YouTube adds vuvuzela button to Obama, Cameron clips
By IANSSunday, June 27, 2010
LONDON - Popular video-sharing website YouTube has now added a button that plays the high-decibel buzzing sound of a vuvuzela along with video clips featuring US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
The button appears in the shape of a football on the bottom right hand corner. It allows fans of the “controversial” African plastic trumpet to overlay its sound on clips of political events as well as music videos, often to hilarious effect, the Telegraph reported.
Among many clips which feature the new button is one of David Cameron’s speech on being elected as the British prime minister, a fist fight in the Nigerian parliament following the suspension of 11 legislators and US President Barack Obama’s duel with a fly during a broadcast interview with MSNBC.
However, technology bloggers have given negative reactions to the website’s move, which, they say, virtually drowns out the clips’ original soundtracks.
“YouTube always has had a way with pranks,” Jason Kincaid wrote in Tech Crunch. “Clicking it will activate an endless, incredibly annoying sound that sounds vaguely like a swarm of insects.”
“As if we haven’t been hearing the buzzing sound of vuvuzelas enough in the last couple of days,” Stan Schroeder wrote on social media blog Mashable.
