A commentary on Viral memes

Anyone who doesn't understand the power of a viral Internet meme should take a look at this clip from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade today. There was a float for Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, they were all singing their little songs, and suddenly - ba ba ba - Here comes Rick Astley singing "Never Gonna Give You Up."

"Rick Rolling" has been a main Internet practical joke for a couple of years now. You post a blog post or send an email with a link that you describe as anything you want - but the link goes to the old '80s video of Rick Astley singing his signature song.

This Internet meme has only been propagated through word of mouth. Today - the Macy's parade recognized that the majority of their audience would "get the joke" and put a live, nationally televised Rick Roll out there.

Within two minutes of the live Rick Roll, Twitter was all abuzz about it. A search of Twitter shows, by my count, well over 1000 tweets about the Fosters float Rick Roll.

And that, is the power of the viral web.