2000s Virtual Singer

2000s Virtual Singer is an aesthetic and character trope based around fictional mascots that many companies used and were popular approximately from 2005 to the mid 2010s. These corporate mascots were often portrayed dancing and/or singing for an audience in a specific space, and generally they were anthropomorphized animals or objects, although a few might be humans. Some music videos involving 2000s Virtual Singers were also marketed as ringtone commercials that one could buy for their mobile phones, specifically due to the technological limitations of the time.
Some iconic child-oriented examples of this aesthetic include Gummibär or Psycho Teddy, both created by the company Jamba!, while other more juvenile examples may include Hatsune Miku and the VOCALOID boom during the late 2000s.
Since 2000s Virtual Singers were primarily popularized through TV ringtone commercials and holiday jingles, the aesthetic possibly started to fall out of style during the mid-2010s, since selling ringtones or wallpapers was no longer fashionable or convenient and they became more widely avaiable for free to the public. Some of the last examples of popular 2000s Virtual Singer commercials may include GUMMI GANGNAM STYLE by Gummibär. It was a parody of the song Oppa Gangnam Style by PSY, which was one of the most popular songs at the time. 
==Visuals==
Some visuals associated with the 2000s Virtual Singer aesthetic include:
*Dancing and singing 3D mascots, often animals and other fantastic creatures
*Low quality/early CGI
*Animals singing ringtones, jingles and commercials
*Detailed backgrounds
*Childish Eurodance music
*Using subcultures and trends such as Emos or Scene to gain traction from teenagers
*Overlap with other 2000s aesthetics (eg: Frutiger Metro, Frutiger Aero)
*Cute and ironic voices describing the songs (in advertisements)
==Music==
Music videos involving the 2000s Virtual Singer aesthetic often used childish Eurodance songs, often being associated with the Bubblegum Dance subgenre from the Nordic countries. The songs are obviously sung by virtual voices that portray the mascots, and they often use repetitive lyrics or onomatopeias. They are meant to be memorable, energetic and fun, to captivate the younger target audiences.
==Controversies==
===Jamster===
Although Jamba! (also known as Jamster worldwide) was one of the most popular ringtone companies ever and meaningfully carried the 2000s Virtual Singer aesthetic, they were heavily criticized in the mid 2000s for dishonest advertisements, repeated telephone spam towards its customers and charging users more money than necessary. Ringtone advertisements were a relatively new phenomenon at the time and consequently they were heavily unregulated by the law, so Jamster got away with its dishonest actions. The company had spent a lot of money on advertisements - at some point, multiple residents of the United Kingdom reported that they had seen Crazy Frog ads at least 26 times on the TV. Crazy Frog, despite the fact that it drove the ringtone industry to its peak in 2005, it also quickly became one of the most hated fictional characters ever because of the company's scams. The Jamster subscriptions were pretty overpriced consisted of approximately 27$ dollars per year, and at its best, it had a total of 15 million subscribers. The clients reported that Jamster repeatedly spammed their phone numbers, and that simply messaging "STOP" to them wouldn't work and they would use multiple accounts to spam. Users also reported being unknowingly charged more money than necessary, and that the ringtones they could download were really different from what was originally advertised. For the 2000s Virtual Singer aesthetic, this was disastrous because people stopped trusting ringtone subscriptions and by the early 2010s they started to become obsolete. Jamster would eventually close its ringtone market and instead they developed another scam: a fake anti-virus app which reported false viruses and essentially did nothing meaningful. This led to the full downfall of the company, and in 2014, the company became defunct. Today, a fair amount of 2000s Virtual Singer ringtones are lost media as more companies were closed.
==Media==
===Fictional Characters===
*Anna Blue
*Baby Kata
*Baby Vuvu
*Crazy Frog
*Dancing Bee-Bear
*Gummibär
*Hatsune Miku (sometimes)
*Holly Dolly
*ILONA
*Mickael Turtle
*Lampi The Bat
*Loco Loco
*Partybiene / Party Bee
*Psycho Teddy
*René la Taupe / Moley The Mole
*Rhino Spike
*Rolli und Rita
*Schnappi
*Schnuffel Bunny
*Sweety Das Kucken / Sweety The Chick
*The Crazy Frogs
*Violent Vincent
*Wonki
===Songs===
*Axel F by Crazy Frog
*Ding Dong Song by The Crazy Frogs
*Doo Bee Doo Bee Doo by Schnuffel
*Häschenparty by Schnuffel
*Ich hab' Dich lieb by Schnuffel
*It Burns! Burns! Burns by Loco Loco
*Mignon Mignon by René la Taupe
*Noël que du bonheur by ILONA
*Land Mines by Violent Vincent
*Oppa Gummy Style by Gummibär
*The Gummy Bear Song by Gummibär
*Pee Pee Poo Poo by Baby Kata
*Psycho Teddy (Do You Really Want To?) by Psycho Teddy
*Santa Is Coming to Town by Violent Vincent
*Snuggle Song by Schnuffel
*So Alone by Anna Blue
*Un Monde Parfait by ILONA
*Violent Vincent by Violent Vincent
*Was ist dein Lieblingsfach? by Rolli und Rita
===Brands===
*Club 28282
*Dada Mobile
*Jamba!
