Here is an excerpt from a post I wrote over five years ago:
A couple of years ago I happened to walk outside my house and I noticed one of the neighborhood cats chasing something down our street.
When I went to get a closer look, I noticed it was a baby rabbit that appeared to be injured.
My first thought was that this was not going to be a happy ending for the rabbit, given the reputation that most cats have. However, it didn’t appear as if the cat meant to do any harm, so I decided to film the action on my phone.
As it turned out, the video ended up with a decent number of views, almost 40,000. For me, that qualifies as viral. (For comparison purposes, a video I made about Cost Structure and Profitability, which was much more educational, only attracted 24 views. I guess that says something about accounting, my online teaching effectiveness, and our society’s obsession with cats…)
Perhaps part of the reason the video went “viral” was the title I used, “Cat and Baby Bunny Best Friends”, thinking that using the word cat would help attract viewers.
It was also quite convenient when I went to add some music to the video and found that one of the free music clips offered by YouTube seemed to fit perfectly.
Not much happened over the next five years, picking up around another 5,000 views. Don’t get me wrong, I was still amazed that so many people would watch such a silly video. But in the grand scheme of things, it was far from being considered a popular video.
And then something happened at the end of November 2021. The number of daily views started increasing exponentially, at one point hitting over 40,000 views in just one day.
So just like my WordPress stats, I became addicted to checking my YouTube stats. I started predicting, based on what was happening, that the video would reach one million views sometime in February of this year.
And lo and behold, early this morning the video hit one million views.
I also started doing some calculations as to how much money I would be making from this video, and began planning an early retirement.
So to all my loyal readers, if you want to see the video before it’s inundated with ads, here you go:
The video also has over 500 comments, none of which are mine. Here are a dozen examples that highlight the range of comments:
- Omg, I just subscribed to your channel and your rabbits are so cute🐇🐇 !! I also love Rabbits and currently have 10 of my own😁 Edit : now have 16 rabbits, the proud momma just had another little of 6 baby bunnies yesterday 😭😅🤭 Edit : now at 18 Rabbits 🙃😭
- That bunny looks terrified…cat is waiting for owner to look the other way so he can REALLY “play” with his “best friend”
- Heartwarming and sweet. Nature is wonderful
- That cat is sizing up his next meal
- The MUSIC! Such DRAMA! Cats and bunnies – I can watch them all day!
- Love needs no language, it itself is a universal language. Love and care for innocents is humanity. We all should try to atleast go vegitarian, if going vegan is difficult.
- Cat: “as soon as you turn off that camera, I’m going to eat this bunny”.
- i like how you dramatised it with the music. nice :))
- I think the cat and rabbit stopped out of mercy for us, because they knew if they continued we’d have to endure this loud corny ass music.
- Wow, comments seems to think that the cat will do harm to the rabbit. The music seems to be more of terrifying. To me the cat is protecting the rabbit. You can see it is looking around for other cats or dogs or traffic that might be around. When the rabbit stop. The cat will keep guard the rabbit. A true friend.
- No. They are not friends. The bunny actually looks injured when he turns to try and run again. The cat is just biding his time toying with the bunny before he kills him. But by all means just stand there and film the spectacle. 😠
- Omgeee I needed that. Luv restored ty
As you can see, some people loved the music, some people thought it was terrible. The music was just one of the random pieces of music that YouTube makes available to add to your videos. I thought it fit perfectly.
I have no idea how the story of the cat and the baby bunny ended. But that is how many of us artistic directors end our movies, leaving it up to the viewer to offer their own take on the events they just watched.
By the way, feel free to watch it again in case you missed any of the subtle nuances I included… 🙂
Looks like your views are multiplying just like rabbits. Well congratulations, now you can quit your job and live on Easy Street. I’m looking forward to watching you, as you make the rounds of the talk show circuit.
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I’ll probbaly have to go out and buy a baseball cap for those talk shows, so that I can look like Stephen Spielberg or Ron Howard…
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I did watch it twice. Second time with music. What can I say, cats are the new tires (it was you with the tire post that went viral, right?). This cat is very chill and I don’t think it plans to eat the rabbit, it’s not displaying rabbit-eating behaviour. So congratulations on this milestone and yes, our society is obsessed with cats, so now I am off looking for some cats to shoot. With my camera. Not with guns.
