POP JUNIOR: FANDOM FEATURE
BABY SHARK DIVES INTO RETAIL From Viral Dance Video to Lifestyle Brand
by Marissa DiBartolo, editor-in-chief It’s the song you just cannot get out of your head. It’s the viral dance challenge taking over Instagram. It’s the YouTube video with more than 2.2 billion views: It’s Baby Shark (doo doo doo doo doo doo). While “Baby Shark” is a classic camp song kids all over America sang for decades, Korean education company Pinkfong reinvigorated the song with a dance video featuring a few adorable kids, color-saturated graphics, and moves that are easy to master. Pinkfong posted its “Baby Shark” YouTube video in June 2016, and the views continue to climb. While every parent with a child younger than 5 has likely watched the video a dozen times, Baby Shark became a pop culture phenomenon—with celebrities getting in on the fun, too. James Corden performed a slower, classy rendition of the song on The Late Late Show in September, featuring Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner as Mommy Shark and international singing sensation Josh Groban as Daddy Shark. Ellen Degeneres even did her own rendition on her daytime talk show, subbing in “Ellen Show” for “Baby Shark” lyrics. “Baby Shark” even landed itself on Billboard’s Hot 100 list for multiple weeks in January, peaking at 32. A children’s song is officially one of the hottest songs in the country. “We took ‘Baby Shark’ to a whole new level. Adding upbeat rhythms, a fresh melody, and characters, we’ve recreated slow and monotonous children’s songs into animated music videos with lively, vivid characters,” says Bin Jeong, CEO of Pinkfong USA. And there’s no end in sight for Baby Shark and his family. Pinkfong and its licensing partners are set to debut a full line of Baby Shark products this year. Soon, kids will be wearing Baby Shark T-shirts, playing with Baby Shark toys, and reading 54 | Issue No. 2 | THE POP INSIDER