How a toilet-themed YouTube series became the biggest thing online
The biggest online phenomenon of the year is an animated video series that primarily appeals to children, filled with obscure internet and gaming references that most adults wouldn't understand, and with a name that all but screams scatological humour.
Its existence has sparked concern among adults, but is in fact a natural outgrowth of a video world created in part by parents who've made a habit of handing their iPads to their children to watch harmless entertainment such as Cocomelon. The success of the series also shows the first point of tension between Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
Called Skibidi Toilet, the YouTube series was created by an animator named Alexey Gerasimov for his YouTube channel DaFuq!?Boom! The series tells the story of Skibidi Toilets (toilets with human heads) engaged in a war with people who have CCTV cameras, speakers and televisions for heads amid a dark and dystopian landscape. They battle each other across an expanding industrial world that includes New York City landmarks, with the Skibidi Toilets acting on behest of their leader, G-Man, to destroy humanity and transform more people into Skibidi Toilets.
"Skibidi" videos have been viewed more than 65 billion times this year on YouTube alone, making it one of the biggest trends on the platform. On TikTok, videos with the hashtag "Skibidi Toilet" have been viewed more than 15.3 million times, and they've appeared in countless memes and videos on Instagram. DaFuq!?Boom! also has surpassed 36 million subscribers on YouTube, becoming one of the fastest-growing channels on the platform, at times outpacing MrBeast, YouTube's biggest star.
Maddy Buxton, culture and trends manager at YouTube, said Skibidi Toilet is a phenomenon unlike any other the platform
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