Honey Badger
Added 13 years ago by eggerling • Updated about a month ago by Y F
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| About • Origin • Spread • Commercial Features • Search Interest • External References • |
Type: Animal Viral Video
Tags: nature video youtube notables of 2011 badger honey animal danica patrick nick cummins f1nalb0ss tyrann mathieu bankrupting america mythbusters jim harbaugh six eleven media czg123
Additional References: Meme Generator Urban Dictionary Wikipedia
About
The Honey Badger is a viral video featuring nature documentary footage with voiceover narration provided by Randall, a self-proclaimed animal lover who has since launched a successful YouTube series of similar videos. The Honey Badger video gained a great deal of popularity in early 2011 for its sassy commentary and irreverent personification of the mammals.
Origin
The video, titled "The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger (original narration by Randall)", was uploaded by YouTuber czg123[1] on January 18th, 2011. The video features original footage taken from a National Geographic special[2] on the ornery and tough honey badgers, which aired in 2007.
Precursors
Prior to the breakout of Randall's "Honey Badger" video in 2011, there have been a number of viral parody dubs over wildlife documentary footage, such as "Fuck Planet Earth"[6] uploaded by YouTuber F1nalB0SS in June 2008. However, the earliest known instance with irreverent voiceover commentary was uploaded months later on October 13th, 2008, titled "I Hate Nature."[7]
In November 2010, internet humor blog Cracked[8] published an article titled "6 Animals That Just Don't Give a F#@k," which received over 2.5 million pageviews since its post date. Despite some surface similarities between the Cracked article and Randall's narrative, research does not suggest any direct connection betweeen the two.
Spread
Between its online debut on January 18th, 2011 and December 2011, Randall's Honey Badger video racked up more than 26 million views and spawned a cult following on YouTube. By the end of the year, his channel had over 40,992,000 upload views, averaging out to 20,074 views a day. Randall's highly memorable quotes such as "honey badger don't give a shit" or "honey badger don't care," coupled with his passionate interpretation of the animal's adventures made the video an instant hit.
Towards the end of January 2011, the honey badger video was covered by Internet humor blogs like Urlesque[9], Huffington Post[10], Funny Or Die[11], and BuzzFeed[12] as well as mainstream entertainment news sites like PopCrunch[13] and TMZ.[14]
Randall's honey badger narration also inspired a variety of image macros, remixes and tribute videos centered around catchphrases from the video. Meanwhile, sites and stores like Hot Topic sought to capitalize on the viral status of honey badgers by launching several t-shirts and other merchandise with pictures of honey badgers and Randall quotes.
On April 19th, a brief reference to a honey badger appeared on the popular TV series "Glee,"[21] most likely alluding to Randall's video.
Notable Examples
Wild Wild World of Animals
Inspired by the viral spread and positive reception of his honey badger video, Randall created a YouTube series titled "Randall's Wild Wild World of Animals"[15] using similar documentary footage of wild animals. Episodes included "The Miracle of the Daffy Jesus Lizard," "The Great White Sea-Monster" and "The Slowass Sloth" among others.
Mainstream Media
On February 22nd, 2011, Randall created a video in collaboration with MovieFone[16] in which he provided commentaries in a round-up review on 2011 Oscar nominees using the same style of voiceover from the honey badger commentary.
In March 2011, Huffington Post[17] published an exclusive video titled "The Pigs of Wall Street" featuring Randall's commentaries on the greed of the U.S. financial industry.
In mid-March of 2011, Australian rugby player Nick Cummins stated to the press that his new, more agressive tackling style was inspired by the honey badger "after watching a wildlife documentary."[18] Although he never specifically mentions the Randall video, the timing of his announcement suggests that it may have been the "documentary" to which he was referring.
On January 12, 2012, NASCAR driver Danica Patrick made a public announcement that her strategy in 2012 would be to emulate the honey badger:
And the honey badger, it was last year, I think, somebody showed me this video of the honey badger, and the commentator on it was very, very funny. Anyway, the honey badger, he doesn't give a crap, he takes what he wants. And that's how I'm going to be this year, like a honey badger. But I feel like it's a little diluted with the football player [Tyrann Mathieu, see American Football below] that has the honey badger nickname, too. He's No. 7, as well.[32]
Commercial Features
Grasshopper
On May 31st, Randall released a commercial for Grasshopper[19] in which he provides a voiceover in similar style of other videos. In June 2011, Microsoft's search engine Bing[20] released an update to the tools they make available to webmasters and SEO experts. They called the update "Honey Badger."
MythBusters
On July 24th, the Discovery Channel released a promo titled "MythBusters: Randall's Busters"[22] which previewed scenes from the upcoming season of Mythbusters narrated by Randall in his typical style.
