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Viral YouTube Video Turned NFT
“Well the duck walked up to the lemonade stand, and he said to the man running the stand, ‘HEY!’ *bum bum bum* ‘got any grapes?’” Yes, you read that correctly. These are the opening lyrics to the viral YouTube smash hit “The Duck Song”. Today, this video has amassed over 500 million views, one of the highest viewed videos on the platform, and was a cornerstone of the good-ol’-days of YouTube. The video is characterized by its goofy lyrics, odd animation style, and kid-like whimsicality. That persistent duck made viewers watch through the whole video and watch it again. Naturally, something that popular must be valuable. Why not mint it on the blockchain as an NFT?
A user by the alias ‘Pranksy’ minted The Duck Song #1 as an NFT on February 14, 2021 and The Duck Song #2 on February 25, 2021, in collaboration with the creators of the “The Duck Song” series. The Duck Song #1 had 100 mints on the “Ethereum” blockchain and within the first day was sold 102 times at an average price of 0.5298 ETH (~$2460 today). However, The Duck Song #2 was less successful than its predecessor, amassing 33 sales at 0.35 ETH on opening day. Why was this the case?
As with most fads, the popularity tends to die out, especially with sequels. On YouTube, while The Duck Song #2 was still wildly successful with 100 million views, it was only a fifth as popular. You might be asking, “well if it’s still popular shouldn’t the NFT also be similarly popular?” You would be half right. The NFT is still quite popular, yet with an old viral meme nostalgia remains supreme. People will tend to hold less nostalgia with sequels. Therefore, the “The Duck Song #1” NFT was not only almost double the price but also sold a third the amount on the release date.
As of today’s date 11/12/2021, The Duck Song #1 has an average sold price of 0.5606 ETH, yet the cheapest current offers are for 0.62 ETH on OpenSea, noting a potential upward trend for the future. The Duck Song #2 has an average sold price of 0.2904 ETH, with the current price set at 0.2999 ETH.