Rickroll

2007

Date: May 2007 · Place: 4chan /v/, then YouTube · Figures: Anonymous 4chan /v/ user known as Brad, originator · Rick Astley, unwitting subject · Tags: Bait And Switch, Long Tail Meme, 4chan Origin 01. Duckroll To Rickroll The duckroll begins on 4chan in 2006: a hyperlink promising one thing redirects to an image of a duck on wheels. By May 2007 a user on /v/, the video games board, swaps the duck for the music video of Rick Astley's 1987 single Never Gonna Give You Up. The bait-and-switch sticks because the song's opening synth is instantly recognizable and entirely unrelated to whatever was promised. By 2008, Rickrolling is mainstream. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is Rickrolled on national television in November 2008 when Astley himself appears mid-broadcast. 02. The Longest-Lived Bait The Rickroll outlasts every other 2007-era meme. The original YouTube upload, taken down for copyright in 2014 and restored, passes one billion views in July 2021. By 2026 it remains in active use as a prank format, the longest continuously-deployed image-redirect joke in internet history. Astley re-recorded the song for charity, performed it at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards after a fan vote, and treats the meme as a windfall. Sources • KnowYourMeme, 'Rickroll' • The New York Times, 'Rick Astley, Brought Back by a Web Joke' (15 March 2008) • Rick Astley, 'Never Gonna Give You Up' (original RCA upload, 25 October 2009)