#Parklife

Part of a series on Russell Brand. [View Related Entries]

Updated Nov 10, 2014 at 06:00PM EST by Brad.

Added Nov 10, 2014 at 02:41PM EST by Brad.

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About

#Parklife is a hashtag inspired by the memorable narration featured in Blur's 1994 eponymous hit single and coined by British marketing consultant Dan Barker to make fun of British actor-comedian Russell Brand's tendencies to derail into anti-authoritarian tirades in his public appearances and interviews.

Origin

On October 14th, 2014, Random House published Brand’s political commentary book Revolution^[1], which advocates a social revolution to bring about an end to "corporate tyranny, ecological irresponsibility and economic inequality." On November 2nd, British marketing consultant Dan Barker^[2] posted a quote from the book, noting that it reminded him of actor Phil Daniels’ narration from Blur's 1994 hit single “Parklife” (shown below). In the first 48 hours, the tweet gained over 8,100 retweets and 5,700 favorites.

"source":https://twitter.com/danbarker/status/528963278819831808

Spread

Shortly after Barker's tweet went live, many Twitter users in the UK began tweeting "Parklife!" at the 39-year-old British actor-comedian's account and the joke quickly caught on among the anti-fans of the comedian as well as the fans of the 90s' Britpop band Blur. Within the first 48 hours, the title of the song was mentioned more than 10,000 times on Twitter, according to Topsy Analytics.^[9]

Benito @benito sk13 @rustyrockets PARKLIFE 13 hours ago Reply 다 Retweet ☆ Favorite Tmore Matt Kane @ascorbic @rustyrockets PARKLIFIE y 15 hours ago勺Reply乜Retweet LICE ☆ Favorite 15 more Joel esplendjoel Grustyrockets PARKLIFE! ,15 hours ago勺Reply tRetweet ☆ Favorite P1 more Oliver CooperGolivercooper There is a campaign to shout PARKLIFE" back at Grustyrockets every time he tweets. TOP TROLLING 私 2 days ago Reply 다 Retweet ☆ Favorite 58 more The Rebel Yell Grebel_ rock on @rustyrockets PARKLIFE!! ゾ9 hours ago Reply ta Retweet ☆Favorite FJB eeffbell rustyrockets PARKLIFE ゾ12 hours ago勺Reply Retweet ☆Favorite Mikey Hill Ghillmikey @rustyrocketsPARKLIFE! 15 hours ago +Reply 乜Retweet ☆ Favorite Jim Beckeljs @rustyrockets PARKLIFE! 14 hours ago Reply 乜Retweet ☆ Favorite Robert Sitch @bobsitch Grustyrockets PARKLIFE ゾ15 hours ago勺Reply Retweet ☆Favorite Robert Sitch @bobsitch Grustyrockets PARKLIFE! 15 hours ago +Reply 乜Retweet ☆ Favorite

On November 4th, Viner Alan White posted a mashup video featuring select footage from Brand's BBC Newsnight interview and the original music video for Blur's "Parklife" (shown below). Within the first 24 hours, the Vines accumulated more than 200,000 plays. By November 5th, Brand himself had presumably embraced the joke with the following tweet:

Follow @rustyrockets “@andrewha12468:@FinancialTimes What should worry you +yr pals is Russell is giving voice to what many are feeling & thinking." PARKLIFE RETWEETS FAVORITES 656 10:16 AM-5 Nov 2014

Throughout that week, several news sites reported on the #Parklife hashtag phenomenon, including BuzzFeed,^[3] The Independent,^[4] Express,^[5] Metro^[6] and Reason.^[7]

Russell Brand's Self-Parody Music Video

On November 10th, Russell Brand released a self-parody music video in which he sings about anti-consumerism and class strife to a cover performance of "Parklife" by the Irish comedy hiphop duo The Rubberbandits. In less than 24 hour of upload, the video gathered more than 270,000 views (shown below).