Tiny Hands and Mr Mariachi Man
We're going Viral 👾
I really just wanted to write that title and share this picture with you. I also had to make this video - watch it here … and then we’ll go viral!
I can explain.
I saw a Tiny Hands video last year. It was someone transforming a shapeless lump of wet clay on a wheel into a pot - but in this one they were using Tiny Hands to make a tiny pot. Indeed it was hilarious and I was verily entertained.
Then came more Tiny Hands videos, each one better than the last. Soon my internets were consumed with videos of people doing all manner of things with Tiny Hands. Washing them, cooking with them, smoking with them, eating popcorn, arranging flowers, playing Xbox, antagonizing their pets, antagonizing their friends, making pots. Exponentially increasing Tiny Hand hilarity was everywhere and that’s how I became radicalized by the Tiny Hands of the far right aka the Right Hands.
So I bought Tiny Hands (the original of course) so I too, could throw hands. Everyone (ok everyone related to me) I know under 30 (and me) got a pair. But my kids told me Tiktok was done with Tiny Hands like a year ago!? The Tiny Hands trend was over. Regardless of what my feed thought, Tiny Hands no longer basked in the warm viral glow of the internets. You must strike fast if you want to be viral.
We’re not going viral
We’re not. Even if I throw in an abundance of dog cuteness we’re not. Also, Lola is nonplussed by the Tiny Hands:
This is how you do it
Remember a few years ago when everyone was riding skateboards and drinking cranberry juice? Nathan Apodaca made a perfect video. Just a dude living in a trailer needing to get to work after his truck broke down who jumped on his longboard with fave cozy hoody and a jug of Cran-Raspberry, cranked up Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams with the morning glow shining off the feather tattoo on his dome, drinking without spilling a drop, lip syncing and effortlessly gliding down the highway. It’s as perfect today as it was 3 years ago.
That day Nathan was the hero the internet needed. Within an hour 100,000 peopled watched that video. Within 24 hours it had 3 million views. It’s got nearly 100M views on TikTok today.
Everyone shared the love and just like a virus takes over the DNA in other cells to propagate - Nathan’s video took over people’s fingers and it spread it like mad. Going viral is a pretty odd term.1
Nathan (aka Doggface) quit his job at the factory, took his new Cranberry red truck from Ocean Spray and rode his moment of fame. Got out of the trailer, made some deals, sold some merch and most recently got into acting on the FX show Reservation Dogs. Apodaca is Northern Arapaho. Go Nathan.
Mr Beast and Mr Musk
Perhaps you’ve heard of MrBeast? He doesn’t make the news headlines as much as drama king Mr Musk but he’s the most popular dude on YouTube with silly numbers of subscribers to his channel (over 200 Million) and views of his videos (39 Billion).
Rather than chugging Cran-Raspberry on a longboard, MrBeast’s breakout viral video was him counting to 100,000 over the course of like 20 hours? It might have been silly at the start but MrBeast is now at the top of the influencer game making elaborate multi-million dollar videos of stunts like burying himself alive for a week and they get millions and millions of views.
Musk wants Beast to come over to X. There’s another quality sentence no one saw coming.
That’s the power of being a superstar influencer. Musk figures if MrBeast comes with his legions of fans X will takeoff in new ways like video and streaming that he dreams of. Mr. Beast isn't interested … the burning platform that is X doesn't have enough advertisers left to make him any money.
Here's the back of the envelope math on MrBeast's YouTube revenue:
His videos get about one billion monthly views
He makes $5 per 1000 views - RPM or Revenue Per Mille in industry speak
That comes out to $5M per month or $60M per year 🤯
and that’s how you get Universities offering degrees in being an Influencer.
Twitch and Mixer and the Ninja
Perhaps you’ve heard of Twitch? It’s live streaming platform gamers love to get together on to play and watch others play. Amazon acquired Twitch in 2014 for nearly $1B. If you don’t count Whole Foods, that’s the most money Amazon has ever spent on an acquisition.
Microsoft wanted into this space but with its existing Xbox and Minecraft franchises it decided to grow it’s own service and they called it Mixer. Like Musk wants MrBeast, Microsoft wanted Ninja. Ninja was the top gamer at the time on Twitch playing Fortnite to millions of fans. In 2019 Ninja signed on to exclusively stream on Mixer - payday unknown; at the time he was making more than $500,000 a month streaming Fortnite.
MrBeast is smart to be careful - things didn't work out so great for either Ninja or Microsoft. About a year after Ninja signed on to Mixer Microsoft shut it down. In 2022 Ninja took a break from streaming and he hasn't been heard from since.
Mr Mariachi Man and the dark side
Please, no viral news. Nathan, I love you, but you will never be my go-to when I want to figure out the latest f*()&ry going on in the middle east. Neither will MrBeast and never Mr Musk.
Mr Mariachi Man is this story’s true hero. If you made it this far you gotta see him in action!
Mr Mariachi Man is from Oaxaca courtesy of JFran and in 2024 he joins the Godzilla crew watching over the goings on at wirepine.
See you next time!
best, Andrew
I had no idea that the term Meme which preceded Viral also has its roots in biology and something spreading crazy fast organically. Meme originates from mimeme/gene.