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thanks for watching it twice!
and yes, this like my tires post; no rhyme or reason as to why they got so may views.
enjoy your time out there shooting cats…
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it’s amazing! I think that you need to promote your Amsterdam stairs one a little. It also has potential. If only you can shoot a cat running down those stairs.
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maybe I should mash all my videos together! 🙂
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Wow now thats a lot of views. I think the music was a perfect choice. Such a cute video 😁😁
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thanks. I think I got lucky with the music!
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How did I not know you had a YouTube channel? Maybe you need some dramatic music with your next Cost Structure and Profitability presentation. That, or you could make a grand entrance into your classroom like a professional wrestler. Have a Michael Buffer (the boxing announcer) voiceover, “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble” as you saunter into the class. I’m picturing the Geico ad where Jaime walks in and interrupts the making of the ad.
Okay, just thinking a little outside the box here.😊
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you’ve missed out on your calling as a marketing guru!
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Aww! Dogs rule but cats are very fun to watch as well and the baby bunny is adorable. So you are just climbing the ladder aren’t you. When is the next video? 🙂
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hopefully my ladder is against a wall… 🙂
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Wow! Congratulations on going viral – you can get an injection for that, you know. I can’t help thinking that, dramatic though that music was, Eye Of The Tiger might have been a better fit…
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hopefully I’ll get an injection of cash! 🙂
Eye of the Tiger would have been great, but then I’d get in trouble for copyright nonsense…
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You never know your luck!
Didn’t think of that, probably not worth the risk 😉
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fingers crossed 🙂
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A million views is quite the accomplishment, my friend! The music was perfect for building anticipation. You have now discovered that cat videos are like crack to YouTubers. Throw in a baby bunny and it is almost an overdose. I think you can use what you learned here to punch up your educational videos.
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maybe I can film myself giving lectures to a cat…
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no limit to your talents. tik Tok mega-billionaire will soon be on your card
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maybe I’ll change that billion part to million; I don’t want to come off too conceited…
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Super post
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thanks…
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Wow that is one amazing video. Thanks for sharing. Brilliantly done. So entertaining. 😅 The music really works too. So cute. ❤️ Deserves to go viral. 😊
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it’s surprising what goes viral, and why it happened seven years after I posted it…
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People are funny . I posted a video of a train on YouTube and it got almost 1000 views in 24 hours! Anytime I post cat pics or videos on any platform they get views and likes. Gotta admit I love watching kittens play .
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Someone should get help for the rabbit and maybe the cat and rabbit will become best friends.
You should share your YouTube Channel with us.
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I am still working on making my YouTube channel a little more presentable… 🙂
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1st, that cat is totally going to kill the bunny. I have 2 cats and they make ‘friends’ with bunnies all the time. Then they eat them. This whole thing is truly bizarre. I can’t imagine seeking out cat and bunny videos. I guess people are sharing it(?). Will you actually make money from youtube? I don’t know how that works.
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I am guessing it was not going to end well for that bunny. Once you meet certain YouTube requirements, you can start ot have ads on your videos, and make money from those. I’m just not sure who would want to advertise on that cat video…
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It’s the same with any social media show a video/picture of an animal and it gets lots of hits…Love the music although we didn’t see the cat eventually get the rabbit 🙂
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maybe I should start writing about cats in my blog more often.
and I’m with you, I think the cat eventually got the bunny…
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I never knew you were a serious filmographer!
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yes, I’ve spent years studying the best movie directors, and all that time paid off in that 58 second video 🙂
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It is absolutely adorable!! One million views? Wow! The day we shut down school in March of 2020, I posted reading a book on YouTube every day for my students. I might even have over 20 views on each one. 😂
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that shows how mixed up our priorities are!
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Hahaha!
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Envious of your stats, Jim….not for the first time. Cheers!
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this was just pure luck; I have no idea why it happened…
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Flowing prose, original thought, philosophical genius, n’est-ce pas?
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had to look up what that meant. I’d like to think it was genius, but I know it wasn’t! 🙂
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Ha ha
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