Rickroll
In 1987 , Rick Astley released his debut single “ Never Gonna Give You Up .” ( Fig . 41 ) The music video was uploaded to Youtube in 2007 and has become perhaps the most infamous bait and switch video to ever exist . In the early to mid 2000s , it was popular on 4chan to use the bait and switch format for comedy . The first ever meme of this was known as “ Duck Rolling .” ( Fig . 42 ) People would post a link and create a desire for others to view it but it would link to a picture of a duck with wheels . This was the precursor to “ Rickrolling ” which became popular in 2007 . “ Rickrolling ” was one of the most widely popular memes of the time , infiltrating popular culture and forever changing the landscape of meme culture on the internet . As an April Fool ’ s Day prank , every featured video on the Youtube home page would redirect to the Rick Astley music video . Astley lipsynced to his own song in 2008 on a Macy ’ s Thanksgiving Day Parade float . Not only was the “ Rickrolling ” meme extremely popular , but the lyrics and Astley ’ s face are tied to the video , which allowed for the abstraction and parody of the meme because they added another layer of visual content . Internet users lost interest in the meme in 2008 as the style of humor progressed and changed .
However , in 2015 , there was a “ Rickroll ” resurgence on Tumblr . For a couple months , this meme was again popular . Many cited the reason for it ’ s popularity was that it was a completely innocent meme . There were no feelings to hurt and the the frustrated , yet funny feeling evoked from being “ Rickrolled ” was completely innocent and never ill intended . In 20016 , Melania Trump delivered a speech at the Republican National Convention which used some of the lyrics of “ Never Gonna Give You Up ” leading many inernet users to believe that her speech writer was “ Rickrolling ” the audience .
fig . 42
“ Trololo ” also known as the “ Russian Rickroll ” was a video of Eduard Khil singing the Sovietera pop song “ I am Glad , ‘ cause I ’ m Finally Returning Back Home .” The video gained popularity because the chorus sounds like the phrase “ troll lol lol ” which combines the popular phrases ‘ troll ’ and ‘ lol ’ which were popular internet vernacular . ( Fig . 43 ) Internet users often would say ‘ trollolol ’ to convey that it was funny to ‘ troll ’ or make fun of a person . This meme was another bait and switch meme . Other variants of the video included placing an image over Khil ’ s face , such as the “ U Mad Bro ” Rage Face . Unfortunately , Khil passed away in 2012 .
fig . 43
24 | Part One : Early Memes