Marines' Britney Spears video the latest viral hit
Published: April 22, 2011
WASHINGTON -- Somewhere, deep in the heart of Afghanistan, Marines just gotta dance.
One unit's well-choreographed version of the new Britney Spears song "Hold It Against Me" (video embedded below) is becoming the latest YouTube hit in a line of off-duty spoofs from troops downrange. The clips are intended to be nothing more than a chance for the troops to blow off some steam, but their enthusiasm and absurdity apparently appeal to a worldwide audience.
In a message on their YouTube post, the troops behind this latest effort said the video took three months to make in between missions. "It's hard to find the free time in our schedule. We also just wanted our families and friends to know we are trying to make the best of our situation! Thank you for all again for the support and please enjoy!"
UPDATE 11:30 a.m.: You can count Britney Spears among their supporters.
Here's the new video, and a few other recent war zone hits:
UPDATE 11:15 a.m.: Folks on our Facebook page are telling me the videos are getting blocked in certain areas (I don't understand Germany copyright laws either) but you should be able to get to the original YouTube location on these videos by clicking on the title tab on top of each video.
But if you can not view these YouTube videos due to local geographic restrictions, please send us an email at StripesWebAdmin@stripes.com so we can track this issue.
There was also the now-infamous Lady Gaga "Telephone" video from last year.
"Dance Party Iraq" from 2007 picked up more than 6 million views worldwide.
Not to be outdone, British troops in Iraq put together their own version of "Is This The Way To Armadillo."
Who knew that combat troops were such fans of Lady Gaga?