Bankrupting America
On August 17th, 2011, Bankrupting America, a campaign started by the nonpartisan, nonprofit project Public Notice, launched a PSA video titled "Crazy Washington Honey Badgers"[23] on YouTube, featuring Randall's voice explaining the debt crisis and the recent showdown in Congress:
Wonderful Pistachios
On September 30th, 2011, a TV commercial for the snack company Wonderful Pistachios starring a honey badger with familiar voiceover by Randall debuted on YouTube and aired during the broadcast of ABC series Dancing With The Stars. The clip features the "fearless animal" cracking open pistachios with a narration by Randall. Since its launch in 2010, the ad campaign for Wonderful Pistachios has featured a number of Internet sensations and pop culture icons such as Keyboard Cat, Angry Birds, and the Annoying Orange.
Upon the release of the video on YouTube, several news publications like Forbes[24], MSNBC[25], and Entertainment Weekly[26] wrote articles about the commercialization of the honey badger.
American Football
On January 6th, 2012, CSN Bay Area reported that the San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh had been using the honey badger video as a motivational tool.
On January 10th, The Washington Post[27] published an article in which the honey badger narrator Randall compared LSU's cornerback Tyrann D. Mathieu, nicknamed "Honey Badger", to the animal itself:
“He just plays with such heart and vigor,” Randall said. “It’s just very exciting. To me, that embodies the honey badger. He just takes whatever he wants and nothing is going to stop him.”
Animated Series
On January 17th, 2012, the entertainment blog Hollywood Reporter published an article about Canadian production company Six Eleven Media's plans to develop a Honey Badger animated series.
The project, which soon will be pitched to broadcast and cable networks, will follow an animated Randall, who is the chief professor of life sciences at a dysfunctional university. His course will feature his trademark color-commentary on documentary footage of topics related to science and the animal kingdom while forming an unusual bond with his students, fellow professors, and the University mascot, “Honey,” a “nastya--” honey badger.
The story was subsequently posted to The Daily What[29] which pointed out that a Honey Badger book[30] and several iPhone apps[31] were already available.
Search Interest
External References
[1] YouTube – The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger
[2] YouTube – MUST WATCH: Honey Badger-The Most Fearless Animal on Earth
[3] Daily Telegraph – Look out, it's a Honey Badger!
[4] Twitter – @RandallsAnimals
[5] Forbes – A Chat With Randall: On Nasty Honey Badgers, Bernie Madoff And Fame
[6] YouTube – Fuck Planet Earth
[7] YouTube – I Hate Nature
[8] Cracked – 6 Animals That Just Don't Give a Fuck
[9] Urlesque – Randall's Animals is the Only Nature Show Worth Watching
[10] Huffington Post – Honey Badger Don't Care
[11] Funny Or Die – The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger
[12] BuzzFeed – The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger
[13] PopCrunch – Watch: Honey Badger Viral Video “Honey Badger Don’t Care!”
[14] TMZ – Olivia Goes Wilde for the Honey Badger
[15] YouTube – Randall's Wild Wild World of Animals
[16] MovieFone – EXCLUSIVE: Honey Badger Host Randall Don't Care About the Oscars
[17] Huffington Post – Randall's Animal – The Pigs of the Wall Street
[18] The Northern Star – Cummins to become the honey badger
[19] YouTube – Grasshopper
[20] Bing – Updates to Bing Webmaster Tools, data and content
[21] YouTube – Glee Honey Badger Reference
[22] Discovery Channel – Mythbusters: Randall's Busters
[23] YouTube – Crazy Washington Honey Badgers
[24] Forbes – Honey Badger Goes Dancing With The Stars
[25] MSNBC – Honey Badgers Sells Out to Pistachios
[26] Entertainment Weekly – Honey Badgers don't give a [bleep]… but he sure likes pistachios
[27] The Washington Post – The Honey Badger goes hungry in LSU’s BCS national championship loss to Alabama
[28] Hollywood Reporter – Honey Badger Viral Sensation Heading to TV
[29] The Daily What – The Interpipes Are Leaking of the Day
[30] Amazon – Honey Badger I Don't Care
[31] iTunes – Honey Badger
fn.32 Yahoo! Sports – Danica Patrick wants to be like… the honey badger?
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Recent Images ( 87 )
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image #don'tcare
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Honey badger high five!
