The Business of Being ‘Happy’: Pharrell’s Hit Song Takes On The World

By now, most of you have heard the Pharrell Williams’ hit, ‘Happy’, from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack. We even blogged about the LGBTQIA ‘Happy’ video created for Sochi a couple weeks back (check it out — pretty amazing stuff). Since then, ‘Happy’ has become a viral sensation, far beyond anyone’s expectations. Variations of the video have been made around the world receiving hundreds of thousands of views online.

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The original video for the oscar-nominated song was released in November of 2013, making big news for being the longest music video ever; a title previously held by the King of Pop, Michael Jackson (for the song ‘Ghosts’). The energetic dancing video, 24 Hours of Happy,  is shown on its own website and features the song in 4 minute loops for a full 24 hours. The video highlights dancers of all shapes and sizes; male, female, young, old, and even some celebs including: Steve Carrell, Kelly Osborne and Magic Johnson to name a few. A regular length video was released around the same time.

We can all agree: Pharrell has had quite a year topping the charts with hits like ‘Blurred Lines’ and ‘Get Lucky’, but this video has become a beast of its own. As of late, the style of the video has been replicated and used to highlight countries and cities from around the world. Hop on YouTube and you can see ‘Happy’ videos from Dublin, Bermuda, Berlin, France, Hong Kong, Kiev, Jamaica, Cambodia and many others. Loads of local businesses are going to great lengths to get a spot in their city’s version of the video.  Two of the most impressive videos have come from Jamaica and Bermuda. They are beautifully done and  showcase tourist hot spots in a gorgeous light.  ’Happy’ is no longer just an upbeat song, it has become the ultimate marketing tool to showcase your country, city or business. Take a look at Bermuda’s and Jamaica’s renditions below:

Pharrell seems to be embracing the various parodies of his video, tweeting them out and showing gratitude for all the support. A big thanks goes out to Pharrell, for bringing a little bit of happiness into all of our lives.

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