Over the last half-decade, we’ve fetishized and cannibalized all manner of accidental viral-video semi-stars via endless e-mail forwards, copycat versions and cable-countdown fodder like VH1’s 40 Greatest Internet Superstars. The primary beneficiaries (or victims) of our fleeting, prankster-voyeuristic obsession have included the “Numa Numa Kid,” the “Star Wars Kid,” and just about any snippet that features a hapless, overweight teenager inadvertently caught in a moment of impromptu private indulgence.

But let’s not overlook that YouTube, College Humor and other depots of self-generated content have—much like MySpace’s relationship with the music world—offered a red-tape-free environment where one can find an occasional gem. And while such clips occasionally feature their creative braintrust as on-camera talent, there’s a thick line in intent between Noah Kalina’s eerily scored, cannily-edited self-portrait project called “everyday,” and an America’s Funniest Home Videos-style happenstance in which a dog pisses on its owner’s crème brulee.

Unfortunately, with a few worthy exceptions, the true viral visionaries are generally deprived the kind of face time that, say, the John Kerry taser-guy received. And if anything, they often suffer the consequence of having their concept thanklessly re-packaged.

“It’s the evolution of inspiration. You see something and you like it. But it’s annoying when so-called creative agencies... sit around browsing YouTube looking for concepts that have been proven successful and then they just lift it and put in whatever brand they want to,” admits Kalina, who also offers: “‘Everyday’ has certainly helped me in the sense that it’s put a lot of attention on me and people know my name and have seen my work.”

Sam Reich, Director of Original Content at CollegeHumor.com and Executive Producer/ Director of MTV’s "The CollegeHumor Show", concurs that the tradeoff is probably worth it in the end, because otherwise, “you would probably find [videos like Kalina’s] at talent shows and in art galleries.” He adds that such success stories epitomize “the magic of the Internet. It makes the whole world an audience for what's essentially a quirky variety show.”

So whatever did happen to that guy responsible for the iPod Touch ad? Or the Dramatic Chipmunk craze? Here are five of the more visionary, or just plain unique, viral sensations that infected us—and how they either changed, or made minimally discernable impact, on their creators’ careers.

The Video: "Everyday"
The Mastermind: Noah Kalina
Life Before Viral Success: Kalina had been finding steady work as a photographer for various publications, and snapping countless interiors of restaurants and bars for websites like AOL City Guide.
Where’s Noah Now? While he hasn’t been plucked out of semi-obscurity to edit the next Scorsese picture, Kalina has gotten enough mileage from the “Everyday” exposure to establish a comfortable career shooting for magazines such as Seed and snapping press photos for punk icons like Bob Mould. And as for where to place the credit—nearly 12 million YouTube hits or several years building his portfolio—he suggests that, “It’s one of those things: If I were to take it away, who knows where I’d be. Maybe I’d be in a better place.”

The Video: "My Whole Family"
The Mastermind: Bo Burnham
Life Before Viral Success: As indicated in this 2006, DIY clip, the then-16-year-old musically comedic hopeful (think a cross between Allan Sherman and Demetri Martin) was more or less stumbling out of bed and posting videos of himself performing songs that could only have been crafted with his mother safely out of the house running errands.
Where’s Bo Now? Maybe the ultimate YouTube disciple, due to his utilization of the site strategic for self-marketing and dumb-luck attention-swarm, Burnham has flipped his inspired—if a bit juvenile—brainstorms into genuine near-fame. Comedy Central released his EP, Bo Fo Sho, in 2008, and is following it up with a full-length this March that will coincide with the network’s airing of his stand-up special. And he signed a deal with Universal Pictures to work on a Judd Apatow-produced flick. Seems like you’ve got an even better shot at breaking through in comedy via that guy’s talent factory, than by YouTube itself.

The Video: "iPod Touch Ad"
The Mastermind: Nick Haley
Life Before Viral Success: Like the Shawn Fanning of the viral era, Haley was merely a student (and only 18 at that!) in the U.K. when he decided to take advantage of YouTube’s then-loosey-goosey copyright oversights. The audacious audio/video manipulator lifted advertising footage of the iPod Touch from Apple’s website and re-worked it to the soundtrack of Brazilian indie group CSS’ “Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex.”
Where’s Nick Now? He’s a hard man to pin down, but one has to guess that Haley’s been resuming his studies with a whole new influx of savings that will afford him some enticing entrepreneurial options upon graduation, if Apple doesn’t snatch him up first. The monolithic computer-hardware giant not only bypassed wholly justified legal action against the kid, but rewarded Haley by selling his concept to an ad agency and airing his revamped version of their idea during the 2007 World Series. What a world.

The Video: "Here It Goes Again"
The Masterminds: OK Go
Life Before Viral Success: The Chicago power-poppers had a modest radio hit in 2002 with the catchy “Get Over It.” But like so many bands that fall gracelessly in between Weezer and Fountains of Wayne, they found themselves back in the salt mines of fledgling mid-range success. Where Are OK Go Now: Let’s see: Their choreographed treadmill rockout not only garnered an astonishing number of YouTube views (over 43 million, or about four times as many as Kalina’s “Everyday”), but launched 2005’s Oh No out of its sophomore-slump stasis; they became a hugely popular touring attraction; were asked to perform on awards shows; and are in the studio working with acclaimed Flaming Lips/MGMT producer Dave Friddman on a new LP. Not bad for a bunch of guys that seemed destined for modern rock’s buzz-bin graveyard.

The Video: "Dramatic Chipmunk"
The Mastermind: YouTube poster “cregets”
Life Before Viral Success: More or less posting traction-less videos like a building implosion in Vegas, before exploding with the revelation that out-of-context snippets from bizarre Japanese variety shows are funnnnny.
Where is cregets now? “Dramatic Chipmunk” inspired legions of copycats and remixes, like the nearly-as-popular James Bond-theme twist. It even got spun off into Hot Topic T-shirts, which have now been drastically reduced in price to a paltry $8.98. So OK, maybe he’s not doing so well after all.

~Kenny Herzog