Description[]
The Distraction Dance, also known as You Have Been Distracted, is a dance featured in the 2015 Flash video game Fleeing The Complex. The meme was first shown when you are provided with a choice, and one of the choices is to cause a distraction. Doing this will cause everyone to start dancing infinitely, resulting in a "Fail". It has also been used as source material for memes, including bait-and-switch videos, as a part of the larger The Henry Stickmin Collection meme trend.
The Distraction Dance is later shown off numerous times as "Dance-Off." Choosing this option will cause Henry to attempt to do the default dance from Fortnite, resulting in him being shot.
The last time the dance appears in the option of "Diversion", it actually is the correct choice to make.
Origin[]
On November 12, 2015, developer Marcus Bromander, known in internet as Puffballs United, released the Flash video game Fleeing the Complex, the fifth game in the video game series The Henry Stickmin Collection, on the entertainment website Newgrounds. The game follows the story of the protagonist Henry Stickmin as he attempts to escape from The Wall, a prison complex located in Canada. In one scene of the game, Henry and another inmate Ellie attempt to get past two guards, with one of the options being to distract them with a dance. Upon choosing the option, Stickmin dances to the track "Dance Mr. Funnybones", with guards and Ellie joining in. The option results in a fail.
On August 7, 2020, the remastered The Henry Stickmin Collection was released for Steam, which significantly boosted the meme popularity of the game online. The collection included a new game "Completing the Mission", in which the Distraction dance appears again, with the scene also containing references to Emo Peter, the Dab and the Torture Dance. On August 8th, YouTube user ZT Spacer uploaded the scene to YouTube, where it received over 138,900 views in two weeks.
Web usage[]
Starting on August 9, 2020, the Distraction Dance has gained popularity as a subject of parodies; for example, on that day YouTube user J-Bug posted a Roblox version of the dance, with the video gaining over 427,900 views in two weeks.
On August 11, iFunny user RonaldUlyssesSwanson_ posted an ironic demotivational poster meme based on the scene captioned "You have been distracted, repost this to distract someone else". The post received over 34,700 smiles in ten days and received viral spread online, with multiple reposts on Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, YouTube and Discord in the following days.
The video inspired further use of the dance a source material for memes, including bait-and-switch memes. For example, on August 19th, 2020, content creator Foekoe posted a Why Do Women Only Like Stupid Jerks Who Treat Them Like Shit? meme that received over 17,600 views, 830 retweets and 3,700 likes on Twitter and over 913,000 views on YouTube in one day.
On August 18, YouTube user Boogie Toes posted a green screen template of the dance, which later gained over 112,000 views in two days.
Trivia[]
- YouTuber Juno Songs created a song about the dance theme, but with lyrics. He later made a trap remix version.
- The Distraction Dance is the third dancing meme, the first being Never Gonna Give You Up (Rickrolling) and the second being Dancing Stickbug.
- The fail message in the game is "I, wh- I just... whaat."
- The Distraction Dance Song is actually called "Dance Mr. Funnybones"
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