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American Independence Day Stephen Merchant Chipmunks

#LikeAGirl & the alternative Independence Day take the Viral Chart by storm!

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By VAN Team | VAN

July 2, 2014 | 6 min read

Brand Chart

Following last week’s viral hit for HelloFlo and their First Moon Party, once again girls are taking centre stage, this time with a more serious angle as Always introduce their new video #LikeAGirl.

The campaign highlights the common phrase of doing something “like a girl” – throwing, running, fighting, etc – and how this is often used as a derogatory way to insult people. The film asks adults and one young boy to portray their idea of acting like a girl – cue flailing arms and embarrassing wiggling. They then follow this up with the same question, but asked to pre-adolescent girls, who go on to display a much stronger and powerful image, highlighting how so often young women can lose self-esteem as they grow up with people telling them that doing something “like a girl” is a bad thing.

Always have said they’re using the video to kick off an “epic battle to make sure that girls everywhere keep their confidence throughout puberty and beyond, and making a start by showing them that doing it #LikeAGirl is an awesome thing”. They have set up the hashtag to encourage people to get involved by showing off the amazing things they can do #LikeAGirl. The message is clear – the psychological effects of using gender to judge or ridicule are real and harmful, and it’s time to take a stand against this!

On a slightly less serious note, trending this week has also been Newcastle Brown Ale. Their latest video sees Stephen Merchant gearing up to American Independence Day by, essentially, telling the USA how much better of they would have been if Great Britain was still in charge.“If We Won”, the video created by Droga5, questions how much more beer Newcastle Brown Ale could have sold if Great Britain had won the Revolutionary War and mocks the idea of Independence Day by comparing it to “your girlfriend breaking up with you, and then celebrating with fireworks. Every year. For 300 years!” The sweary video concludes by suggesting that “Great Britain 2” should instead be celebrating July 3rd – Independence Eve – and raising a “toast to how good it could have been”. So far the reception to the video seems to be good, from both sides of the pond, and it seems that Newcastle Brown Ale can continue with their hijacking of every big American event.

UGC & Entertainment Chart So (rather ironically) everyone knows that the first rule of Fight Club is – you do not talk about Fight Club. But what about Slap Club?This week American screenwriter, Max Landis, has been trending with his video “The Slap”, which sees his randomly paired acquaintances consensually slapping each other in the face. Speaking in his accompanying explanatory video, Landis claims the idea comes from the theory that “violence minus aggression is intimacy” and that “a slap mitigated by permission is a hug”. It can actually result in the building of relationships. Landis references First Kiss, the video by Tatia Pllieva from earlier this year that features strangers being introduced to each other and then asked to kiss. He states that his video is not an imitation or parody, but rather an attempt to answer some big questions that First Kiss failed to address. Whilst it’s true that the resulting footage features some great dynamics and people placing a good amount of trust in each other, it is hard to get over the fact that it is just 4 minutes of people hitting each other – especially when some of the participants seem to get quite into it!Watch for yourself and see which side of the fence you fall on! Bonus points for spotting Sixth Sense one time child star Hayley Joel Osment!

For those of you left torn by The Slap then you might want to calm yourselves down with the excellent new video from Brett Domino. Brett, who you may be familiar with from plenty of YouTube hits, such as his cover of Daft Punk’s Aerodynamic, or his Gillian McKeith inspired ditty, is this time giving us a lesson in How To Make A Hit Pop Song – featuring his own tune ‘Sexy When You Do That’. The song, inspired by Jennifer Lawrence (of course), features lines such as “I like it when you eat gateau, I like it when you wear that shade of Bordeaux” and an unbelievably catchy bassoon hook (yes, there is such a thing).So now that Brett has laid it all out in a simple guide it means that anyone and everyone can have a go at smashing the pop charts – who knows, you could even be the next Jason Derulo! Fingers crossed!

Squeak Of The Week Or should it be titled “Badass Squeak Of The Week” as a tiny chipmunk fights off a big boss cat, which wants to make a meal out of him!On a first look, this video by Klotz Productions does not look like a good contender for a nice, cute and fuzzy film, but luckily all ends well as the scrappy little chipmunk jumps up fighting fit, and none too pleased at being lunch, with a victorious finish as he escapes back into the wild. It’s like a heart wrenching Hollywood tale (tail?) all crammed into 40 seconds, and with over 1.8 million views in just over a week it proves that everyone loves a bit of drama!Could this be the next big Disney project?

Viral Video chart compiled by the VAN teamJoin the #KittenCamp Snackz mailing list for weekly updates on top trending videos and follow @JoinVAN for the latest viral gossip and industry news!

American Independence Day Stephen Merchant Chipmunks

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