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Honey Badger
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![HONEY BADGER DON'TCARE BITCH PLEASE... WAS BRED TO HUNT YOU iPod 7:54 AM The dachshund (UK/dæksand/ or US /da:kshUnt/ DAHKs-huunt or US /da:ksent/21) is a short-legged, long- bodied dog breed belonging to the hound family. The standard size dachshund was bred to scent, chase, and flush out badgers and other burrow-dwelling animals, while the miniature dachshund was developed to hunt smaller prey such as rabbits. In the American West they have also been used to hunt prairie dogs. Today, they are bred for conformation shows and as family pets. Some dachshunds participate in earthdog trials. According to the AKC, the dachshund continues to remain one of the top 10 dog breeds in the United States of America.3] WHO'S THE BITCH NOW? OH S---](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/000/752/851/968.jpg)
Dachshunds don't even hunt these types of badgers!
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Comments ( 74 )
Well, it seems the show "glee" had a huge part in this. And since I know that fanbases of any kind are crazy enough to turn almost anything memetic, I'll say +1 wait and potential on this.
I hate this video. The voice of the narrator is SO ANNOYING!!! Everyone else in my family loves it.
@Adam Honey Badger doesn't care if you don't like him, he's a badass!
@molex333: It's not the badger I hate, it's that friggin' narrator!
lulz @ "colt" following
.
+1 spell check plz
Haha, I write for a living too.
I dont know if this means much, but Manga Pulse have been going off on honey badgers for about 3 years, long before glee, with thing such as who would win in a fight between Margeret Thatcher and a honey badger [I believe that one was a draw but more often than not honey badger always wins]
The hell does glee have to do with this?
Badass like a honey badger
Is eggerling still working on this? It clearly needs some clean up, and I'm interested in researching this.
Found the "Glee" clip. Seeing as it's a pretty popular show, it probably did help the spread.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/meredith-bagby/sarah-palin-is-the-honey-_b_871078.html
http://blogs.forbes.com/michaelhumphrey/2011/04/21/a-chat-with-randall-on-nasty-honey-badgers-bernie-madoff-and-fame/
Hadn't worked on this for a while, thanks for the contributions. Was at a marketing conference recently, and a rep from Bing gave a keynote holding a honey badger doll. They are naming a new release of their webmaster tools Honey Badger.
Excellent!
Just wanted to mention that the person in the image I uploaded (a woman wearing a Honey Badger shirt) is actress Olivia Wilde. There was no way to indicate this in the image itself.
Yes there is; check it out: https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/145095-honey-badger
I think we ought to educate users about the fact that you can tag photos. Although you can't search within KYM for photo tags, it's still informational, and I'm assuming that Google images still could find it.
Thanks for the info. I'll make use of that in the future!
Actually, "Honey Badger Don't Care" owes a huge debt to an earlier cartoon created by indy comic artist and writer Brad Neely, of Creased Comics (Who also happens to be the author of the George Washington meme: http://www.creasedcomics.com/video_page.php?id=52).
His one-panel comic "Zebra Don't Care" was insanely popular with a subculture on the net, spawning quite a few "(fill_in_the_blank) don't care" children.
Original can be seen at:
http://www.creasedcomics.com/archive/zebradontcare.jpg
While an interesting comic artist, I think you'd need more evidence that there was a connection. "X don't care" is hardly an original phrase in the English language.
+1 confirm
Apparently I've heard that they can Rip your Testicles off just for the sheer fact that it is called "The Honey Badger".
not sure what glee has to do with this, or anything at all since its the bane of existence. but honey badger FTW! love it, love randall, love czg123. definitely a meme.
honey badger takes what it wants!
@Adam DeLand:
The narrator is awesome, and has an awesome voice. And he has an army of Honey Badgers, so you better start liking him.
Sting_Auer cancels Read Entry: Interrupted by Honey Badger.
Well, crap, when did this start trending? I'd better see if I can put some more work into it. And I guess I'd better check out that Cracked.com article.
25% of the people tries to dead-pool this meme but honey badger doesn't give a shit. His lack of care makes all dead-pool invalid.
The guys voice is holding me back on liking it. It just seems to me the guy is trying too hard to be funny. And it's pretty much a viral version of extreme advertising, which are hilarious.
thought it was good
saw glee
deadpool
Okay, I read the Cracked article last night, and while I do think it should be mentioned (and apparently Brad did put in a mention), I doubt it played strong part in the “pre-history” of this meme. Really, the only thing the article and the video have in common is that they mention honey badgers, and Cracked uses the phrase, “…don’t give a fuck” while Randall uses the similar, “…don’t give a shit.”
Google results for “honey badger don’t _____”:
“care” – 2,650,000
“give a shit” – 1,280,000
“give a fuck” – 36,400
“give a f#@k” – zero
Note that the first two are quotes from Randall, the other two are not. Cracked.com is an awesome site, but this meme didn’t start with them.
