Rhett & Link
| Rhett and Link | |
|---|---|
 Rhett McLaughlin (left) and Link Neal | |
| Medium | Internet, Television, Film |
| Nationality | American |
| Years active | 2000-present |
| Genres | Musical comedy Interviews |
| Website | rhettandlink.com |
Rhett and Link are the comedy duo of Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal. They are famous for their music and comedy videos on the World Wide Web and refer to themselves as Internetainers[1][2]. Rhett and Link are also musicians, filmmakers, and TV hosts. They are originally from Buies Creek, North Carolina, and have been best friends since meeting in first grade.[3]
Internet
Rhett and Link’s online videos range from comical music videos to man-on-the-street interactions and comedy sketches. Their body of work includes over 200 videos [4] that have been seen over 30 million times. [5] They are among the top Youtube channels with over 100,000 subscribers[6].
Rhett and Link's music videos, such as the Facebook Song, the Fast Food Folk Song, the American Idol Song, and the S.E.T.I. Song have proven to be among their most popular videos.[7] Additionally, Rhett and Link have created a series of extremely popular free local commercials for businesses throughout the US. For their "I Love Local Commercials" web series, sponsored by Microbilt, they conceived and produced viral commercials like Red House Furniture with the controversial jingle "Where Black People and White People Buy Furniture". Other well-known commercials include ads for Cullman Liquidation Center and TDM Auto, featuring Rudy, the Cuban Gynecologist. The success of Rhett and Link's commercials have garnered the attention of major advertising publications such as Advertising Age[8] and AdWeek[9]. Their commercials have also been featured on CNN, NPR, The New York Times, Forbes, and TMZ[10].
In 2007, Rhett and Link began vlogging for NBC Universal’s comedy website, Dotcomedy.com. Their original web series is called Rhett&Link’s Melodelicious.[11]
Rhett and Link have a video podcast, the RhettandLinKast. In late 2007, the RhettandLinKast became a live weekly streaming web show, RhettandLinKast LIVE.
Music
Rhett and Link are known to perform live musical comedy concerts[citation needed] and have completed two albums. In 2001, Rhett and Link independently released Just Mail Us the Grammy, featuring the popular song "The Unibrow Song".[12] In 2005, Rhett and Link independently released I’m Sorry, What Was That? (Live in the Living Room), a live album featuring "The Wal-Mart Song". The album is available at the iTunes store. In April 2007, Rhett and Link placed 3rd in the TurboTax TaxRap Contest. Over 370 rap entries were judged by Vanilla Ice.[13] In 2008, Rhett and Link independently released Websongs Vol 1, an online album featuring "Facebook Song", "Cornhole Song" and "Velcro Song". [14] On February 1, 2009, Rhett and Link independently released "Secret Songs", a collection of songs that were previously only available to winners of their monthly "Community Building Exercises", a part of their "Quest for the Seven Keys" contest. [15]
Film
Rhett and Link’s first short film, "One Man’s Trash" won best North Carolina Comedy at the 2007 All-American Film Festival.[16] It was also an official selection at the Carrboro Film Festival[17], the Carolina Film and Video Festival[18], the Lake County Film Festival[19], and the Southern Fried Flicks Film Festival.[20]
In 2006, Rhett and Link began work on a documentary about their search for their first grade teacher, Ms. Locklear, entitled Looking for Ms. Locklear. The film released in 2008 and won the Southern Lens Award from South Carolina Public TV, which led to the film screening on PBS in South Carolina[21]. The film also won audience choice awards at the ACE Film Festival and the Secret City Film Festival, and won 2nd place documentary at the Secret City Film Festival. The documentary was an official selection at the Real to Reel Film Festival, the Landlocked Film Festival, the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, BendFilm Festival, Asheville Film Festival, and the Cucalorus Film Festival[22]. [3] The trailer can be seen at the film’s website. On September 9th, 2009 the duo released the movie on DVD, distributing it over the internet.
