UW students go viral with a series of videos on a guy with a really big cowboy hat | Education

Who is Doug Dimmadome, you ask? He is a little character from the children's cartoon Fairly OddParents who has a white cowboy hat that sometimes stretches out of sight and probably hits the limits of the known universe. And last week, he was imitated by a student from the University of Wyoming whose exploits with his towering hat were viewed nearly 30 million times on the TikTok video app.

In the first video, UW student Josh Farrell roams the streets of Laramie in Dimmadome attire: white shirt, white pants, fake white mustache, golden belt buckle and golden cuffs. And, of course, a 6-foot-high white hat (made of a billboard and a bicycle helmet). Farrell / Dimmadome takes the hat from Burger King, where he places the usual gold crown on the hat that stretches to the ceiling. In the background of the video, a remixed version of Dimmadome expressed in the cartoon, a jingle so catchy that it will end up haunting each of your waking moments.

The idea of ​​breaking the laws of physics came to Jarod Alles while he was lying in his bed. He, Josh and Hayden Jensen had TikTok's previous solid success with a series of videos showing them building a cardboard fort. They hoped to capitalize on this success.

Jarod wanted to do something with a giant hat. Hayden linked this to Dimmadome, who was already a level B Internet joke. Hayden and Jarod are major accountants, while Farrell plans to heal.

The four videos of Dimmadome's friends are similar but push the limits of what is possible and therefore require their own detailed descriptions.

After the first video, which exploded and has nearly 10 million views in a week, the boys decided to enlarge the hat and make the decor more absurd. The new hat was over 11 feet tall. After transporting him out of a sunroof, Doug went to the university library, where he worked quietly and grabbed a pile of books. In an outing, his hat crashes into a light on the ceiling.

When we hit the first million, we just went crazy, said Jarod. Watching all the people like that and following our account was crazy.

In the third video, the hat measures 15 feet tall, which probably qualifies it as one of the tallest structures in Wyoming. Its so high that the summit is not visible in much of the video, and we can only assume its ascent above this terrestrial plain. In the video, which has more than 6 million views on Monday, Doug roams the campus. It does not go unnoticed.

In an outing, someone shouts What is the f- on their head? Doug doesn't break the stride, his top hat energy too strong, and he responds with a wave of a finger.

It was a little crazy, said Jarod. When we got the hat out and around, we met people and they are all very excited to see it. It's just sort of a sight to see around Laramie now.

Doug plays table tennis and wins (he is secretly on his knees because the hats are too big). In a head-to-head basketball game, he blocks a shot with the hat and flexes. In a gesture of pure bravery, he climbs a rock wall.

The latest video was released late last week, in which one of the students hands Doug a very official letter that is an invitation to the world record for ceremoney (sic). The hat is so big now 19 feet! that the boys are carrying him on a truck, with one of them hanging on the bed. Doug is agitated across the campus by a man brandishing the flashlights normally reserved for aircraft management. In the UW indoor training center, which is literally the only building in which the hat can fit, Doug receives a somewhat sketchy prize for hat # 1.

The boys said they had contacted the Guinness Book of Records to obtain the world record for the biggest hat. But it takes 12 weeks for the group to respond, with another 12 weeks to verify. They use crowdfunding to speed up the process.

A message from the Star-Tribune to the bizarre world record keepers has not been returned. When asked about the video, UW spokesman Chad Baldwin said last week that he did not know her.

I did not find anyone at the library who met this guy, he said on Monday. But I am trying to do it.

Trevor Johnson, a UW sophomore who was working out at the gym when Doug entered, said he thought it was really cool.

It just puts UW on the map, which I haven't seen in popular media recently, he said.

Baldwin and the three brains of TikTok said they were in talks to take over a UW Instagram account for a day.

What's next for Doug? How far can a hat go before nature shoots it down? Is this a modern tower of Babel, a display of pride so great that it exasperates the heavens?

Luckily perhaps for the boys, the man turned out not to be ready for a hat of such magnitude.

We know people want us to keep going and it's fun to keep going, but there aren't really any buildings we can get into, said Hayden.

It got heavier as it got bigger, he said.

The creators known as ImpulseLifestyle online are looking to capitalize on their success. They have been approached by several companies seeking to associate on YouTube content. They accepted a sponsorship agreement with the What Do You Meme?

There may be some additional Doug videos. The boys all watched quite a few bizarre parents grow up. Doug is sometimes a villain, sometimes an ally of the main character Timmy Turner. But even when he's an enemy, Doug still has a soft side.

(Timmy) taught me that the greatest love is in me, says Doug at the end of an episode, after he ordered that Timmy be kicked out of one of his many companies. Tears ran down his face. The cowboy hat at the top of his head is of normal size.