Ok so now we all know what we're talking about, we can move on. These guys are brothers and hold a talk show on Norwegian TV but have always been heavy into sketches and skits etc, fortunately for me many of which are in English. The video has been very heavily compared to Gangnam style and other such internet crazes but in my opinion this one is a little different. Now I dont know much about what Psy was up to before his international fame but I know Ylvis have been paying the dues with some very clever comedy for several years and I know I thought they were great as soon as I was shown them. These guys deserve all the plaudits they get and I'm hoping the fame of this one song with get people to see lots of there other stuff online and see they are far from one trick ponies.
For the last week or so the video has been in Norwegian news a lot as they record the ever growing number of hits the video recieves as it goes viral all over the world. The hits on the song were making news at 6 million last week and have recently passed 30 million. my favourate song of theres "stonehenge" has gone from 600,000 to nearly 3 million in the same time. Not nearly as a news worthy but still impressive and I'm sure it will continue.
The one question I found asking myself though is why now? They have several others like this. Now many would say this was down to luck, or that this one was just so much better but given how much I studied social media marketing for my degree I was sure there was something else, and there is. Its no big secret infact its well publicised but its something I feel should be pointed out for those who haven't been told. That is that this video was produced by a very famous Norwegian production company who have previously produced stuff for many huge acts such as Rhianna etc.
It is arguable how important a factor this was, several of there other stuff seemed to have a relitvly high budget and are all visually clever so I would argue it was pretty instrumental in getting it off the ground as there other songs never had travelled outside of Scandinavia. Once something is off the ground though all the credit goes back to Ylvis for the simple comedy genius. The quote at the bottom from one of the brothers is a great example of how things can explode accidentally thanks to the wonders of the internet.
Something else I have to touch on is the pronunciation. I've heard Elvis and Ilvis, Ilvis is close but to be honest its almost impossible to describe the Norwegian Y through phonetic English. I'm going to make what is probably a terribly suggestion and say start with Ilvis but for instead of the first I consider the "ol" of "wool". Thats the best I can do I'm afraid.
"The song is made for a TV show and is supposed to entertain a few Norwegians for three minutes — and that's all. It was done just a few days ago and we recently had a screening in our office. About 10 people watched — nobody laughed."
— Bård Ylvisåker talking about THE FOX
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