Rickrolling: The Internet’s Longest-Running Prank (2007)

In May 2007, a user on 4chan’s /v/ board posted what claimed to be a trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV. Clicking the link instead loaded the music video for Rick Astley’s 1987 hit “Never Gonna Give You Up.” The bait-and-switch was called “rickrolling,” and within months it had become a global internet prank.

Rick Astley himself performed the song during the 2008 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, surprise-rickrolling millions of live viewers. The YouTube video has been viewed over 1.5 billion times. Rickrolling is perhaps the most durable meme in internet history — a joke that has lasted nearly two decades because the punchline is always the same, and somehow always lands.