The Cartoon Network Rickrolls The Macy's Parade

by Glenn McDonald

This is inspired.

At the extremely orchestrated, extremely annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City, those rascals at the Cartoon Network managed to Rickroll a crowd of millions, both in person and via the live broadcast on NBC.

If you're not familiar with the concept of Rickrolling, there's a good primer here. Basically, it's a fun but aging Internet meme -- an endlessly perpetuating prank that tricks people into watching a full-screen, full-volume version of Rick Astley's 1987 video, "Never Going to Give You Up."

More on Rickrolling, The Man, and how a meme dies, after the jump...

In a live-action version of the prank, the Cartoon Network's kiddie-song float presentation was interrupted a few seconds in by the Man Himself, Rick Astley, who appeared out of nowhere, jumped onto the float, and gamely lip-synched along to his signature song. Surrounded by cheering children. And monster puppets. Check the video above to watch it all go down.

It was stoopid, and when I say stoopid, I mean stoopid-fresh. Astley has shown an admirable willingness to embrace his newfound, if ironic, fame. As well he should. Rickrolling has single-handedly revived his career -- the video has been viewed more than 20 million times on YouTube, and he was recently voted "Best Act Ever" at the MTV Europe Music Awards.

Like any good prank template, Rickrolling is a simple concept that can be extrapolated endlessly. We killed a few weeks at my office trying to figure new ways to Rickroll each other, disguising various links and otherwise customizing what is essentially a bait-and-switch con. But that was almost a year ago -- an eternity in webtime. With the Macy's prank, I think we can safely retire the bit. Like so many Internet memes before it, Rickrolling has officially gone mainstream. Kudos to the Cartoon Network, though. That's a pretty good way to go out.

RIP: Rickrolling
Time of Death: Thanksgiving Day, 2008
"All Joking Aside, That Guy Really Could Dance"

8:22 AM ET | 12- 3-2008 | permalink

comments | | e-mail