For about 30 minutes on Friday, more than 730,000 people were glued to a live video of two BuzzFeed staffers putting one rubber band after another over a watermelon.
We all knew where this was headed - a dead watermelon - but the internet couldn't not watch.
The explosion generated more than 3 million views, and it even triggered some audible cries here at Tech Insider.
After the live video, BuzzFeed motion pictures producer Jesse McLaren posted this slow-motion clip of the magic moment:
???? pic.twitter.com/Nfqf5PUwn5
- Jesse McLaren (@McJesse) April 8, 2016
The rest of the internet's mind seemed blown by the spectacle.
Cole Ledford was so captivated by the live video that he forcibly delayed work.
I literally just moved a meeting back because I'm busy watching a live stream of @BuzzFeed employees putting rubber bands on a watermelon
- Cole Ledford (@ColeLedford11) April 8, 2016And Mark Gongloff on Twitter single-tweetedly predicted the (immediate) future of digital media.
In newsrooms everywhere, journalists are being let go to make room for more of this https://t.co/TtTOjE0AiF
- Mark Gongloff (@markgongloff) April 8, 2016Me and @JamesHarness exploded a watermelon on Facebook live and then the rubber bands we used went into this ball?? pic.twitter.com/t3gyz6JX5z
- chelsea marshall (@theseamar) April 8, 2016As cool as BuzzFeed's stunt was, I have to say the clip below - uploaded to YouTube in July 2012 by The Slow Mo Guys - is my absolute favorite explode-a-watermelon-with-rubber-band experiment video.
The Slow Mo Guys shot their explosion with a Phantom Flex at a blistering 1,600 frames per second, not a handheld iPhone, and the result is gorgeous: