The Day Smosh Died

On February 14, 2005, YouTube was launched by founders Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim. The idea of YouTube was at first to be a video version of an online dating service. That original concept didn't work as they had in mind, so the team ended up making YouTube for any type of videos. The very first video on the platform was released by Jawed Karim and was titled Me at the Zoo. That's how YouTube as we know it started.

It's no secret that YouTube has gained massive success overtime, but there are creators on the platform that have been around for 10, 11, even 15 years. Some names that may come to mind are Ryan Higa, iJustine, Freddie Wong and the massive name Smosh.

The brand known as Smosh was first formed when Anthony Padilla made a website under the name. On this website, Padilla uploaded his own Flash animations and chatted with his friends.

However, the Smosh that we know today first started when Anthony Padilla and his best friend Ian Hecox uploaded a video to Smosh.com of them lip syncing to the Power Rangers Theme Song. Their friends and small audience on the site enjoyed the video so they made more. But then an issue started when one of their videos gained popularity on MySpace. People started sharing the video which brought more attention to the videos on Smosh.com. The problem was that Anthony had to pay a small fine for the bandwidth, which meant every time the video was played he lost money. That got to a point where he was spending over $300 a month for people to watch his content. Luckily, this changed when Padilla looked up Smosh on Google and found that someone had re-uploaded his video to a website called YouTube. So, to avoid the constant fines from Smosh.com, Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox started a YouTube channel on November 19, 2005 called Smosh.

Overtime Smosh began to expand, evolve and continue to thrive on YouTube. They started doing the comedy sketches that brought them to where they are now. Their biggest classics are videos like That Damn Neighbor, the Food Battle series and Boxman. In 2010, Smosh launched a second channel which is now called Smosh Pit. In 2011, they got an insane boost in views after being acquired by Alloy Digital, which eventually became Defy Media. They started Shut Up Cartoons!, a gaming channel, they made multiple albums, the Smosh movie came out in 2015! Everything was magical for Ian and Anthony.

But for whatever reason, Smosh, as a whole, doesn't feel the same to me anymore. Everyone that has ever been part of their team is very successful and the brand continues to do amazing. But the content that Smosh releases doesn't have the original charm. The overall production has gotten amazing and I totally appreciate that. Although, the problem is that they are still on YouTube under the same name as what they were before. YouTube is a platform where anybody can do anything and have a chance at gaining an audience. When Ian and Anthony were the only faces of the brand, the charm that makes YouTube beautiful was there. You could make the argument that Smosh died on June 14, 2017 when Anthony Padilla officially left the Smosh channel for good. But I would disagree. Because although the original duo of Ian and Anthony were alive until then, the charm left long before. There isn't an exact date of Smosh's death, but the beautiful brand had a slow death from December 4, 2014 - June 27, 2015.

Over that time period, the channel brought in more and more cast members. And they definitely don't deserve any disrespect because they continued to make content and grow. Everyone that joined the team is really talented and brought more potential to Smosh. But the issue is that that caused Smosh to shift into a different brand and identity. The cast and production being increased was impressive but took away the beauty of what Smosh was. Smosh was no longer about these 2 guys that were best friends making content. Although the production was still there for years, it was all behind the scenes. Smosh was originally a duo between Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox, and introducing more people killed the charm it all had.

As mentioned, Anthony Padilla officially left Smosh in 2017. He said that he wanted more creative freedom on YouTube, and he wanted to be more independent. Obviously this was heartbreaking to the fans, but this is what he wanted and he deserves the world after being a massive part of YouTube history.

Since Anthony's departure, the other major hiccup of Smosh's career was the abrupt shutdown of Defy Media. Defy Media was a multi-channel-network that owned Smosh from 2011 until their fall in November of 2018. This left Smosh struggling for a few months. Anthony Padilla eventually stated that his biggest reasons for leaving Smosh were due to the lack of professionalism from Defy Media. But there was light at the end of the tunnel when Mythical Entertainment acquired Smosh in February of 2019. And ever since the team has been working on what they've been doing for many years.

Smosh will forever hold its place in the history of the internet. From the brilliance of the Smosh website in 2002 to the attention it brought to YouTube in 2005 and 2006 to becoming one of the biggest names in their industry, Smosh will forever hold its place.

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