Easter egg: YouTube does the Harlem Shake

Shawn Knight

Posts: 15,240   +192
Staff member

Move over Gangnam Style, there’s a new viral video dance sensation currently sweeping the globe. It’s known as the Harlem Shake and if you aren’t already familiar with the 30-second clips littering YouTube, the site will happily give you a free demonstration thanks to a new Easter egg.

The Internet meme typically involves a single person performing a solo dance in a public place, often times wearing a strange helmet or mask, while everyone else around is completely oblivious. Baauer’s Billboard hit song Harlem Shake plays in the background and about 15 seconds into the clip when the bass drops, the insanity ensues.

youtube easter egg harlem shake

At this point, there’s a jump cut in the clip and we see everyone in the scene doing a crazy convulsive dance or other unusual movements over the remaining 15 seconds of the video. Often times the costumes – or lack of – are just as hilarious as the dancing itself.

Much like the video meme, YouTube’s Easter egg starts off innocently enough when you search for “do the Harlem Shake.” Baauer’s song begins to play in the background as the YouTube logo at the top left of the screen starts to move side to side. When the breakout moment hits, all of the search results and sidebar text join in on the action.

YouTube is well known for producing some excellent Easter eggs as they have graced us with classics like the Starfox-inspired “do a barrel roll” and the holiday hit “let it snow” in recent memory.

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Google should really fire their staff if they can't make this simple animation run on IE.
 
I don't really get it. (harlem shake or gangnam style)
perhaps I'm a killjoy. :)
 
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