Monki Flip

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Part of a series on Bait-and-switch Media. [View Related Entries]

About

Monki Flip refers to a viral video of a bonobo ape performing a backflip, set to the song "Highlander (The One)" by Lost Horizon and captioned "monki flip." Originating from a viral Instagram post, the video gained significant popularity as a bait-and-switch meme in mid-August 2020.

Origin

On April 16th, 2018, YouTube^[1] channel SloggerVlogger posted a video of a bonobo ape doing backflips (shown below). As of August 16th, 2018, the video accumulated over 15,200 views.

On August 12th, 2020, Instagram^[2] user yodaposting posted a Virgin, Angel, Experienced, Devil meme which cut off into a bait-and-switch ending based on the clip of the bonobo, paired with the vocalized section of the song "Highlander (The One)" by Lost Horizon and captioned "monki flip." The video received over 38,100 views and 10,300 likes in two weeks (reupload shown below).

Spread

The video achieved viral spread when on August 13th, 2020, iFunny user Pidgeot posted both the original video^[3] and the clip of the bonobo doing the backflip^[4] to the app. The videos received over 23,900 smiles and 2,300 smiles in two weeks, respectively.

Starting on August 13th, the video gained significant popularity as a bait-and-switch meme, particularly among in the Spanish-speaking meme communities. For example, on that day Instagram^[6] user suazo._.poto.posting posted a meme that received over 430 likes (shown below, left). On August 16th, Instagram^[7] user peruano_facha_ posted a Minecraft version of the meme that received over 170 likes and was widely circulated^[8] online in the following days (shown below, right).

On August 20th, street artist Lushsux posted the clip to Instagram, with the post gaining over 23,400 likes and 120,000 views in four days.