"Hot Hot Hot" is the informal title of a promotional video about

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

that became an

internet phenomenon An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...

in late 2005.

Background

In 2004 a committee for the Appalachian Family Caravan tour created a promotional video shown throughout the region by Chancellor Kenneth E. Peacock. The tour began September 27, 2004 and included areas where Appalachian State has a strong alumni base. The tour planned to make stops in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

and

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

. Peacock described the video's role in promotion: :It was used primarily for the ppalachian/nowiki> Caravan, taking it out with us on the road show and show that Appalachian is a great institution and it's hot in many ways, and that was part of the whole show. So in order to understand fully that video, you almost had to be at one of those Caravan events. I would ask the audience to say, 'You know why this is the case? It's because Appalachian, my friends, is …' and they would respond, 'Hot.' I think they took it off the Web site because, without it being a Caravan event, it's confusing. People don't really understand what the message is with the song. It was all done in fun, to go and energize our alumni and say here are some things that are happening on campus, holding up the highlights of faculty, programs, accomplishments of students, and say 'You know why this is possible? It's because Appalachian is hot.' It builds all around that whole theme

The video

The two-minute-and-17-second slide show of images around campus included an original song with lyrics such as these from the chorus:

Hot hot hot, Hot hot hot. Appalachian is hot hot hot! Come and let us show you what we've got. Come and let us show you why we're hot hot hot!

The response

The extensive use of

puffery In everyday language, puffery refers to exaggerated or false praise. Puffery serves to "puff up" what is being described. In law, puffery is usually invoked as a defense argument: it identifies futile speech, typically of a seller, which does n ...

and the

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...

juxtaposition of music and

PowerPoint Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program, created by Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin at a software company named Forethought, Inc. It was released on April 20, 1987, initially for Macintosh computers only. Microsoft acquired PowerPoi ...

style still imagery claiming that the school is "hot hot hot" inadvertently play into the

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

that people from

Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...

are unsophisticated and out of touch. A December 2004 Faculty meeting noted: "Concern has been expressed about the style/public image implied by the 'Faculty Caravan' video on ASU's webpage that goes with the song 'Hot Hot Hot.'" The video began circulating widely in 2005. For many viewers, the video provided a first impression of Appalachian State University. The video was featured on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

's ''

Web Junk 20 ''Web Junk 20'' is an American television program in which VH1 and iFilm collaborate to highlight the twenty funniest and most interesting clips collected from the Internet that week. The show was last hosted by comedian Aries Spears. Patrice O ...

'' program in early 2006, where it was named to the No. 5 spot on the top 20 countdown of stupidest or funny Internet videos. A January 26 editorial in the Appalachian State student newspaper criticized the video, calling it "so ridiculously tacky one cannot help but laugh when watching it," adding, "The jingle is horrible, the lyrics are absurd and the pictures make Appalachian seem like an institution stuck in the 1970s." The video was not an official project and in the wake of the response is no longer used by the University. Lorin Baumhover, Chief of Staff for the Office of the Chancellor at Appalachian State, told

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, "It's horrible," claiming the video was an inside joke for alumni. "I wish someone could put a stake through it," he said. The video had somewhat of a resurrection on the Internet after it was revealed that Miss Teen South Carolina

Caitlin Upton Caitlin Upton or Caite Upton (born Lauren Caitlin Upton on born March 27, 1989 in Lexington, South Carolina) is an American fashion model and beauty queen. Career 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant Upton became Miss South Carolina Teen USA for 2007 in ...

planned to attend Appalachian State. She achieved dubious Internet fame herself for providing a rambling answer on August 24, 2007, to a

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant formerly run, since 1983, by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19. Unlike its sister pageants Miss Universe, which currently broadcasts on Fox and Miss USA, this pageant is webcast on the Mis ...

pageant question about why Americans cannot locate the U.S. on a world map. Two weeks later, the video achieved wide circulation among sports fans following the widely covered

2007 Appalachian State vs. Michigan football game The 2007 Appalachian State vs. Michigan football game was a regular season college football game between the Appalachian State Mountaineers and Michigan Wolverines. It was held at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor on September 1, 2007, and was the ...

Notes

References

*Motsinger, Carol (October 20, 2007)
ASU alumni video now a YouTube hit
''The Asheville Citizen-Times''

(December 6, 2004) *Bseiso, Dana (February 8, 2005)
University puts focus on losing old image
''The Daily Tar Heel'' *Boulmay, Justin (April 19, 2005)

''The Appalachian'' *Bois, Jon (December 6, 2005

via ProgressiveBoink *Morris, Mallori (January 26, 2006)
Hot Hot Hot: ASU Caravan video goes up in smoke
''The Appalachian''
VH1 Web Junk 20 Episode 2 (featured Hot Hot Hot)
*{{youtube, pVENWl8uBeg Appalachian State University Internet memes