YouTubeWhen is the last time you heard an engagement story that didn't involve a flash mob? Or that didn't take place onstage at a concert or on the Kiss Cam at a sports game? When was the last time you actually heard an engagement story, instead of watching it in a viral video?
We get it: It's one of the biggest, happiest, most romantic moments of your life (hopefully). But nowadays, nobody wants to shout it from the rooftop. Not when they can upload it to YouTube and it will go viral. That reaches way more people than a stupid old rooftop.
There isn't anything wrong with your engagement video going viral. We admit, we love a good flash bob. We just hope you spend more time thinking about whether the engagement will be special for the person you're engaging than whether it will get a million views on YouTube.
All of which is to say, are viral engagement videos out and viral pregnancy announcements in? Or are they both in? Is every announcement we make from here on out expected to go viral?
Should it?
Here is a video by "The Taylor Family" announcing they have a baby on the way by spoofing a rap from a 2010 Toyota commercial (H/T Jezebel). The video has spread quickly, racking up hundreds of thousands of views in only a week.
And it is officially on the brink of going viral. Congrats!
More importantly, congratulations on your baby. We're sure the couple is super-stoked about their baby (coming in May!) and we assume their friends and family got a kick out of the video. Here is where we reiterate that none of this is an attack on this couple's character or their future parenting abilities.
Hey, this is the age of the Internet. Do what you want to do.
They're not the first people whose pregnancy announcement went viral. They won't be the last either. But does licensing the video (this video's YouTube description reads, "To use this video in a commercial player or in broadcasts, please email licensing@storyful.com!") take some of the sincerity out of it? Or, maybe, some of the humanity?
It's just a question. Viral engagement videos and viral pregnancy announcements will continue, no matter what we say. Because people watch them. Because apparently no one can resist a flash mob.