When Stephanie Hardy first watched “The Fox,” she wasn’t expecting to see costumed adults dancing and making animal sounds in dark woods.
“The most appealing thing about it is definitely the surprise factor,” she said about the viral video by the Norwegian comedy duo, Ylvis.
The 19-year-old mechanical and aerospace engineering sophomore said “The Fox (What does the Fox say?)” video was a beautiful thing, and it gained popularity for being so catchy people couldn’t look away.
“What Does the Fox Say?” is not only a hilariously bizarre observation of common animal sounds, but also a perfect example of the ludicrous taste of the American public. Following in the footsteps of last year’s fall hit, “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, “What Does the Fox say?” captivates audiences by being unconventional but inescapably memorable.
The duo’s goal was to make an unsuccessful video to use as the opening joke for the premiere of their Norwegian talk show’s third season, brothers Bard and Vegard said on “The Ellen Degeneres Show.”
Ylvis wanted to give the producers of the video what the duo called a “crap idea.” As they observed later on “Ellen,” their plan backfired. The video, released on YouTube on Sept. 3, now has more than 75 million views. Reactions to this strange video have been on both extremes — some students love it, and others hate it.
“The fox doesn’t say anything,” said Juliana Schmidt, a 19-year-old nursing sophomore, denouncing the video as nonsensical.
“I think it’s popular because it’s just so out there, and people think it’s funny. I mean, why did ‘Friday’ by Rebecca Black get so popular?”
A version of this story ran on page 10 on 10/3/2013 under the headline "‘What Does the Fox Say?’ animal sounds video goes viral"
