Rick Astley and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – A nation rickrolled

I’m sure you have heard of 80’s pop sensation Rick Astley. For those that are new to INTERNET or INTERNET pop culture in general, you will probably need a refresher course on this phenomenon of “rickrolling”. For the rest of you, this may be unexpected or the “jumping of the shark”. For years, I haven’t really cared much about The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Several hundred VIPs get to see all the whizzbang Broadway performances in Herald’s Square with seating, millions in New York City watch it live in person standing for hours in the freezing cold and millions more watch it on national TV in their warm and cozy homes. It’s practically a giant infomercial for kids and NBC personalities. Since I got off Thanksgiving this year, I was considering going out to see the parade as an excuse for my SLR camera, but I forgot that I hate cold weather and chickened out.

I may regret that for the rest of my life.

You see, Cartoon Network had a float promoting “Fosters’ Home for Imaginary Friends”. With floats of this nature, you would usually get a bunch of puppets moving erratically  to sappy pre-recorded music and in some cases a ubiquitous pop singer will lip sync his/her latest song. This time, out of nowhere, the “Best Act Ever” Rick Astley begins to lip sync “Never Gonna Give You Up.” I cried tears of joy and facepalmed at the same time. Rick Astley is no longer a 4chan meme, months ago it wasn’t and this appearance was the biggest statement of that fact. I bet the millions of people who saw this performer who were aware of who this guy is and what he means to the INTERNET generation probably don’t know of the origins of the phenomenon. The same thing could be said for Tay “Chocolate Rain” Zonday, Anonymous Vs. Scientology and the LOLcats. Maybe the proliferation of 4chan memes is like “Project Mayhem” in Fight Club.

I guess it’s time for a new meme to permenate the masses.