Smosh

Submission 42,094

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About

Smosh is a comedy duo formed by Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla in 2003. The group grew in popularity after joining YouTube in 2005, where they posted parody music videos. Many of their videos include pop culture and video game references and sketch parodies of such games as Pokémon, Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda and more.

Online History

Smosh.com was started by Anthony Padilla in 2002. Acting as a type of proto-YouTube, the site hosted flash animations and other comedy videos by Padila and TomSka, another future YouTube.^[2]

On November 19th, 2005, Smosh uploaded a music video of the Power Rangers theme song to YouTube.^[1] The video (shown below) received more than 10.5 million views in 12 years.

Three years later, on May 3rd, 2008, Smosh released a video called "Beef 'n Go."^[3] The video is a parody infomercial for a squeezable ground beef tube. The post (shown below, left) received more than 102 million views in 10 years. The video is the most watched Smosh video on YouTube

On September 4th, 2009, Smosh released the first in their "If [Blank] Were Real" series, "If Movies Were Real." The video features a series of short scenes in which the team acts out scenerios of what it would be like if fictional movies happened in real life. The video (shown below, right) received more than 31 million views.^[4]

On October 26th, 2012, the team released a music video called "Ultimate Assassin's Creed 3 Song." The video (shown below) received more than 86 million views in five years.^[5]

Anthony Leaves Smosh

On June 14th, 2017, Smosh released a video entitled "Anthony is Leaving Smosh."^[7] In the video, Padilla explains why he is leaving the channel. The video (shown below, left) received more than 6.3 million views.

That day, Padilla posted a video called "Why I Left Smosh" on his own channel. The post (shown below, right) received more than 11.5 million views in one year.

Defy Media Shutdown

On November 6th, 2018, Defy Media, the media company that owns Smosh, announced that it would be shutting down operations^[8]. The company produced more than 75 YouTube-based series.^[10] In a statement, the company wrote:

"Regretfully, Defy Media has ceased operations today. We are extremely proud of what we accomplished here at Defy and in particular want to thank all the employees who worked here. We deeply regret the impact that this has had on them today… Unfortunately, market conditions got in the way of us completing our mission.”

In a tweet,^[9] Ian Hecox wrote, "As some of you have heard already, our parent company Defy Media is closing its doors. This doesn't mean Smosh is going away. We're already in the process of finding a new home." Within three days, the tweet received more than 2,100 retweets and 23,000 likes (shown below).

Criticism

On July 22nd, 2015, Smosh: The Movie premiered in Los Angeles. Following the premiere, the film was made available online. The New York Times^[6] wrote of the film:

"You could analyze the narrative arc of the story -- Mr. Hecox and Mr. Padilla start out playing the losers they might have been if not for the miraculous intervention of YouTube in their real lives, and end up playing comic versions of the YouTube stars they’ve become -- but the real enjoyment comes from the same sources as in the videos. There’s a lot of physical comedy involving violent falls and hot or cold liquids, there’s a running sex joke about massage videos and there are the self-mocking jabs at YouTube, organized in a plot that pays homage to “Back to the Future” and “Tron.” Is it worth your $9.99? Maybe not, but if you can buy it on your parents’ credit card, you’ll probably enjoy it."