About
Drunk Jeff Goldblum is a series of commercial parody videos starring American actor Jeff Goldblum in which the audio track is slowed down to make his speech sound slurred. The most notable instances of the series are based on Apple’s TV commercials voiced by Goldblum and released in 1999.
Origin
The earliest known slowed-down video featuring Jeff Goldblum was based on a 1999 TV commercial for Apple and uploaded by YouTuber notatypewriter on July 30th, 2007. Since its upload, the video has gained at least 1.4 million views over the span of five years.
Spread
On September 16th, 2007, a link to YouTuber notatypewriter’s video was submitted by NeoGAF Forum member OmgRite in a discussion thread titled “Drunk Jeff Goldblum + Apple computer.”[1] However, the parody video remained largely unexposed until it was picked up by various pop culture news sites and internet humor blogs in early April 2008, from The Huffington Post[5] and BuzzFeed[10] to Milk and Cookies[2], Videogum[11] and eBaumsworld.[9] Throughout the summer of 2008, a handful of other time-stretched parodies of Apple’s TV commercials starring Jeff Goldblum surfaced on YouTube, including major contributions from YouTuber DrunkYT.[13]
Notable Derivatives
By 2009, the concept had been applied to other well-known footage of Jeff Goldblum as seen in television and films, such as scenes from the 1993 American sci-fi film Jurassic Park and his guest appearance on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. In addition, there are a number of similar parodies featuring the voices of other celebrities and Apple commercial models.
Paypal Ad Parody
On October 16th, 2012, the meme returned to spotlight with YouTuber Kyle J. Britt’s slowed-down parody of a Paypal advertisement starring Jeff Goldblum. In the following week, the latest update in the series was picked up by Jason Kottke[14], Gawker[15] and The Atlantic Wire[16] among others.
Search Interest
External References
[1] NeoGAF Forum – Drunk Jeff Goldblum + Apple computer
[2] Milk and Cookies – Apple Ad – Drunk Jeff Goldblum
[3] YouTube – Search results for Drunk Jeff Goldblum
[4] Videogum – The 8 Best “Drunk Jeff Goldblum” Videos
[5] The Huffington Post – Must See Video: Drunk Jeff Goldblum, Bloody Tennis Jerk, Tyra Downer, The Worst Of Leno, And More!
[6] Cult of Mac – Drunk Jeff Goldblum: Not a great Apple Pitchman
[7] The Portland Mercury – A Slow Jeff Goldblum is a Drunk Jeff Goldblum
[8] Trend Hunter – Incoherent Commercials
[9] eBaumsworld – Drunk Jeff Goldblum
[10] BuzzFeed – Drunk Jeff Goldblum
[11] Videogum – Please Let Jeff Goldblum Play A Drunk On Law And Order: Criminal Intent
[12] Gawker – ‘Drunk Jeff Goldblum’ is Back and Drunk-Buying Chairs and Jackets Through PayPal
[13] YouTube – DrunkYT’s Profile
[14] Jason Kottke – Drunk Jeff Goldblum
[15] The Atlantic Wire – We’ll Buy Anything From Drunk Jeff Goldblum
[16] Cult of Mac – Drunk Jeff Goldblum: Not a great Apple Pitchman