Arab News Japan

Seven years after the release of the song “Baby Shark” by a South Korean entertainment company called Pinkfong, the song remains on a steady mission to dominate the planet through transforming its viral popularity into an interminably profitable franchise.

The popular song about a family of sharks, has been a rallying cry at Lebanese anti-government protests, played at the White House, acted out by fans during  the baseball World Series champions Washington Nationals and even has water fountains in Dubai that dance to its beat.

The latest feature of the song’s commercial viability is the live show “Baby Shark – Fin-tastic Adventure” that showcases a live 90 minute adaptation of  the two-minute music video, amongst other songs, activities and shows, which will be staged at the Theatre, Mall of The Emirates in Dubai, UAE, from July 7 to 17 in partnership with Art For All and EventBox. 

The Baby Shark – Fin-tastic Adventure experience will include a learning session where the audience can learn the “Baby Shark” song and dance. Visitors will also have the chance to meet Pinkfong and Baby Shark

Tickets to the live show can be purchased for AED150 and are available on multiple platforms that can be found on the Art For All website.

In an interview with Arab News Japan, the Pinkfong company explained the creation process and narrative behind Baby Shark, discussed the strategies behind the content’s success, and answered the question that must be imminently present in the back of most adult’s minds – why sharks?

The company first uploaded “Baby Shark” to its Pinkfong channel on YouTube in November 2015, then replaced the traditional singalong video the next year with the current one, which features upbeat rhythms, a pop-like melody with children singing and acting out dance moves.

It circulated rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another and became considered a “cultural phenomenon” with the video amassing 10 billion views on YouTube in January 2022, making it the most-viewed YouTube video in history since November 2020. The successful sequence also enabled ​​Pinkfong’s YouTube channel to accumulate 50 million subscribers and earn a Custom Creator Award by YouTube.

Pinkfong’s YouTube channel’s Custom Creator Award by YouTube. (Supplied)

The decision to use a shark as the main character in the song stemmed from research and experience that allowed them to learn that “children prefer strong, ferocious animals. That’s when we started making content starring top predators such as sharks, lions, and T-Rex,” the company said. 

Producing content for children that contains positive messages resonates with the Pinkfong Company’s mission, which is to “to connect people around the world through enjoyable content.”

“Believing in the power of content, we are trying to make the world a better place through our joyful content that shares social values while putting smiles on people’s faces,” the Pinkfong Company said. 

“The lyrics of the Baby Shark songs are more likely to associate with universal values such as family rather than reflecting the social condition or situations in South Korea. By adding universal values to the lyrics, we’ve tried to make the song relatable to audiences regardless of their background and ages,” the Pinkfong Company added. 

This is seen throughout the song, which in addition to being an upbeat earworm beginning with  “Baby shark, doo doo doo doo doo doo” it powerfully illustrates specific aspects of the life progression of the shark in its natural habitat, while simultaneously including a human connection through the representation of the shark family as one that has relatives, which makes it easy to imagine the animal within a social or cultural setting.

“The content’s success was highly attributed to the content itself as well as the teams who tracked consumer reactions and responded quickly and strategically,” the Pinkfong Company said.

The content choice often includes energetic vibes, colorful animation and children performers, all of which make for amusing videos for simple songs that are enjoyable and easily understood or performed by both children and adults. The mentioned aspects, in addition to the company’s clever  promotion strategies have played a key role in their success.

In order to reach wider audiences across the globe, the company started to deliver their content to audiences through YouTube, where it is available for free and through applications, which are available at a cost. 

In 2017, the hash tagged baby shark challenge (#BabySharkChallenge) witnessed increased views on the platform as fans across the world began to take part in the challenge by demonstrating the song’s cover dance, which became an internet viral phenomenon. The company then took advantage of the increased viewership through collaborating with celebrities such as Luis Fonsi to create “Baby Shark” videos for fans, encouraging viewers to share their own cover videos to Pinkfong Baby Shark on social media.

“Since the popularity of “Baby Shark” exploded, we tried to offer our fans vibrant experiences and fresh ways to enjoy our beloved IP; TV series, live shows, games, consumer products and even NFTs. We’ve teamed up with A-list celebrities like Luis Fonsi, global consumer brands like Johnson & Johnson,Crocs, Unilever, Dove, Kelloggs and streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Roku TV, Astro,” the Pinkfong Company said.

To further capitalize on the success achieved, the company has unveiled plans to expand beyond the catchy tune and into a global entertainment company through the expansion of content genres, original content, and global businesses. 

“As part of our plans to enhance original content, we introduced Bebefinn, the brand-new 3D animated sing-along series featuring the adventures of the three lovable babies and their parents. Bebefinn is already a breakout, marking strong growth in its viewership; Within the three weeks of its launch, the Bebefinn YouTube channel earned a Silver Creator Award from YouTube by hitting 100,000 subscribers, while its videos amassed 25 million cumulative views. In addition to the launch of Bebefinn, we will expand into digital comics for the first time with a fantasy teenage romance series called Moon Shark,” the Pinkfong Company said.

The expansion plans also include a partnership with Nickelodeon to create a spinoff animated television series, global merchandise licensing program, live tours throughout the world, interactive games, NFTs and more.

The animated children’s TV series “Baby Shark’s Big Show” based on the “Baby Shark” brand from the South Korean company Pinkfong. (Supplied)

The Pinkfong company said that the second season of the global hit animated preschool series co-produced with Nickelodeon Animation “Baby Shark’s Big Show!” which immediately became one of the most popular preschool shows in the US, has been greenlit for release and that they are currently in the works to release a sequel of Pinkfong and Baby Shark’s Space Adventure, the sing-along special that ranked in ‘Today’s Top 10 Movies’ list on Netflix across 18 countries.