Not Confirmed?
Honey Badger don't care. Honey badger don't give a S***
+1 confirm
I found it funny, but if I didn't …well you see where I'm going with this.
Ring ring ring Banana Phone.
hmmm, seems that nearly everyone has benn Down-1'ed recently in the comments.
But much like the Honey Badger; we don't care, and we Don't give a Damn.
Randall sounds like Brian Fellows Safari Planet…
It gets a bite from a cobra and manages to tear the cobra's head off before collapsing from the poison -- then wakes up to finish eating the damn cobra. I am in awe of anything that can sleep off a cobra bite and then digest the offending snake.
+1 confirm
+1 Confirm
is it dead now…?
Is Honey Badger constipated? Because he just doesn't give a shit.
I just watched this for the first time and I have a question. Is Randall trying to sound stereotypically gay?
I think Honey Badger is a cool guy, eh doesn't give a shit and doesn't afraid of anything
mmmmm i was about to write something but why bother myself, after all Honey Badger dosent care, he dosent give a shit he is too badass for that………….
@Weapon0
Yeah, I think that's the point. The voice makes it funnier.
Since a few in my classroom were wearing Honey Badger shirts, our teacher asked what they were from. Eventually, our class got her to watch the video and she thought it was hilarious.
She was stuck on if a honey badger can actually survive a snake bite. I replied, "Does it matter? Honey badger don't care how he does, he just does." :P
Too true.
It's probably the only thing that keeps me going. It gives a good laugh, and it keeps me in a good mood to rise up from my inner demon of a void that harvests on my soul for life and energy like a demon in someone's soul would…..
Why'd they wait so long to confirm this? Oh well, Honey Badger don't care.
it's confirmed; SO WHAT?! the Honey Badger doesn't care and will still mostly likely rip your Testicles off.
My sister sent me this link a few months back, I wonder if it should be featured in the article?
http://theshroom.wordpress.com/2011/09/14/advice-column-ask-a-honey-badger/
Honey badger is Chuck norris's pet
Okay, this one's gotta be worked in: Danica Patrick vows to be the honey badger of NASCAR
Honey badger ate the edge.
DadadadaHONEYBADGER!
Don't forget that Randall was on America's Got Talent last week.
All this and no mention of the Vlogbrothers . . .
As much I hate most advice dog spin-offs. This is funny meme if you ask me.
honey badgers aren't dogs facepalm
That's not exactly what he meant, dude.
This isn't an advice dog, nor is a honey badger a canine of any kind. This came from a viral video, not just a picture.
Yeah, I think he knows that this isn't advice dog because he clearly said spin off. And that's where he messed up, it is no spin off. But nowhere did he say it was advice dog…
Yeah, but this isn't related to any advice dog.
Yeah, but this isn't related to any advice dog.
Yeah, I think he knows that this isn't advice dog because he clearly said spin off. And that's where he messed up, it is no spin off. But nowhere did he say it was advice dog…
Yeah, but this isn't related to any advice dog.
Yeah, but this isn't related to any advice dog.
That's not exactly what he meant, dude.
Our Biology teacher was awesome enough to show this to our class.
No mention of the fact that there is A FUCKING GUN named after this majestic creature?
honey badgers aren't dogs facepalm
That's not exactly what he meant, dude.
Honey badger rules!
This isn't an advice dog, nor is a honey badger a canine of any kind. This came from a viral video, not just a picture.
Yeah, I think he knows that this isn't advice dog because he clearly said spin off. And that's where he messed up, it is no spin off. But nowhere did he say it was advice dog…
Yeah, but this isn't related to any advice dog.
Yeah, but this isn't related to any advice dog.
Why don't we mention Stoffel, the honey badger who recently got famous for escaping every enclosure.
Yeah, I think he knows that this isn't advice dog because he clearly said spin off. And that's where he messed up, it is no spin off. But nowhere did he say it was advice dog…
Yeah, but this isn't related to any advice dog.
Yeah, but this isn't related to any advice dog.
Too true.
That's not exactly what he meant, dude.
These mofos are f*ckin' invincible to Machetes,Climate changes,and poison?
My school's varsity team name is Honey Badgers.:/
So their going be a animated series in the works and was first announced on January 17th 2012, 6 year later still no word on the series
You mean Killing Bites?
You mean Killing Bites?
Rest well, old friend. You represent a simpler time.
Only those with the sharpest fangs wins….
….and honey badger STILL don't care!
I'm glad my kind are being represented once more.
Okay, this is epic
More like one of the most pissed-off animal on the planet.
Many "dangerous" animals still have their own chill time, but no, honey badgers don't.
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