest halftime shows in recent memory. Rattling off a medley of popular tunes, Rihanna shone bright like a diamond and commanded attention, proving why she’s one of the best pop stars in the game. It was the most-watched halftime show in history, with 121 million viewers, and her streams jumped 140% in the days following the performance. It was enough to give Rihanna her best streaming week of all time, with 166 million plays across the week ending February 16.
#9: The Big Red Boots
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High fashion is… an acquired taste, to say the least. What is gorgeous and groundbreaking to some may look ridiculous to others, and that’s where MSCHF’s big red boots come in. Released in February 2023, the boots have a very distinct look that many on social media took to mocking. No one knew how to style them, leading to widespread hilarity, and despite a valiant attempt from the NBA’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, they never really took off. Well, not in real life, anyway. They were all the rage on Twitter. Many even compared them to the boots worn by Astro Boy, which of course only fueled the ridicule.
#8: “Skibidi Toilet”
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Generation Alpha has one of their first cultural hits, and it’s “Skibidi Toilet.” A surprise phenomenon from animator Alexey Gerasimov, “Skibidi Toilet” is a surreal web series about singing toilets with human heads. That’s not all. These singing toilets with human heads are also at war with humans with electronic heads. The series is made on Valve’s Source Filmmaker and made its debut in February. In just eight months, Gerasimov’s YouTube channel acquired over 30 million subscribers and 12 billion views. Many outlets see it as a focal point for the changing nature of entertainment, an internet phenomenon made by a younger generation using a video game engine. The future is now!
#7: The Chinese Spy Balloon
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2023 started off with a bang. Literally. A Chinese spy balloon floated across Canada and the United States between January 28 and February 4. It was then that an F-22 Raptor was assigned to shoot it down, and it did so off the coast of North Carolina using an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile. Analysis of the wreckage proved that the balloon was carrying spy equipment but that nothing substantial was relayed back to China. It was a bizarre week, and a rather fun one for those on social media. Aside from the serious political discourse, countless memes were made about the balloon, and it resulted in a viral conversation that started the year off right.
#6: The Grimace Shake
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The purple monster Grimace was first introduced in 1971, and in June 2023, McDonald’s released a limited-time milkshake to celebrate his 52nd birthday. Purple to match the character, the milkshake was berry-flavored and received mixed responses. But more important was the hilarious, somewhat morbid trend that it generated. A viral meme on TikTok, it showed users drinking the milkshake and ending up dead, with purple liquid often spread around them like blood. Some didn’t go the death route and opted instead to show themselves drinking the milkshake and ending up in bizarre, often creepy, locations. The trend inspired endless creativity and boosted McDonald’s sales by over 10%. The power of social media.
#5: King Charles’ Coronation
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On September 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II passed away after ruling for 70 years and 214 days - the longest reign of any British monarch. Eight months later, on May 6, 2023, her son King Charles III was crowned at Westminster Abbey. This was the first coronation of a British monarch in the 21st century, and it received a suitably large reaction on social media. Discussions ranged from his regal outfit to the somewhat hostile reaction that the coronation drew in its native Britain. And of course, the coronation was memed far and wide, with Queen Camilla taking a good brunt of the damage.
#4: The Titan Submersible
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For four days in June, the world watched with intense interest as the story of Titan unfolded. A shoddy submersible made by OceanGate, the Titan was ferrying five individuals down to the wreck of the Titanic. Communication with the submersible was lost less than two hours into its descent, and the internet was ablaze with theories, memes, and discussion for the next four days. Are they dead? Are they trapped at the bottom of the ocean? Some jokes were even made about the cheap nature of the submersible, as it ignored basic safety protocols and was piloted by a video game controller. The unbelievable story concluded on June 22, when it was announced that debris had been found and that the Titan had imploded.
#3: Taylor Swift at Chiefs Games
Times are changing, and “celebrity” seems to be a fluid and ever-elusive word. Taylor Swift proves the exception. An old-school celebrity with legions of fans, Swift is one of those public figures who turns heads no matter what they do. Swift began dating Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce in September and attended his games in person. For some reason, this was a huge pop culture event. Media outlets were predicting if Swift would be at that Sunday’s game, and one missed week was headline-making news. Kelce’s jersey was suddenly a hot commodity. Chiefs games even saw a massive increase in viewership, with the teen girl demographic spiking by as much as 53%. Slap Swift’s name onto something and it’s guaranteed to sell!
#2: Donald Trump’s Arrest & Mugshot
We can’t seem to get enough of celebrity mugshots, and Donald Trump’s is now one of the most famous. The former president was arrested on August 24 after he was indicted in Georgia on a number of felonies, like racketeering and conspiracy to overturn election results. History was made when the Fulton County Sheriff's Office released Trump’s mugshot, making this the first mugshot ever taken of a United States President. Understandably, the picture kickstarted a media frenzy and was widely memed on social media. People love being a part of history, and this was their opportunity to do so.
#1: Barbenheimer
They’re going to write books about Barbenheimer one day, you watch. What started as a goofy joke on social media quickly blossomed into a cultural phenomenon, as people greatly enjoyed the counterprogramming of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.” And when both were released on July 21, 2023, the world exploded. Esteemed directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese praised the social event, calling it a unique form of cinema, and both combined to become the fourth-largest joint opening weekend in American history. While “Barbie” was always going to be huge, it’s “Oppenheimer” that proved the true surprise here - a dense, three-hour-long biopic that shattered box office records. There may never be anything like Barbenheimer again.
Did you partake in the social media fun? Let us know in the comments below!
