Bizzare Facts

The internet's greatest bait-and-switch meme, **Rickrolling**, achieved its iconic status through a prank executed on the message board **4chan** in **2007**. The concept involved luring a victim to a seemingly relevant or important link that, upon clicking, would redirect them to the music video for **Rick Astley's** 1987 song, **'Never Gonna Give You Up.'**

One of the first successful applications of the meme involved a highly anticipated trailer for the video game *Grand Theft Auto IV*. Users posted a link claiming to be the trailer, but instead, it led to the unexpected, cheerful synth-pop of Astley. The unexpected nature of the 'bait-and-switch' caused the meme to explode across the web in 2008, cementing its place in internet history.

Rickrolling's success was rooted in its harmless surprise, making it an act of playful digital subversion rather than malice. It proved the power of online irony and established a global, shared joke that continues to resurface today, often at times when digital communication takes itself too seriously.