As Christmas draws nearer and everyone gets into the festive spirit, there’s another end-of-year tradition that’s hard to avoid… the annual review. Right on cue, YouTube has released its list of the top trending videos of 2014.

We’ve been reviewing our favourite top ten viral videos, including ‘Goku versus Superman’, which is a rap battle that is both hilarious and genuinely skilful; ‘First Kiss’, an awkward but oddly joyous film in which strangers snog each other – to be honest, it felt like a weird thing to be watching in the office; and the Nike World Cup advert, which shows a kick-about being interrupted by a host of famous (and Nike-sponsored) football stars.

Best of all, though, is ‘Devil Baby Attack’. It shows real New Yorkers approaching an innocuous-looking pram, only to be sent shrieking by the animatronic horror-baby within, complete with black eyeballs, jerky swivel-head, and Exorcist-inspired projectile vomiting. The video, which had 20 million views within two months, was a PR stunt by Thinkmodo to promote Devil’s Due. The film flopped, but the stunt was an instant classic.

Together, the videos account for hundreds of millions of views from more than 21 million subscribers. The top ten is based on the number of views, shares, comments, likes and more.

YouTube receives over a billion unique hits a month, and takes on 100+ hours of new footage every minute. The number of daily subscribers is reported to be up three times on last year too. It’s an invaluable tool for any brand seeking to promote their product.

Stay tuned to read JAM’s review of 2014 next week, and here’s to another year of crazy viral videos!

Words: Jack Brodie