Television
Rhett and Link are among the first group of internet personalities to make a transition from the internet into network television.[23] Along with Stevie Ryan and Joy Leslie, Rhett and Link hosted the short-lived series Online Nation, a show that featured the best viral videos from the internet, part of the 2007 fall lineup on the CW Network.[24] The show premiered on September 23, 2007[25]. The premiere episode was seen by 1 million people[26], and the show was cancelled after only four episodes.[27] The show was the second cancellation of the 2007/2008 season. [26] Rhett and Link quickly responded with an internet video.
Rhett and Link have also contributed to Brink, hosted by Josh Zepps, on the Science Channel. They have performed songs such as "Space Junk," "Robot Girlfriend," and "The SETI Song," all of which were done in collaboration with Canadian comedian Billy Reid."
Advertising
Rhett and Link make a living through sponsorship of their web videos. [28] They have created web videos for Taco Bell, Alka-Seltzer, Food Network, Microbilt, Sanyo, Kotulas, TV Guide, Baby Ruth, Starburst, Hummer, and Cadillac, as well as integrating smaller brands such as Smule, AJJ Cornhole, and iRESQ.[29] They have partnered with General Motors, serving as web correspondents for IGotShotgun.com, one of GM's internet marketing strategies.[30]
They spent the summer of 2008 releasing videos for the Alka-Seltzer Great American Road Trip. [31]. The series won the Gold award in the Consumer Goods category at Advertising Age’s 2008 W3 Awards[32], as well as best online campaign at Adweek’s 2008 Buzz Awards. [33] The series also picked up two Golds (Best Campaign, Best Single) and a Craft award (Music) at the 2009 Bessies.[34] and received two golds in the interactive category for Viral Marketing and Business to Consumer website at the 2009 Advertising & Design Club of Canada Awards.[35]
Early years
Rhett and Link met on the first day of first grade in Buies Creek Elementary School, after their teacher Ms. Locklear made them stay inside during recess for writing profanity on their desks. They became best friends after they were forced to be quiet and color pictures of Unicorns.[36] At age twelve, they wrote a screenplay entitled "Gutless Wonders". In high school, Rhett was on the basketball team, while Link competed in multiple science competitions. Later, they were roommates at North Carolina State University where they studied engineering. [3][37][38]
For several years after attending NC State, Rhett and Link were emcees for various Christian colleges and youth events.[39]
References
- ^ RhettandLink.com About, 2009
- ^ MicroExplosion Media, 2009
- ^ a b c Fayetteville Observer, 2007
- ^ Youtube, 2009
- ^ TubeMogul Profile, 2009
- ^ Youtube, 2009
- ^ Youtube, 2009
- ^ AdAge.com, 2009
- ^ AdWeek.com, 2009
- ^ EarthTimes.com, 2009
- ^ NewTeeVee 2007
- ^ RhettandLink.com: About
- ^ Press Release, PRWEb, April 2007
- ^ RhettandLink.com: About
- ^ Rhett&Link: Blog
- ^ AA Film Fest
- ^ Carrboro Film Festival
- ^ Carolina Film and Video Festival
- ^ Lake County Film Festival
- ^ Southern Fried Flicks Film Festival
- ^ KnoxvilleFilms.com 2008
- ^ LocklearMovie.com
- ^ LA Times, 2007
- ^ Enquirer Wire Reports, 2007
- ^ TV Week, 2007
- ^ a b The Futon Critic Staff (2007-10-17). "The CW's 'Online Nation' First To Get The Axe". Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ TV Week, 2007
- ^ http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=405819 IndyWeek, 2009
- ^ Biography, 2009
- ^ http://rhettandlink.com/about Biography, 2008
- ^ http://www.speedysroadtrip.com Speedy's Road Trip, 2008
- ^ W3 Awards, 2008
- ^ http://www.adweekbuzz.com/ Adweek Buzz, 2008
- ^ http://www.thebessies.ca/2008/winners.html Bessies, 2008
- ^ http://www.theadcc.ca ADCC, 2009
- ^ http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/sot0609abc09.mp3/view
- ^ Rhett&Link: An Introduction
- ^ ESPYs Red Carpet PART 2
- ^ [1]