Never doubt the power of the Packers.
On Monday, Olivia Hotchkiss was a 23-year-old who was just out of
college, relatively new to Green Bay and working as a nanny for autistic
children. Little did she know an idea she had while driving home from work
would make her a viral hit on YouTube and change her life, at least for the
short term and perhaps longer.
While on that 15-minute drive, just a few hours before the
Packers played the Bears, Hotchkiss came up with a refrain for a parody song
based off "Royals" by Lorde -- which is currently No. 1 on the U.S.
billboard charts. Once she got home, Hotchkiss finished the verse (she
estimates the entire process took half an hour), threw on a Packers winter hat
and sat in front of her phone to record the song.
Some sample lyrics:
"I've always been a Packers fan ... it’s easy to cheer
a team that's always winning."
"With a team like Rodgers, Matthews, Jordy and Raji ...
anyone that I name is better than anyone on your team ... Because we're not
losing like the Vikings and Bears."
It was all done "on a lark" and was posted to
Hotchkiss' "Wisconsin Girl Problems" Facebook page (and then tweeted
out through the corresponding Twitter account).
"Suddenly thousands of people were sharing it, and I
was like, 'oh geez!'," Hotchkiss told FOXSportsWisconsin.com.
In fact, as of Thursday evening, over 14,000 people had
shared the song on Facebook. Her
WiscoGirlProbs Facebook page benefited as well, gaining more than 3,000
"likes" since Monday.
Then, through the prodding, and help, of a cousin, Hotchkiss
put the song on YouTube. The video has 80,000 views there -- and counting.
"I think it would have blown up a ton more if the
Packers would have won the game," Hotchkiss said.
Of course, Bears fans have taken to the page, as well.
Hotchkiss gets up each morning and deletes some of the more offensive comments,
though she leaves the tamer ones up because, well, "Chicago did win."
Video views and comments aren't all that have blown up.
Hotchkiss, who also models -- that certainly didn't hurt the video's popularity
-- was contacted for a number of interviews and from companies offering to
shoot a video.
In fact, four companies contacted Hotchkiss through Facebook
-- each saying they'd do it pro bono. She vetted all of them and will shoot a
video this weekend with family and friends included. (A hairdresser and makeup
artists she knows from modeling offered to provide pro bono work, as well).
Hotchkiss hopes to have the video out by Nov. 24 -- when the
Packers play the Vikings. She recorded the song this week to get it on a CD and
put on iTunes.
On top of it all, the television show "The Voice"
wants her to try out for their open casting in Chicago in January.
It has been a bit of a whirlwind, but Hotchkiss is taking it
all in stride.
"I was perfectly content with my life before this, so
this is just a bonus," she said.
But why this song, this video?
"Because it was clever, it's very catchy. Everyone says
they now have those lyrics in their head instead of the actual ones,"
Hotchkiss explained. "Not to sound cocky, but I can sing, so that works to
my advantage. My voice works well with that song. With the other Packer
parodies, you don't have to have a certain kind of voice with it, whereas this
song, (Lorde) has a certain kind of voice and I tried to mimic that tone. The
fact it was so similar and the words were so on point with the music, it just
worked."
That, and it's the Packers, of course.
"Oh, yes, c'mon," Hotchkiss said. "They have
a huge following for everything."
