A music video created by Bobby Ciraldo & Andrew Swant
What What (In the Butt) is an early viral video released in 2007 on Valentine’s Day. It’s been watched over 73 million times and has been featured on South Park, Tosh.0, and in art galleries.
“Viral isn’t the way to describe this thing: It became a basic building block of the Internet.” – Vice Magazine
What What (In the Butt) has charted as the #17 Top Rated YouTube Video of All Time and was listed on YouTube’s “Most Discussed Videos Of All Time” and “Most Watched Music Videos Of All Time” charts for years.
“A viral video sensation.”
– Entertainment Weekly
“A viral phenomenon.”
– Billboard
“A masterpiece.”
– Comedy Central’s Tosh.0
“A classic Internet song.”
– Funny or Die
“Seminal.”
– Refinery29
“We’re talking ground zero … a fundamental classic of the Internet.”
– Becca Frucht, PopSugar
“What What (In the Butt): still uniting people after all these years.”
– The Washington Post
“Harvard University hosted a workshop this week called What What in the Butt: Anal 101.”
– Newsweek
“One of the Top 10 early viral videos.”
– Paper Magazine
“A viral phenomenon.”
– The Hollywood Reporter
“An icon … a classic.”
– Perez Hilton
“Circulated around the world via the Internet.”
– Brian Alexander, MSNBC
“A viral classic … instantly famous.”
– Kyle McCarley, OMFG.FM
“Today’s truly most viral video … This whole thing, funny as it may be, seems like a perfectly executed viral conspiracy. Shrouded in mystery, baked on MySpace, and referred to as a World Premiere … We assure you this will be all over the place.”
– VH1’s Web Junk
“Infamous.”
– Screen Junkies
“A brilliant jam.”
– Playboy
“While What What in the Butt may take a lighthearted approach to the issue, the research shows that close-mindedness toward sexual behavior is counterproductive.”
– Men’s Health
“‘What what in the butt?’ is not only a real question, but it needs an answer.'”
– Josh Homme, Queens of the Stone Age
“YouTube hero Samwell’s epic anthem What What (In the Butt) has propelled the Chicago unknown to Internet fame.”
– Singer Lily Allen
“A worldwide sensation … It’s the best three minutes you’ll spend all week – I mean, it’s magic.”
– Kevin & Bean, L.A.’s #1 Morning Show, KROQ
“Classic internet weirdness … An iconic anal anthem … One of the great internet memes … An internet sensation.”
– BoingBoing
“…YouTube’s greatest online celebrities … Evolution of Dance, OK Go, Gangnam Style, and, of course, What What (In the Butt).”
– Uproxx
“One of the Top 10 Memes of the last decade.”
– Collective Review
“Calling it a classic is no joke … What What (In the Butt) made our list of the 100 Most Iconic Internet Videos.”
– urlesque
“This web meme has reached the apex of weird.”
– Consequence of Sound
“A viral video TITAN. One of the most classic viral videos of all time.”
– Pod Awful TV Presents Cringe vs. Cringe
“A YouTube smash.”
– The Onion A.V. Club
“One of the Top 5 Booty Songs of all time.”
– College Times
“One of the original YouTube cult heroes.”
– Busted Coverage
“One of Web 2.0’s early Internet superstars.”
– OC Weekly
“An international Web sensation.”
– Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“Samwell’s butt happens to be one of the most talked about butts of the year next to Kim Kardashian’s and Coco’s.”
– EDGE
“The video quickly went viral on YouTube, gaining millions of viewers and even the attention of actor Johnny Depp.”
– Marc Felion, Feast of Fun
“One of the Top Ten Internet Memes of all time.”
– Squidoo
“What What (In the Butt) was, by far, 2007’s video meme of the year.”
– Third Coast Digest
“A YouTube sensation.”
– New Zealand Herald
“Milwaukee’s best example of overnight Internet success may be Swant and Ciraldo, whom you might know from their video for Samwell’s ‘What What In the Butt.’ For months they remained the anonymous creators of a million-hit world-famous video, overhearing random conversations about it while hiding behind the proverbial curtain.”
– Vital Source Magazine
“Joins ‘It’s Raining Men,’ ‘YMCA’ and ‘Lick It Up’ in the pantheon of very gay videos.”
– VideoStatic.com
“One of the Top 13 Most Hilarious Internet Music Sensations.”
– The Baker’s Dozen, LP33.TV
“Samwell conquered the world with the video What What (In the Butt).”
– Pride Radio Denmark
The video has been listed on Google Trends Daily Hot List and KnowYourMeme.com, it placed #69 on urlesque’s 100 Most Iconic Internet Videos of All Time list, and it’s featured in CollegeHumor’s Web Celeb Hall of Fame.