The video platform YouTube is already 20 years old. I would like to say Happy Birthday and take this opportunity to pay tribute to this Swiss "cultural asset" on YouTube.
Jawed Karim uploaded the first YouTube video 20 years ago today. «It was called Me at the Zoo». To celebrate this 20th anniversary, colleague David Lee also made his way to the zoo to recreate the video. However, not to San Diego (expense claim was rejected), but to Zurich.
All the best on this anniversary:
The top earner is the US American James Donaldson, alias Mr Beast. His channels have a total of 220 million subscribers. According to Statista, he earned around 82 million US dollars in 2024, of which around 50 million came from his YouTube activities and collaborations.
10. «Hakan! Hakan!»
9. «S beste wos je hets gits»
8. «Richi! I told you to have a good time!»
7. «Wettsch min Fettli ha?»
6. «Hello mum, hello dad»
5. «Du huere Michi»
4. «Ich will eifach Bulle go schlah»
3. «Angst und Gäld han ich kei»
2. «Gang weg vo mir Sputim!»
1. «Bü..bü..Bundnerfleisch»
Honourable Mention: «Morge mitenand»
A young man from eastern Switzerland triggered a viral avalanche in 2013. He filmed himself singing the words «Morge mitenand» while standing stark naked and swinging his genitals up and down to the rhythm of his «song». Shortly afterwards, he found his first imitators - both male and female. Even daily media such as 20 Minuten reported on the trend. Don't worry: the young man's face and genitals are blurred on the video.
Which videos do you particularly remember? Write it in the comments.
I've been tinkering with digital networks ever since I found out how to activate both telephone channels on the ISDN card for greater bandwidth. As for the analogue variety, I've been doing that since I learned to talk. Though Winterthur is my adoptive home city, my heart still bleeds red and blue.
20 years after Jawed's clip, YouTube is not just a video platform, but a real life coach. Cooking, sport, music, tutorials for absolutely EVERY situation in life, virtual psychotherapy - there's nothing the platform doesn't offer. More than three million channels are part of YouTube's affiliate programme, meaning they receive money for their content in some cases - it is estimated that between 500,000 and 600,000 people worldwide can make a living from the income they generate via YouTube. This is not only income from the adverts that YouTube displays, but also from creator collaborations with companies, affiliate links or Patreon (list not exhaustive).
Affiliate links (also known as partner links) are special links that are used to promote products or services. If someone buys something or registers via such a link, the person who shared the link receives a commission - i.e. a small reward from the supplier.
Videos from Switzerland have also contributed to YouTube's success. To name every article would go beyond the scope of this article. That is why I have selected ten Swiss videos that have caused a particularly lasting sensation either on or through YouTube and some of which are still cult today. I am not referring to click figures or particularly useful content, but to my completely subjective assessment of the pop cultural impact of the videos. Feel free to name other videos in the comments column.
On 9 May 2002 - around three years before the first YouTube video - Swiss radio and television published a documentary about FC Basel 1893. The documentary is called «Den Topf im Kopf» and portrays the team led by Zurich coach Christian Gross, who became Swiss champions again after a 22-year break and ushered in the most successful period for a Swiss club in the history of Swiss football. Gross' dressing room speech can still be found on YouTube today, where he had an argument with midfielder Hakan Yakin.
In 2009, the youth format «Mash TV» from regional broadcaster Tele Basel produced a report on the party «Three years of Kra.ch» in Breitenbach, Solothurn. There were short interviews with various participants at the party. Heshurim Aliu from Basel, who also attended the party, was asked about the atmosphere at the party, to which he replied that the party was «s beschte wos je hets gits». This phrase not only became the Swiss youth word of 2009, but can still be heard from people today.
In 2013, SRF released new episodes of the documentary «Auf und davon». The stars of this episode are the Schönbächler family centred around father Hermann, who have emigrated to Canada. The Schönbächlers are rebuilding their property and father Hermann and son Richi are busy with the digger. Despite Hermann's warning, son Richi falls off the digger, prompting his father to utter the cult phrase «Richi! I told you to be good». This saying is also known in Switzerland, up and down the country, to this day.
In 2001, the talk show «Fohrler Live» was broadcast on the now defunct TV channel TV3. One episode was called: «Jugend und Gewalt - ich schlagen zu». It focussed on violence among young people in Switzerland at the turn of the millennium. Instead of psychology experts, public prosecutors or politicians, the young people themselves were invited - and the programme escalated completely. The programme made a comeback on YouTube with dozens of reposts and a total of well over a million clicks. Sayings like: «Wettsch min Fettli ha?», «Meinsch du bisch krass, well du Bändeli ahäsch?», «Da kasch grad warten bis e Fuscht ind Frässi bechunnsch», are just the tip of the iceberg.
The Swiss company DOSA Film- und Fernsehproduktion interviewed visitors at a trade fair in Lucerne in 2014. They had the opportunity to send personal greetings in front of the camera. Jaton Ceresalingam from Wolhusen in Lucerne took the opportunity to greet his parents. «I want to say hello to my father. Hello dad. And also my mum. Hallo Muetter» was the sentence that became a cult phrase among young Swiss people. The video reached over a million views. Fortunately, the rumours that the boy later took his own life because of bullying are false.
It's probably THE classic of Swiss internet culture. In the early 2010s, young people came up with the idea of re-dubbing the well-known stop-motion children's series «Pingu». «Pingu», itself a Swiss creation, speaks the fantasy language «Pinguisch» in the original version. The dubbing was then done in a coarse Swiss dialect, went viral in record time and reached high six-digit access figures - a lot for the then still small Swiss YouTube user base. It shows the protagonist Pingu in everyday situations involving children. The term «Du huere Michi» is an insulting exclamation by Pingu to another character, which can still be heard today, especially among over-30s in Switzerland. Above is an example of the multi-part series.
The regional broadcaster «Tele Züri» is known for its reports - especially because the protagonists become memes in no time at all. This was also the case with the report on the 1 May 2009 demonstration, in which the station reported on children and young people who accompanied the riots as «gawkers». When Mario Nottaris and Martina Kälin ask the young, mostly male people about their motives, they let the public know that they «eifach wännd Bulle schlah». Despite (or because of) this polarising statement, the video became a youth cultural asset around 15 years ago.
Another trove from the archive of «Tele Züri» is the story about Yilmaz Z. This was a news report about Yilmaz Z., an IV pensioner from Wetzikon, who was violently assaulted by some youths at Zurich main station in 2009. The regional broadcaster had to put up with some criticism for the article and the way in which Yilmaz Z. was portrayed - critics complained that the victim had been ridiculed. Nevertheless, his pithy remarks still resonate today. In particular, the saying: «Angst und Gäld han ich kei» left a lasting impression on the vocabulary of young people at the time.
«Kleshtrimania» can justifiably be described as a cornerstone of Swiss meme culture. Shortly after the creation of YouTube. This is also a Swiss dubbing of a film - «Fantastic 4». The videos were mostly about the young Sputim and his (ex-)girlfriend Kleshtrimania. The producers - who themselves have a migrant background - take the so-called «Balkan slang» for a ride by dubbing with an exaggerated accent that originates from Albanian. This can be recognised above all by the glottal R. The saying «Gang weg vo mir, Sputim» achieved cult status at the time.
About 15 years ago, Federal Councillor and Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz had a legendary fit of laughter. In a parliamentary speech on customs regulations, he could no longer control himself due to the author's dry language. It was about import regulations for flavoured meat. When the author then went on to give examples in his text, it was all over for Merz. The video of the laughing fit made the rounds beyond the country's borders - and even a hardstyle techno remix of Merz's speech was produced.
