Submission 9,142

About

Smashing Stuff/ Smash My X is a popular internet trend that involves individuals uploading video of themselves mutilating and destroying various objects, usually popular electronics like the PS3 or iPhone. The trend has sparked several derivatives, as participants find more objects to destroy and more creative ways of destroying them.

Origins

While vandalism and destroying objects has unquestionably been around for ages, the internet trend arguably began in 1999 with the release of the film Office Space. In the movies most famous scene, the three protagonists take a printer from their office building out into an open field, where they proceed to kick it to pieces and smash it with a baseball bat.

The classic scene spawned countless parodies online. The parodies followed a simple formula of taking a printer, fax machine, or similar device into an open field, and playing Still by Geto Boys in the background while they're bashed to pieces.

On October 5th, 2008, the scene was parodied on the popular television show Family Guy, causing a brief resurgence in popularity (See The Family Guy Effect). During the episode "I Dream of Jesus", Stewie and Brian take Peter's Surfing Bird vinyl out into an open field and proceed to smash it with a baseball bat, similarly to the scene from the film.

Spread and Variations

Following the Office Space craze, many individuals began to branch out from the scene and its parodies, looking to add a new twist onto the meme. Many found the answer in new, up and coming electronics. Things like the iPod, the iPhone, the Xbox 360 became the main targets in this destructive trend. The more expensive or exclusive the item was, the more popular the video would be. This made Smash Some Stuff, a group of teenage boys from California, one of the most popular and notorious among the vandals. Each episode of their web series featured a different item being destroyed, including an Macbook, a Nintendo Wii, and a brand new printer. A similar and equally famous group from Canada, Smash Our Stuff, have become famous for buying new and expensive gadgets and smashing them right outside the store, including a brand new PS3 (this video has accumulated over seven million views on Youtube).