Breaking Trail
I’m walking back to my car after attending a recent First Friday Art Walk in downtown Presque Isle when I hear a spirited war cry emanating from the back of a passing car: “Heeeeeeeey, sexxxy lady!” Unsolicited male attention? Not exactly.
Rather, it’s one of few English language lyrics found in Korean pop star PSY’s pop hit ‘Gangnam Style’, a song that has won the hearts of many northern Maine party rockers not through pop radio, but, rather, the fevered frenzy that is online video culture.
Viral videos have reshaped the way we look at pop culture in recent years, allowing millions of viewers to inhale delicious tidbits of digital content. Yet, it’s rare that any of us ever have a chance to meet the creator of one of these videos. Thankfully, County users are in luck with our own viral star: Nigerian dwarf goat Buttermilk Sky.
Kathryn Harnish and Rob Lawless relocated to Houlton from Chicago in 2003 to start Took a Leap Farm, a small-scale goat farm and state-licensed creamery. On July 27, after several requests from friends and family to share pictures of their new venture, the couple uploaded a short video to YouTube entitled Buttermilk “plays” with her “friends”, which documents Buttermilk as she brazenly knocks over and jumps off of her siblings on a warm summer day. (author’s note: it’s hilarious.) The video was embedded onto the farm’s blog site, along with a pledge from Harnish that she would donate $25 to Farm Sanctuary, an animal welfare and advocacy organization, if the clip received 1,000 views.
Four days later, and the video landed on NBC’s Today Show, sparking a flame that would erupt around the world to international news outlets and talk shows, such as The Huffington Post, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and the UK’s Daily Mail Online. To date, the video has received over six million views on YouTube alone (put into perspective: just imagine if every Maine resident watched the video four times). As with most viral content, Internet users began to comment at an alarming rate, with remarks ranging from disturbingly hateful (referring to Buttermilk as “racist”) to surprisingly appreciative (Harnish explained during a recent visit that one viewer owed her success in a drug rehabilitation program to being able to find happiness through frequent viewings of the video).
How does a video of a goat get over six million views, inspire over 8,000 comments, and lead to a Facebook page with over 7,000 likes? Researchers and media trendspotters are still determining the exact factors needed for the phenomenon to occur, but a few key elements exists in the Buttermilk video. One part is the video’s length of about 1 minute, which is ideal for other YouTube users to remix the content, such as one of the most popular “response videos” posted, which reinterprets Buttermilk as Guile from the popular Street Fighter video game series. The other element is what I would call The Universal Language of Goats. Or Funny Cats Jumping Into Boxes. Or Guinea Pigs Eating Watermelon. Animal videos usually lack human language and other cultural identifiers, meaning that they can be accessible by a much wider audience. So, what do you do when a global audience shows up at your virtual front door in a matter of days?
Navigating and managing the complexities of copyright laws, fair use exceptions, and marketing can be overwhelming, especially when the job arrives overnight. For Harnish and Lawless, this meant turning to Viral Spiral, a management company specializing in such services for owners of viral content, including Howard Davies-Carr, owner of the Charlie Bit My Finger video. It also meant making personal decisions when it comes to managing Internet fame. Buttermilk hasn’t let it go to her head and has, instead, brought it back to where it all began by donating a portion of online T-shirt sales to support the work of Farm Sanctuary and becoming, well, a bit of a spokes-goat for local farmers, animal welfare groups, and artists. In turn, Buttermilk’s rapid rise to stardom has set an interesting precedent for area farmers and even large agricultural agencies to harness the power of social media. Last month, the Maine Potato Board uploaded a potential viral hit to YouTube entitled Dance Video as part of its revamped “I Say Potato” marketing campaign., which has received over 11,000 views by incorporating humor and pop culture references.
To learn about Buttermilk and her friends, go to tookaleapfarm.com or visit the farm at 243 B Road in Houlton. The farm recently held their Open House and Harvest Celebration and will have their Holiday Store open starting on Oct. 27th, offering cheese from the farm, along with art and fine goods from local and regional vendors. Took a Leap also offers regular cheese-making classes and hope to expand their class offerings in the future. For more information, contact Kathryn and Rob at (207) 532-7618.
Dianna Leighton is youth librarian at the Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library in Presque Isle. Her professional and personal interests include community building, digital media and content creation, and promoting transliteracy skills. In her spare time, she enjoys testing her cooking skills, reading anything she can get her hands on, and sharing stories and experiences with those in her community. Dianna can be reached at (207) 764-2571 or via e-mail at diannaleighton@presqueislelibrary.org.
