"Gangnam Style" is a single released by South Korean singer Psy on July 15, 2012. It achieved widespread international recognition and became the most viewed YouTube video, becoming the first video to gain a billion views on December 21, 2012. "Gangnam Style"'s unprecedented worldwide popularity was acknowledged by YouTube, who called it a "massive" hit at a global level "unlike anything we've ever seen before" while Billboard noted that "Gangnam Style" was nothing short of a pop culture phenomenon. As a result, it has influenced worldwide popular culture in many aspects.
Television In a Saturday Night Live sketch, a Lids employee (Kenan Thompson) feels down in the dumps, so another employee (Seth MacFarlane) cheers him up by pushing a very button which brings out Psy (Bobby Moynihan), who dances "Gangnam Style", later used in a nut commercial. Towards the end of the sketch, the button press reveals the real Psy. During VH1's Big Morning Buzz Live show, the television host Carrie Keagan told the audience that everyone in her office is "completely obsessed" with the dance moves of "Gangnam Style", which she later performed with Jason Dundas. South Korean boy band Shinhwa also showed their interests in "Gangnam Style" (especially lead vocalist Shin Hye Sung) with the members dancing to the "horse-riding choreography" repeatedly on episode 24 of their own variety show SHINHWA Broadcast, which was aired by JTBC. American stand-up comedian and actress Chelsea Handler mentioned Psy and "Gangnam Style" on-air during her late night comedy talk show Chelsea Lately. Psy later appeared on the show on September 19, in a parody sketch called "Psy Office Style". The Tonight Show with Jay Leno has presented several jokes involving the dance. On August 31, Leno showed parody video footage of American presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who made his entrance at the Republican National Convention "Gangnam Style". The October 8 "Headlines" segment started with the fake headline "Joe Biden will debate Paul Ryan 'Gangnam Style'." On October 25, the day after Barack Obama's appearance, Leno shows parody footage of a KTLA news story about Obama on ABC's Dancing with the Stars dancing to the song with another contestant.
Big Brother Australia created a commercial with the housemates dancing to "Gangnam Style" to promote the 2012 series. It was danced again on the series finalé on November 7, 2012 by the ex-housemates with a taped recording of Psy appearing to announce the start of the performance. Indian actors Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan danced "Gangnam Style" during the Indian television game show Kaun Banega Crorepati. In the Brazilian comedy show A Praça é Nossa aired by Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão, the actress Marlei Cevada teaches the comedian Carlos Alberto de Nóbrega how to dance "Gangnam Style". The Pakistani telecommunication company Zong created a mobile phone network advertisement in which actors were seen performing Gangnam dance moves. The advertisement also loosely imitated some scenes from the original "Gangnam Style" music video. The Mexican television series Sabadazo, aired by Televisa, uses "Gangnam Style" as the series' theme song. The show also features a parody of the dance itself, named Sabadazo Style, which is danced differently than the actual "Gangnam Style" dance. Animated series South Park episode "A Nightmare on FaceTime" featured a Halloween party in which a large portion of the attendees dressed as Psy and danced to "Gangnam Style". Stan attends the party in disguise as "Gangnamstein", wearing a Frankenstein costume sporting a hairstyle similar to that of Psy and sunglasses. Contestants Kirstie Alley, Emmitt Smith, Kelly Monaco, and Gilles Marini, along with professional partners Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Cheryl Burke, Val Chmerkovskiy, and Peta Murgatroyd, danced to the song in the fifth week of competition on ABC's Dancing with the Stars in the fifteenth season. At the 2012 Country Music Association Awards, hosts Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley danced to "Gangnam Style" during the opening speech. In the German television show Wetten, dass..? broadcast by ZDF, the television host Markus Lanz challenged the city of Bremen to find 100 residents willing to dance "Gangnam Style" on stage, which the city eventually completed just before the end of the programme. In the British television show Strictly Come Dancing, the contestants with their partners as well as the judges and presenters danced to "Gangnam Style" on the Halloween Show. In the "Thanksgiving" episode of the fourth season of Glee, the cast performs "Gangnam Style". The retired Brazilian footballer Ronaldo danced "Gangnam Style" during the Brazilian TV show Medida Certa Ronaldo Fenomeno as part of his weight loss programme, prompting sports journalist Michael Cummings of Bleacher Report to write that "Gangnam Style" is already "out of style a few weeks ago", but Ronaldo is now jumping onto the "bandwagon" like everyone else. Disney has parodied "Gangnam Style" in several of its cartoons. In the Phineas and Ferb episode "Happy New Year", Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, and the Fireside Girls do the "Gangnam Style" dance. Phineas is dressed in a blue suit as Psy; Ferb is dressed in a yellow suit as Yoo Jae-suk as they dance in a parking garage. Disney has also featured "Gangnam Style" in some of their promotional material in South Korea. On the videocast Doof's Daily Dirt, Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz comments on the video, and calls it Open Quantum Style. In The 7D episode "The Jollywood Jam", The 7D briefly dress up in blue suits and perform "Gangnam Style"; the queen and her assistant also do the dance. In Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja episode Whoopee 2: The Wrath of Whoopee 2, Randy briefly doing the dance "Gangnam Style dance in his NinjaNomicon.
