When MelbQuake 2012 struck I was on Twitter (where else?) as the first ‘ERMAGERD ERTHQWERKS ERN MERLBERN’ started rolling in. I’ll never forget that fateful day… It was just after Being Lara Bingle EP02 had wrapped (live-blog cross-promo), and one could be forgiven for thinking it was the climactic final moments of that episode at Sharron’s house that caused Victoria to quake in its boots. That was some serious earth-shattering drama right there.
The quake, measuring in at 5.3 on the Fergie Richter scale, generated dozens of memes within minutes of its occurrence, but none have received the international attention that ‘Cat In Earthquake‘ has generated in the days since.
As a meme is wont to do, ‘Cat‘ started off small, a relative kitten of a meme, but within days had received coverage on Sunrise, Seven and Ten News, before being picked up by BuzzFeed and syndicated national broadcaster NBC, as well as the international Cat News Network, CNN.
Under the condition of relative anonymity, we spoke to Mindboggler, the creators of ‘Cat In Earthquake,’ which has since amassed over 140,400 views. While they won’t budge on the video’s authenticity, they’ve provided us with the five key tips to achieve viral supremacy in an age where lolcat memes are to the Internet what fish are to the sea, or the recently dumped. Meme-ow:
Match current, trending events to established memes
See what’s trending in the news and on twitter and mash it up with an established, popular viral genre. This will give you a double-barelled shot at making it big on youtube, and crossing over into the (already trending) conversation in the mainstream media.
So an earthquake in Melbourne meets lolcats – simple. Here’s another example matching the release of a new Twilight movie to a psychic octopus.
Don’t wait, the news-cycle will move on without you
The ‘earthquake cat’ video was conceived, produced and released online within hours of the Melbourne earthquake. If your video is going to make breakfast television you can’t wait til lunch to make it.
Piggyback off other current, popular content
This video was inspired by this one which was trending like crazy after the earthquake. Copying that videos exact same keyword tags, and using a similar title lets you convert another hits audience into your own.
Fake and gay? Learn the ways of the troll
Court controversy by making your video realistic enough to be possible, but so ridiculous it can’t possibly be real. This will lead to a tonne of “it’s real!/it’s fake!” comments and online debate. Don’t be scared of people labeling your video ‘fake’ and ‘gay’ – this is exactly what you want. Bonus tip: be blatantly inaccurate with key details. The ‘earthquake cat’ video description says the earthquake was a magnitude 6.3 when it was widely reported as a 5.3 – watch your YouTube comments double with this dirty little ploy.
Respond, engage, fan flames
Grow and evolve the story of your video in response to reactions online and in the media. If your video appears on television, record it and post those appearances on your YouTube channel and link to it from the original video’s comments. Don’t forget your inner troll here – if someone claims your cat video is fake, just tell them it’s a real cat.
