(image from fredonzipit.com)
At the suggestion of commenter Mark, I took a second look at the YouTube phenomenon called "Fred" to see if he was really a lone teenage filmmaker. Or if he was the front boy for some cloaked entity bent Pied Piper-like on hypnotizing millions of children with "entertaining content," only to lure them into some commercial trap. You know, like TV.
Well I admit it hadn't occurred to me that these Fred videos would need corporate backing to be produced. They sort of seem like, I don't know, a hyperactive 12-year-old kid made them. But call me a fool, because a link in Fred's description box sends viewers to a flashy, expensive-looking website called fredonzipit.com. ZipIt, it turns out, is a handheld instant-messaging device -- presumably to allow kids to IM each other from the comfort of their living room couch, kitchen table, desk at school, or anywhere else. Because God forbid we should teach our kids that it's OK to go 90 seconds without filling in koolguyT0mmy94 or s1st3rSarah on your activities over the last 90 seconds, and go read a book instead.
So yes, I'm waiting for a call-back from Zipit themselves, but I think we can go ahead and call this another viral marketing ploy. And no point distinguishing ZipIt from the legion of other tchotchke peddlers that have been selling kids stuff they don't need since Moses was a tween. Kids are such a big part of the YouTube demographic that this had to happen eventually. It's just ... really with the chipmunk voice?
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