Created by the geniuses (genii?) at BETC Euro RSCG, and seeded by Unruly Media, the ad has been recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as being the most viewed online advertisement to date. For those of you who have been living under a stone since the ad launched in July, here, for your enjoyment, are the roller-blading, body-popping, record-breaking Evian babies:

So I've decided to do a little top 5 of my favourite homemade music videos, as they're one of my favourite branches of the viral video family. The ones that are real are the best, as they hit the "wtf? How did they do that!" trigger as people picture the hundreds of hours of planning and preparation that went into the video. Either way, making music in an unexpected way is hugely viral, the bigger and more complicated the better.


No. 5 - Is it real? Isn't it? Debate over this helped push 'Bike Hero' to over 2 million views.



The original and my personal favourite, DJ Scotch Egg performing Bach with a Gameboy orchestra, loses points only because it looks too fake, but I'm a child of the 80's and this hits my 8-bit pleasure button:



No. 3 - With 'creative recycling' at the heart and soul of viral video, The Vodafone video was probably most inspired by the success of AKQA's 'Happy Christmas' message last year.

Jingle Bells remixed:




No.2 - a pleasure to listen to, if stressful after a long day already spent listening to computer noises, this music is made from Windows 98 and XP sounds only:




Number 1: This goes straight to the top for being too clever and uber cool. Radiohead's 'Nude' - cover version with redundant hardware.

While many music videos are propelled to the top of the Viral Video Chart by a loyal fanbase, already familiar with the artist and their music, videos such as Oren Lavie's Her Morning Elegance (2nd most linked-to video in the past 12 months on the Viral Video Chart, topped only by the viral juggernaut that is Susan Boyle) owe their viral success to the quality of the video and its viral traction within the video-watching community as much as the quality of the soundtrack and a fanbase within the music-listening community. Another example of viral video bringing chart success: Australian band Sick Puppies, who rose to international prominence in 2006 when their song All the Same was used to support the Free Hugs Campaign, an inspirational piece of content that won YouTube video of the year.

As well as catapulting new tracks and artists into the spotlight, online video has a habit of bringing back old tracks and artists from the dead as well. Take the R&B artist, Chris Brown, for example, written off by the music industry after an ugly "altercation" with his then-girlfriend Rhianna. His 2008 track, Forever, was climbing back up the charts this week following the success of the JK Wedding Entrance Dance, the latest viral sensation to take the Internet by storm.

Unruly Media CEO, Scott Button, was invited to talk about the clip on Sky News last night:

As Scott mentions in the interview, there's nothing accidental about the success of this clip - it's best understood as a new development in the well-established meme of the wedding dance. This meme originates with the Thriller Wedding Dance (2006), where the wedding party entertain the guests with a performance of MJ's Thriller. Since then, hundreds of couples have uploaded their funny wedding dances to YouTube, though the Heinz's Wedding Entrance Dance is the first one I've come across to introduce the dance into the wedding ceremony itself.

Whether it's a pot-bellied gummy bear, an animated hamster, or a little superstar, the Funny Dance is an irrepressible uber-meme in a constant state of creative evolution. And of course, no post about the viral potential of music+dance would be complete without a nod in the direction of Judson Laipply's Evolution of Dance (2006), one of the most widely-watched videos of all time. Laipply's 6 minutes of insanely-choreographed, hum-alongable comedy demonstrates that the killer combination of memorable music + funny dances has an enduring popularity that goes beyond a trend or viral fad.

There's undoubtedly an element of nostalgia here. The king of pop, who brought the moonwalk to streets and dancefloors around the world, is dead. Walter Cronkite, once the most trusted man in America, and the iconic figure who brought news of the very first moon walk to the world, is also dead. NASA's moon programme, despite presidential assertions to the contrary, seems pretty dead in the water right now. So bring on the dancing babies, get yourself down to the nearest moonwalking flashmob (coming to a square near you you soon), and if all else fails type moonwalk into YouTube and kiss goodbye to your weekend.

The moonwalk is dead. Long live the moonwalk!

Taking the flash mob meme as its starting-point, the Hammer Pants Dance is comparable to the 2006 Best Buy Stunt filmed by performance art group, Improv Everywhere. This clip followed 80 Improv Everywhere Agents as they infiltrated a Best Buy in Manhattan dressed like employees, leaving the store's security guards and staff feeling pretty damned confused and discomfited.

