Viral Video of the Week: Clap Along with PONPONPON

This weeks viral video comes courtesy of our friends over at the Microsoft Zune Team. They’re the guys responsible for encoding all of the media that you can download and stream on your XBox through the Zune Marketplace. Amongst other things, the job entails watching hours of movies, TV shows and music videos looking for encoding errors. Every once in awhile between the Hannah Montana episodes dubbed into Italian and the newest Red Hot Chili Peppers video, a gem like this comes along.

The video is from high school fashion blogger turned pop star Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, and is an example of Japanese Harajuku style, emphasizing over-the-top, almost grotesque cuteness. But it goes all out with a set designed by 6%DOKIDOKI and some bizzare digital effects, making videos by American acts like Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj that have emulated Harajuku style seem dull by comparison.

In case you were wondering, Pon means “Clap” and the lyrics, which follow the same absurdist vein as the video, enthusiastically urge you to clap along.