Reloading Everyday Objects Like Video Game Weapons

Submission 48,285

About

Reloading Everyday Objects Like Video Game Weapons or Reloading Random Things refers to a series of videos filmed from the first-person perspective mimicking FPS video games where the person behind the camera "reloads" an everyday object like it's a gun. A precursor trend where toilet paper is replaced as if being reloaded began in 2009. In February 2021, a video of a man loading a toaster and other objects like a gun went viral on YouTube, inspiring videos doing the same thing throughout the year, going particularly viral on TikTok in December.

Origin

Tactical Reload Toilet Paper

On September 13th, 2009, YouTuber aliennick4812 posted a video where he replaces an empty toilet paper roll, adding reloading gun sound effects, gaining over 146,000 views in 12 years (shown below, left). On August 16th, 2012, YouTuber William76239 posted a similar video titled "Tactical Reload" where he replaces a toilet paper roll in a specific, quick way, gaining over 183,000 views in nine years (shown below, right).

Videos like this increased over the following years, showing people reloading their toilet roll holders as if they're weapons. On October 10th, 2020, YouTuber^[10] Mayoral posted a compilation of these videos taken from a playlist^[11] with over 50 tactical reload toilet paper videos, gaining over 7.5 million views in a year (shown below).

[This video has been removed]

Reloading Random Objects

It is unknown when the first video reloading a random object like an FPS weapon was uploaded, but they started gaining significant attention in the late 2010s. On November 19th, 2020, YouTuber^[12] Schrödinger posted a video reloading a glue cun like a video game weapon, gaining over 6 million views in a year (shown below, left). On February 22nd, 2021, he posted a video to YouTube^[1] titled "Toaster Garand Reload & Tactically Reloading random Objects around the House" filmed from a first-person POV where he does an impression of a reload animation one might see in an FPS video game using a toaster instead of a gun (shown below, right). He also reloads a number of other objects, including an Xbox controller (putting batteries in it) and a cordless drill. The video gained over 3.1 million views in 10 months.

Spread

Schrödinger's video inspired other videos doing the same thing with different objects. For example, on March 9th, 2021, YouTuber^[3] Logan 398 posted a video titled "Reloading Random Objects" where he reloads a clarinet, coffee maker, eraser and more, gaining over 413,000 views in nine months (shown below).

Kommander Karl

On September 5th, 2021, TikToker^[4]^[5] Kommander Karl posted a video where he reloads a cordless drill like an FPS gun (shown below, left). The video gained over 254,000 views in three months. He uploaded part two on September 9th, which went viral, gaining over 6.6 million views in a comparable span of time (shown below, right).

Kommander Karl continued to upload reloading videos over the following months, consistently becoming his most popular uploads. On September 24th he uploaded a video to TikTok^[6] reloading a children's toy, gaining over 25.7 million views in three months (shown below).

On December 7th, Polygon^[7] reported on Karl. On December 10th, Games Radar^[8] reported on him. On December 13th, Kommander Karl uploaded a "best of" compilation to TikTok^[9] in celebration of reaching 400,000 followers, gaining over 10 million views in two days (shown below). On December 14th, Kotaku^[2] published a piece on the trend, focusing on Kommander Karl's videos.