It Was Corporations Who Made The 'Harlem Shake' Go Viral

The REAL Reason The 'Harlem Shake' Went Viral
In this photo taken Wednesday March 6, 2013, the St. Mary's Episcopal School Turkey and senior Lida Kruchten, 17, do their version of the Harlem Shake with dozens of fellow students for a get out the vote promotional video to use on social media for the USA TODAY's Most Unusual High School Mascot contest in Memphis, Tenn. The Turkey's, originally an unofficial joke mascot created in 1975 by Lisa Morrow and now first lady of Tennessee Crissy Garrett Haslam, has advanced to the regional round against 51 school in eight states. Voting is open to anyone through March 14 and can be done at contest.usatodayhss.com/vote/mascot/r3. Six winners will then compete for a $2,000 prize for their school athletic department. (AP Photo/The Commercial Appeal, Mike Brown)
In this photo taken Wednesday March 6, 2013, the St. Mary's Episcopal School Turkey and senior Lida Kruchten, 17, do their version of the Harlem Shake with dozens of fellow students for a get out the vote promotional video to use on social media for the USA TODAY's Most Unusual High School Mascot contest in Memphis, Tenn. The Turkey's, originally an unofficial joke mascot created in 1975 by Lisa Morrow and now first lady of Tennessee Crissy Garrett Haslam, has advanced to the regional round against 51 school in eight states. Voting is open to anyone through March 14 and can be done at contest.usatodayhss.com/vote/mascot/r3. Six winners will then compete for a $2,000 prize for their school athletic department. (AP Photo/The Commercial Appeal, Mike Brown)

Google’s trend charts of the phrase “Harlem Shake” are seismic. Almost no one looked for the words until Feb. 7, then searches surged faster than any term Google ever had, except for “Whitney Houston” after her death. A few weeks later, they fell close to zero.

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