There are fundamental differences, though: whereas the Improv Everywhere stunt was all about causing a scene, creating an awkward and subversive interruption of commercial business, the Hammer Pants Dance is itself a commercial event, and one that's more interested in staging a scene than causing a scene. It's a high-camp, highly-theatrical de-politicization of the most potentially subversive of memes. First time round, U Can't Touch This was the best-known single from Hammer's 1990 album Please, Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em; Hammer's gold-pants and doggedly upbeat lyrics were making the news at the same time that anti-poll tax rioters were filling Trafalgar Square.

Two decades later and it's not political causes that draw the crowds to Trafalgar Square - it's a flash-mob karaoke event organized by T-Mobile. It's as though the reaction to financial and political turmoil this time round is not to riot in the streets, but to party like there's no tomorrow. Re-invented by brands such as T-Mobile and A&E, the flash mob is not a political statement but a marketing event, no longer an interruption by activists but a diversion for consumers. Wrapped up and delivered online as a 2 min YouTube clip, the flash mob viral offers beleaguered viewers a momentary escape from the woes of the world, a snack-sized moment of viewing pleasure.

Celebrities from the 1980s are by no means newcomers on the viral scene. David "The Hoff" Hasslehoff is the grandaddy of viral celebs, and then there's the Rick Roll phenomenon, where viewers are tricked into watching a video which unexpectedly breaks into Rick Astley's 1987 signature track, Never Gonna Give You Up.

It's as though there's something inherently risible - but at the same time pleasurable - about eighties culture, a flamboyant, tasteless, overblown vulgarity that amuses and entertains us, that simultaneously dismays and attracts us as we look back across the years with a mixture of nostalgia and collective shame.

The “Literal Music Video” meme takes the 1980’s music video as its staple satirical fodder, replacing the original lyrics with subtitles and newly-recorded audio in order to narrate what is literally happening in the music video. This is a relatively new meme, originating with “Dusto McNeato” (Dustin McClean) and his literal video version of Aha's Take On Me (1985) in the Autumn of 2008. The latest instance of the meme, and the other 80's clip to chart this week in the Viral Video Chart, is the brainchild of DaScottJr, and takes Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart (1983) as its subject.

This power ballad is certainly not to every one's taste, but Literal Music Videos are at their most enjoyable when the video is at its most bizarre and you can't fault Tyler's ballad on this score. This gothic-themed video, with floating curtains, fallen angels, random ninjas and sinewy gymnasts dancing in dimly-lit school halls is guaranteed to make you smile even without the re-worked lyrics that emphasise what - with the benefit of 20 years hindsight - we already know: this is some truly crazy shit!

And if you're still in need of an 80s fix, mashed up with a dash of noughties knowingness, then don't just Rick Roll your friends. Why not Literally Rick Roll them?

There were loads of cool entries, and the winning clip was the fantastic "8-Bit Waterslide in Real Life", a retro-flavoured animated short produced by film-making duo Tea&Cheese.

In real life, Tea&Cheese are Liam Tate (Tea) and Jamie Stanton (Cheese). Here's what Jamie had to say about their entry:

How did you come up with the 8-BIT idea?

Playing too many video games as kids and not having enough time to play them as adults. We wanted to make something people could enjoy knowing nothing about the competition... And everyone loves games... don't they?
Did you think it was a winner from the get-go?

Not at all! there were some other really cool videos. We were bricking it right up until we got the phone call! Then we went and got incredibly drunk.

Who/what are your influences in the online video space?

We're both massive fans of Pes (eatpes.com) and Michel Gondry. Those guys are proof you don't have to have loads of cash to make something that people will love - just a great idea!With the sound wewhere hinting at mario, tetris and F-Zero X, the latter having a particularly kick ass soundtrack - SUPER MEGA HYPER BOOST PIPE!
Do you have plans to make more videoes in the future?

We really want to keep producing films that make people laugh. Keep an eye on teaandcheese.com for stuff old and new in the near future!

So keep your eyes open for more kickass clips from this retro-tastic duo!

On Monday, when The Telegraph article was published, Susan's rendition of 'I Dreamed a Dream' was number 11 in the top 12. Only 3 days later and she's already at number 4... surpassing cute Charlie and Harry and and original Britains Got Talent underdog Paul Potts!

Watch the Viral Video Chart to see if she can top Evolution of Dance, Avril Lavigne or Achmed the Dead Terrorist to take a place in the coveted all time top 3 videos viewed online.