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YouTube’s top 10 videos for 2017 remind us that people watch a lot of ping-pong ball trick shots

@obrien

Lots of stuff to unpack from the myriad cultural insights offered by this year’s list of top videos from YouTube.

Haha, no, I’m just kidding!

This year’s list once again reminds us that not only have we developed terrible taste in music, but we spend inane amounts of time watching people perform various idiocies, like ping-pong ball tricks, for instance.

I mean, I have nothing against ping-pong balls, or people who opt to dedicate their lives to creating and executing them. Fine. But thanks to the unholy melding of the internet, YouTube, our general cultural depravity, and the way those things combine to create data that allows companies to fine-tune ad targeting, we have a world where Ping Pong Trick Shots 3 by Dude Perfect was the third most-watched video of 2017.

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This means we have a world in which Oreo is willing to pony up sponsorship bucks for ping-pong ball trick shots with various Oreo branding items, such as giant Oreo cookies baked right into the setup.

Here, let’s give it a few million more views, shall we? Also, pass the Oreo cookies and some milk, please.

Here are some interesting factoids on Dude Perfect, directly from YouTube:

  • Dude Perfect has been making trick shot videos on YouTube since 2009 and have 24 million people subscribed to their channel. This ping-pong trick shot montage is their biggest video of 2017, and already their second most-viewed video ever (behind only the video that this one is a sequel to: Ping Pong Trick Shots 2). It’s also a sponsored advertisement for Oreos and therefore one of the top ads of 2017.
  • Dude Perfect is the 13th largest channel on YouTube by subscribers and one of the top 10 channels in subscribers-gained in 2017.
  • Over the years, people have watched their videos 4.2 billion times (and over a billion this year alone).
  • This is the second year in a row they’ve made the list. Their water bottle flip was #6 on our 2016 list.

Bottom line: Humanity is opting to spend its free time obsessively watching an ad for Oreo cookies.

Here’s the list of top 10 videos.

  1. Until We Will Become Dust – Oyster Masked (ตราบธุลีดิน – หน้ากากหอยนางรม) | THE MASK SINGER 2
  2. ED SHEERAN – Shape Of You | Kyle Hanagami Choreography
  3. Ping Pong Trick Shots 3 | Dude Perfect
  4. Darci Lynne: 12-Year-Old Singing Ventriloquist Gets Golden Buzzer – America’s Got Talent 2017
  5. Ed Sheeran Carpool Karaoke
  6. Lady Gaga’s FULL Pepsi Zero Sugar Super Bowl LI Halftime Show | NFL
  7. “INAUGURATION DAY” — A Bad Lip Reading of Donald Trump’s Inauguration
  8. history of the entire world, i guess
  9. In a Heartbeat – Animated Short Film
  10. Children interrupt BBC News interview – BBC News

Here are this year’s top music videos:

  1. Luis Fonsi – Despacito ft. Daddy Yankee
  2. Ed Sheeran – Shape of You [Official Video]
  3. J Balvin, Willy William – Mi Gente (Official Video)
  4. Maluma – Felices los 4 (Official Video)
  5. Bruno Mars – That’s What I Like [Official Video]
  6. Chris Jeday – Ahora Dice (Official Video) ft. J. Balvin, Ozuna, Arcángel
  7. 05. El Amante – Nicky Jam (Video Oficial) (Álbum Fénix)
  8. Jason Derulo – Swalla (feat. Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign) (Official Music Video)
  9. DJ Khaled – I’m the One ft. Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper, Lil Wayne
  10. Enrique Iglesias – SUBEME LA RADIO (Official Video) ft. Descemer Bueno, Zion & Lennox

Here’s hoping for an Ed Sheeran-free 2018.