http://www.news.com.au/technology/annoying-orange-a-certified-youtube-citrus-smash-for-dane-boedigheimer/story-e6frfro0-1225858639419

Annoying Orange a certified YouTube citrus smash for Dane Boedigheimer

* By staff writers
* From: news.com.au
* April 27, 2010 9:05AM


The Annoying Orange - getting under skins at a video-sharing site near you / YouTube

YOUTUBE'S rudest fruit is quickly turning insults into gold for the creator of Annoying Orange.

In six short months, Annoying Orange has become a pop-culture hero for kids who can't get enough of the sarcastic citrus and his constant baiting of any fellow fruits facing the chopping block.

At last count, the series has been viewed some 108 million times on YouTube.

It now has a dedicated YouTube channel collecting ad revenue and helping sell T-shirts, although its creator, North Dakota native Dane Boedigheimer, won't discuss how much thye franchise is worth just yet.

Suffice to say, it's enough for the Annoying Orange to attract the services of his own agent, although that may be as much for security purposes as promotion.

Because part - a large part - of Annoying Orange's "charm" is the fact that it's one of those things that only kids will find funny.

"It's third-grade humour," Los Angeles writer Ned Hepburn told the Wall Street Journal.

Mr Hepburn said of all the web videos he's watched, the Annoying Orange series is "one of the few that I had a physically bad reaction to. It was horrible."

So adults - in numbers approaching millions if the hostile comments on the videos are anything to go by - don't like it.

"Why doesn't he ever die?" one pleads.

"I have lost faith in humanity," writes another, on Toe-May-Toe in which Annoying Orange constantly baits a tomato by calling him "Apple".

Result? Instant marketing gold, according to Mr Boedigheimer's manager.

"When Dane puts up a (YouTube) show on Friday, by Monday it has a million-and-a-half views," Dan Weinstein told the Wall Street Journal.

"Any cable network would take those numbers."