If you still remember “Damn Daniel,” then following a viral trend is nothing new for you. Making a video that brought them the online stardom they never dreamed of only required two bored adolescents and their silly jokes.
To everyone’s astonishment, the popular video turned seven on February 16; nonetheless, its creator, Joshua Holz, still remembers it as if it were yesterday.
He recently used the microblogging platform to commemorate the memorable day of 2016 when his video became viral online.
What is Damn Daniel?
A 2016 viral video is called Damn Daniel. Joshua Holz, a student at Poly High School in Riverside, California, and Daniel Lara, a classmate, became well-known online when Holz’s edited compilation of Snapchat videos gained traction on Vine, YouTube, and Facebook.
Lara and Holz were recognised as two of “The 30 Most Influential People on the Internet” in Time magazine’s March 2016 issue.
What happened to Damn Daniel?
The viral video “Damn Daniel” has been online for seven years. Josh, the creator, reposted the old video and added, “7 years… damn.” This caused social media users to reminisce over the “Damn Daniel” video, which became a meme and permanently attached itself to every Daniel!
It even became a catchphrase thanks to a Twitter video montage that featured the narration of a young man (Josh) who frequently praised his friend Daniel Lara by shouting, “Damn, Daniel!” in reply to his stylish outfits on various occasions. Sometimes, a catchphrase like “Back at it again with the white Vans” would come after it.
About the viral video
It received over three hundred thousand retweets, and it was looped almost two million times on Vine while it accumulated close to four hundred thousand likes on Twitter.
The original video clip is a 30-second compilation of Lara striding around school, with Holz complimenting his dress style by repeatedly saying, “Damn, Daniel!” and occasionally following the catchphrase with: “White Vans… Back at it, again”.
Lara dressed in a navy blue hoodie, skinny chinos, burgundy backpack and slip-on sneakers as per the video. Such an experience resulted in their participation in “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”.
Soon afterwards, Lara was presented with a lifetime supply of Vans shoes. Lara gave the shoes to children at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital in California.
The Unpredicted Popularity of the Video
Tech Insider wrote in one of its articles that “it is difficult to describe why it is hilarious”.
Consequently, several corporations embraced the term ‘Damn Daniel’, including Clorox, Vans, Denny’s and Axe, for their market. The video also contributed to Vans’ profits, which peaked soon after that.
Moreover, the widespread popularity of the video resulted in a situation where “Damn, Daniel Vans” reached the point of receiving eBay bids of over 400 thousand dollars.
Little, Teej and LeBlanc have even transformed the video into a song. This viral video ran about two weeks after the hacker got into the owner’s account, Josh Holz.
Daniel and Josh also made it into the “California Kids” song performed by Weezer, released as part of their tenth album, The White Album.
It became so popular that the Australian electronic comedy duo Bombs Away even transformed it into a house song.