In Total Nonstop Action Wrestling shows and events, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian, as tag team Bad Influence, dance "Gangnam Style" as one of their in-ring taunts. Zara Phillips, the granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, performed "Gangnam Style" in a video with Team GB as part of the BBC's charity telethon programme Children in Need. In a sketch from an episode of the 2015 revival of CBBC series Horrible Histories, Kevin Eldon performs a song titled "Norman Style" as William the Conqueror. In the November 9, 2012 episode of Italian program Tale e quale show, comedian Gabriele Cirilli impersonated Psy and performed "Gangnam Style". On November 12, 2016, former Labour politician Ed Balls famously danced a salsa to the song with his professional partner Katya Jones during the eighth week of the fourteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing. Judge Len Goodman said of Balls' performance: "I don't think there's any words in the dictionary to describe that."
Film The song was used in the 2013 comedy, This Is the End. The song was used in the 2013 documentary, Linsanity. This song appears during the credits of the 2014 film The Nut Job, with animals and humans from the movie dancing to it. An animated version of Psy also appears. In the movie Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger: Gaburincho of Music, one of the villains dances "Gangnam Style" during a musical scene. In the 2020 animated film Trolls World Tour, Poppy, Branch and Biggie perform this song while trying to cheer up the country trolls with a pop medley.
Flash mobs and folk culture
The earliest "Gangnam Style" flash mobs were held in Pasadena, California, and Sydney, Australia. On September 12, Times Square in Manhattan was filled with a flash mob dancing to the music of "Gangnam Style" during ABC's Good Morning America. Five days later, Psy appeared in a flash mob organized by the American entertainment TV show Extra in Los Angeles. The dress code was either "something comfortable" or "Psy-inspired clothing." A "Gangnam Style" flash mob in front of the Obelisco de Buenos Aires national monument in Argentina was shown on the national news programme Antes del Mediodía. In the Indian film Rangrezz, the song is an official parody of "Gangnam Style" featuring Jakky Bhagnani as Psy. All the scenes are from "Gangnam Style" video converted into Mumbai. In Thailand, officials from the Dan Sai municipality in Loei Province shot a video of people wearing masks and performing "Gangnam Style" during the Phi Ta Khon "ghost" festival. According to the Thai newspaper The Nation, villagers and spiritual leaders from Loei province have felt "uneasy" and also "greatly offended" about this "Gangnam Style" performance which tarnishes the image of a 400-year-old tradition.
Sports "Gangnam Style" has also made its way into various sporting events: On September 1, "Gangnam Style" was featured in the Presidents Race held during the Washington Nationals' home game at Nationals Park.
On September 16, Starcraft II player Stephano celebrated his win by dancing "Gangnam Style" at the Starcraft II World Championship Series European Finals at the Ericsson Globe. Other finalists and e-commentators participated with the audience. On September 16, Canadian tennis player Filip Peliwo danced to "Gangnam Style" during the Davis Cup World Group playoffs at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal.
The Ohio University Marching 110 performed the song during its halftime show on September 22. The video generated 5.1 million hits by Thursday before it had to be taken down from a security breach. Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson on September 26, as well as the professional boxer Manny Pacquiao, who danced "Gangnam Style" while training for his scheduled December 8 fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. Members of WFTDA roller derby teams London Brawling and the Charm City All-Stars spontaneously danced "Gangnam Style" during the halftime of the championship bout at the WFTDA East Region Playoffs on September 30, 2012. On October 7, Novak Djokovic celebrated his victory at the third China Open title by dancing to "Gangnam Style". He promised his fans that he will do the dance after his win against the French tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. On October 22, Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert led a group of fans in a "Gangnam Style" flash mob at Circle Center Mall in Indianapolis. The American sprinter Justin Gatlin danced "Gangnam Style" during the Xi'an City Wall International Marathon Competition. During the Fast5 Netball World Series, the New Zealand national netball team launched into a rehearsed dance routine of "Gangnam Style" in their pre-game warm-up against England. On April 20, 2013, Texas Rangers fan the "Greene's Hill Kid" danced "Gangnam Style" after snagging A. J. Pierzynski's home run over Franklin Gutierrez of the Seattle Mariners. The song was played at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Association football On August 18, the Brazilian player Wesley from Gangwon FC scored a goal against Busan I'Park during Round 28 of the 2012 K-League and celebrated by dancing "Gangnam Style". On September 16, the Uruguayan footballer Edinson Cavani scored a goal during Napoli's 3–1 win over Parma in the Italian Serie A and celebrated by dancing "Gangnam Style" dance. On September 25, Selangor FA player Safiq Rahim danced "Gangnam Style" to celebrate his side's first goal during their 3–1 win over Johor FC in the 2012 Malaysia Cup. On October 3, Vancouver Whitecaps player Camilo Sanvezzo celebrated scoring the third goal in a 4–0 thrashing of Chivas USA by dancing "Gangnam Style". On October 7, Kei Kamara and C.J. Sapong of Sporting Kansas City danced "Gangnam Style" to celebrate Sapong's goal in their 1–1 draw with Columbus Crew. On October 16, the Bolivian footballer Carlos Saucedo danced the "Gangnam Style" after he scored three goals during the match between Bolivia vs. Uruguay. Bolivia won 4–1. This match was also, the debut of Saucedo in the Bolivia national football team.