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Édgar's Fall (La Caída de Édgar) is a video that was uploaded to YouTube on May 9, 2006, from Mexico. This internet meme has been one of the most popular videos on YouTube, with over 80 million views as of November 2023.

History

The video clip features Mexican boys Édgar Martinez and Fernando, hiking in a ranch near their home town of Monterrey with their uncle, Raúl, who serves as the cameraman and tour companion. It starts with Édgar expressing fear on using a makeshift bridge made from two long branches that crosses a small stream when Fernando makes a joke about pushing Édgar off the bridge into the water. Fernando assures the still-hesitant Édgar that he wouldn't fall, which temporarily consoles the latter, who then commences the crossing. Once Édgar is at the middle of the bridge, Fernando starts moving one of the branches, causing the former to curse angrily in a Mexican norteño (more specifically, northeastern) accent, saying "¡Ya wey!, ¡pinche pendejo wey!, ¡ya!" After Édgar calls Fernando an "idiota" (idiot) while begging for him to stop, Fernando drops the branch and Édgar finally loses his balance, plunging into the stream. Édgar curses more intensively as he emerges from the water, while Fernando asks for forgiveness.^[1]

In a video uploaded in 2017 in his channel Edgar cleared up some misconceptions, including the fact that his name is actually Edgardo and that Fernando, the boy who threw him in the stream is actually a friend of his cousin and not a cousin of his.

Impact on Mexico's popular media

Édgar's fall was the subject of much media exposure in Mexico, including in newspapers and on the TV news.^[2]

There are ringtones, games, parodies, remixes and even a web page where Édgar is proposed for Mexico's presidency. There are over 20 versions of the video including Star Wars, Mario Brothers, Street Fighter, Counter Strike, Naruto, Mortal Kombat, Fall Guys and Pokémon. Some publicity campaigns have made use of the video without concern for copyright issues,^{[citation needed]} for example Nike's Joga Bonito campaign.

Édgar's Revenge

In 2007, Édgar, Fernando and Raúl were featured in a commercial called La Venganza de Édgar (Édgar's Revenge), which was made by a Mexican cookie company, Gamesa, as part of a series of commercials for the company's Emperador (Emperor) brand of cookies. The Emperador commercials showed people acting like they were a Roman Emperor, calling their guards to turn things in their favor.

The Edgar's Revenge commercial, which also became a viral video, re-enacts the situation seen in the original video, with the curse words Édgar uttering being beeped out. Instead of Édgar falling in the river, he screams "Guardias!" and suddenly Roman soldiers appear, to the shock of Fernando. Édgar orders the Roman guards to throw Fernando in the water by saying, "Al río, güey" and, despite Fernando's protests, they do so. At Édgar's command, Raúl is also thrown into the water.^[3] The video was made by Gamesa's ad agency in Mexico, Olabuenaga Chemistri, and was aired for a short time.

YouTube México

In 2007, YouTube launched the Mexican version of its website, with content oriented towards Mexicans. During the launch, Édgar was present with Coyoacán Joe where he filmed a welcome video for YouTube México.^[4]

Notes

^ Guillermina Ortiz C. (10 October 2007). "¿Qué es lo que suben los mexicanos a YouTube?". EL UNIVERSAL.com.mx (in Spanish). EL UNIVERSAL. Archived from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
^ Julio Hernández López (18 May 2006). "ASTILLERO". La Jornada. DEMOS, Desarrollo de Medios, S.A. de C.V.Todos los Derechos Reservados. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
^ goc/jcm (19 February 2007). "Edgar, del video de YouTube a un comercial de galletas". El UNIVERSAL. Retrieved 29 May 2012.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ Terra Actualidad – EFE (11 October 2007). "Youtube lanza versión de su portal exclusiva para México". Actualidad (in Spanish). Telefónica de España, S.A.U. Archived from the original on 8 April 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2012.