*Jamster
==External Links==
External links can help you get a better understanding of this aesthetic.
===YouTube Videos===
*A DEEP DIVE: THE WEIRD WORLD OF OLD JAMSTER COMMERCIALS… WHAT WERE THEY?? *NOSTALGIA* by Sailor Y2K
*Jamster Ringtone Commercials Were WEIRD - 2000's Nostalgia by Sankobyte
*Jamster Ringtones Compilation by Sitting Ducks
*The Forgotten $500 Million Crazy Frog Scam by VLACO
===Wikinews Articles===
*"Mobile ringtone tops the UK singles chart"; published in 2005.
==Gallery==
The Gummy Bear Song - Long English Version|The Gummy Bear Song by Gummibär. It was translated to multiple languages and became a quintenessial example of this aesthetic.
Crazy Frog - Axel F (Official Video)|Axel F, an iconic song by Crazy Frog. It was released in 2005, being one of the earliest and most popular examples.
Schnuffel Bunny - Snuggle Song|The Snuggle Song by Schnuffel Bunny. This German song was created in 2008 and was marketed as a ringtone.
Psycho Teddy - Full English Music Video (HQ)|Psycho Teddy, an Australian mascot by Michael Migusha and Dion Howell. It was marketed as a ringtone and it has a German version. Some motifs used in the music video resemble Frutiger Metro.
Schnuffel - Knock Ringtone Advertisement (HQ)|A knock video/ringtone advertisement by Schnuffel.
Vincent Claus is Comin' to Town -- OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO|"Vincent Claus is Comin' to Town" by Violent Vincent (Xploshi). The music video directly references Gummibär and the song is known for its "evil" lyrics.
Hatsune Miku - Ievan Polkka|A Hatsune Miku cover of the Finnish song "Ievan Polkka", created by Otomania. Although Miku might not always be considered a singer mascot, this clip is quite similiar to them.
René la Taupe - Mignon Mignon ( clip officiel )|"Mignon Mignon" by René la Taupe, a primarily French-speaking mascot.
Anna Blue - So Alone (Official Music Video)|"So Alone" by Anna Blue. She is a mascot meant to be inspired by the Emo subculture, showing how some companies during the 2000s tried to cash off the Emo trend.
Gummibär GUMMY GANGNAM STYLE Full Length Gummy Bear Song|"Oppa Gummy Style" by Gummibär. It was one of the last popular videos featuring this aesthetic. It was advertised as a ringtone and it was described as the "cutest version of Gangnam style".
Unused Hobo Ringtone commercial|A parody of the 2000s Virtual Singer aesthetic made by YouTuber Hobo Hobo.
Holly Dolly Lollipop|"Lollipop" by virtual singer Holly Dolly.
Get Bee-bear on your phone|A Bee-Bear advertisement by Club 28282. The character is portrayed as a bear with a bee's body. Fun fact: today that phone number belongs to a church.
Violent Vincent Ringtone Commercial|A parody of 2000s Virtual Singer ringtone advertisement by Xploshi, featuring Violent Vincent.
BABY KATA - Pee Pee Poo Poo (english version)|"Pee Pee Poo Poo" by BABY KATA, a song infamous for its scatological humor.
Walter Moers, Thomas Pigor - Ich hock in meinem Bonker (Video)|"Der Bonker" by Walter Moers and Thomas Pigo. Originally, it was gonna be bought by Jamster to be later sold as a ringtone, although it raised controversy due to its possible references to the Nazi regime. It was never formally released and TV stations refused to air it.
Category:Visual
Category:2000s
Category:German
Category:Music
Category:Music Video Aesthetics
Category:Youthful
Category:Nostalgia/Nostalgic
Category:2010s Internet
Category:2010s
Category:Character Tropes
Category:Memes
Category:Corporate
Category:CGI