Why did Duang and this skirt become so popular on social networks?

This week, "Duang" and a skirt are popular!

The onomatopeia "Duang" comes from a shampoo advertisement shot by Jackie Chan in 2004.

Recently, this advertisement endorsed by Jackie Chan and once cracked down by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce was dug up again by netizens for a new round of spoofs. Jackie Chan and Pang Mailang's "My Skateboard Shoes" were synchronized like a god and made into a video called "My Shampoo".

"Duang" became the most popular word on the Internet. However, just one day later, a skirt of unknown color was flooding the social network.

Due to the controversy over the color of the skirt, netizens were divided into two factions: the "white and gold party" and the "blue and black party". Everyone believed that what they saw was believing and they argued endlessly with each other.

So how did they become popular, and what factors made "Duang" and this skirt popular on social networks?

How did Duang become popular?

On February 20, a netizen of the bilibili video website uploaded this "duang" spoof video.

On February 21, the video appeared on Weibo, and the source was the bilibili website. Because it was funny, it was forwarded by "Haha Party" people.

The joke makers also discovered the popularity potential of "Duang" and started to spoof it:

After eating a lot during the Spring Festival, my face started to have its own special effects.

The sound of a thin person falling down: pia! The sound of a fat person falling down: duang!

Then, corporate and media official accounts saw the marketing gimmick, and netizens who were inspired began to imitate and create, and celebrities also joined in. So there were versions for Jaycee Chan, Wang Sicong, Huang Shengyi, Durex, blind date, and work.

On February 26, WeChat Moments was flooded with “Duang”, and people who didn’t know the truth learned the meaning of “Duang” through various channels. Then, Moments status and public account articles all quoted “Duang” to follow the trend.

Ghost animal videos come into the public eye

Many people have seen this spoof video, but few know that it is actually a ghost video.

The last time the bilibili video website (also known as B station) appeared in the public eye was because of the popular barrage last year. This time, the spoof video of Jackie Chan born on B station is a typical ghost animal video.

The word "鬼畜" comes from Japanese, which describes people who do cruel things or are scary and evil. In terms of video, it refers to a type of video that uses video editing to create a rhythm with a high synchronization rate of sound and picture combined with a high frequency of repeated images (or sounds).

The popularity of "Duang" is the result of the magical synchronization of Jackie Chan's shampoo advertisement and Pang Mailang's "My Skateboard Shoes", which were combined into a ghost video "My Shampoo".

In fact, ghost videos have existed in the ACG (a general term for animation, comics, and games) circle for a long time. Since the materials used are relatively niche, they have always been popular in the circle but incomprehensible to people outside the circle.

However, the protagonist this time is Jackie Chan, whose shampoo advertisement that was exposed as fake is well known to everyone, plus the hit song "My Skateboard Shoes" last year, these elements are easy for the public to understand. Therefore, it can quickly break away from the ghost animal world and set off a national carnival.

"Duang" caught up with the good timing

One of the important factors for the popularity of "Duang" is that it caught the right timing.

After entering 2015, everyone is summarizing the buzzwords of 2014. However, almost two months into 2015, no new buzzwords have been born.

In the past, this important task was undertaken by the Spring Festival Gala. "So talented", "Not short of money", "* words omitted here" were once masterpieces of the Spring Festival Gala.

But in recent years, the Spring Festival Gala has lost its glory and has become a "repeater" of Internet buzzwords. This year, Internet words such as "female man" and "hardworking" became language materials for the Spring Festival Gala, for example.

Even the program itself, the Spring Festival Gala is facing a crisis. Someone once joked, what is the best program of this year's Spring Festival Gala? The answer is: grabbing red envelopes!

As we lost control of buzzwords, there was a buzzword gap after the Spring Festival Gala ended. And this period of time coincided with the end of the holiday and the start of work, when everyone was still enjoying the holiday.

At this moment, the sudden appearance of "Duang" is like a bomb dropped into a calm lake, which inevitably causes huge shock and resonance.

A skirt caused controversy

The aftermath of “Duang” has not yet subsided. On February 27, the circle of friends was flooded with a skirt of unknown color.

The controversy over the skirt came from abroad. On February 25, an American girl named @swiked uploaded a photo of a horizontal striped dress on the social networking site Tumblr.

In her opinion, the dress is white and gold, while her friends insist it is blue and black. The two sides are arguing and unable to convince each other, so they have to post the photo online and ask netizens to judge. The photo quickly became popular on the Internet, and the number of visits to the article about the dress on BuzzFeed website exceeded 30 million.

Millions of netizens participated in the discussion, and they were divided into the Platinum Party and the Blue-Black Party. According to a poll initiated by BuzzFeed, the Platinum Party accounted for 73% and the Blue-Black Party accounted for 27%. According to the voting statistics of more than 30,000 netizens on Tencent , the Platinum Party accounted for 75% and the Blue-Black Party accounted for 25%, which is basically consistent with foreign statistics.

Why did a skirt become so popular on the entire Internet?

Roman Originals, the manufacturer of the dress, also became popular. Its creative director Ian Johnson revealed to the media that after the accidental exposure, the sales of the dress increased by 500% and the number of visits to the official website increased by 2,000%.

Why did a dress become so popular on the Internet? The host of the American talk show, Ellen, revealed the secret: "From today on, the world will be divided into two camps, blue and black and white and gold."

Just like the Chinese are keen on debating whether tofu pudding should be sweet or salty, this skirt divided all netizens into two camps. They all believed what they saw with their own eyes. The two camps refused to give in to each other, and more people happily joined the team.

On social networks, many celebrities have joined the discussion about the color of the skirt, including Taylor Swift, Julianne Moore, Ariana Grande and other celebrities who posted on Weibo to discuss the matter, and there are huge differences of opinion.

Driven by the celebrity effect, it would be difficult for this dress to be a "quiet dress".

The inspiration of "Duang" and skirts going viral on social networks

Are the two consecutive Internet-famous events within two days just coincidence? In fact, they do have some similarities.

Star Effect

Entertainment stars have always been the focus of public attention. Once an online event or buzzword is related to a star, it has the potential to become a hit.

Looking through the popular online words of last year, many of them are related to entertainment stars. "Pretty hard-working" is related to Gary Cao, "going to the rooftop" is related to Jay Chou, "cherish every moment" is related to Ma Yili, and "buy buy buy" is related to Wang Sicong.

The "Ice Bucket Challenge" that was popular last year attracted widespread attention from netizens thanks to the participation of many celebrities and technology giants.

The ghost animal video that made "Duang" popular this time also combined "celebrity" elements such as Jackie Chan, shampoo ads, and skateboard shoes. In fact, there were many ghost animal videos that were popular in small circles before, and celebrities were the key to driving them to become popular among the public.

Lowering the threshold

The popularity of popular online events is inseparable from the participation of the public. If we want the majority of netizens to understand and participate, a low threshold is very important.

For example, some jargons have a certain threshold for use. They are words used in communication within a specific group, and it is difficult to be understood and accepted beyond this range.

This skirt with indistinguishable color became popular in China after it became popular abroad. This is also true in many other countries as well.

At this time, differences in region, culture, and country all disappear, and people only need to use their naked eyes to identify the color of the skirt. This lowers the threshold for public participation to the lowest level.

Following these two events, Chai Jing's documentary about smog has set off another Internet sensation. As a former CCTV host and best-selling author, Chai Jing has a high reputation and good reputation. For the Chinese people today, smog is closely related to the health of every person.

With the dual blessing of celebrity effect and low threshold, it is only natural that this smog documentary has become popular on the Internet.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.