--- title: Type Happy Birthday and Name Into YouTube description: A hilarious and terrifying personalized video by the channel EpicHappyBirthdays shows up canonical: https://time.com/3481648/type-happy-birthday-name-youtube/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-08T15:27:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:13:40.434Z og:title: Type Happy Birthday and Name Into YouTube og:description: YouTube trick of the day og:url: https://time.com/3481648/type-happy-birthday-name-youtube/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Type Happy Birthday and Name Into YouTube twitter:description: YouTube trick of the day twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Type 'Happy Birthday' and Your Name Into YouTube Right Now and Something Magical Might Happen > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c5456161-3c10-4f5d-8744-692b00a475a0&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Oct 8, 2014 3:27 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Oct 8, 2014 3:27 PM UTC You know when Facebook says it’s a close friend or family member’s birthday, and you want to share something unique and personal on his or her wall other than “happy birthday”? Well, earlier today, [Reddit user elgeo12345](http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/2in5g5/what%5Fhappens%5Fif%5Fyou%5Ftype%5Fhappy%5Fbirthday%5Ffollowed/) pointed out that when you type “happy birthday” and a first name into YouTube’s search bar, a personalized video from “EpicHappyBirthdays” will usually pop up. It’s so terrifying and weird that you will probably burst out laughing. Here’s mine: The minute-long videos all seem to start out the same way, with pictures of kids’ birthday parties flashing on screen until a creepy clown face pops up — perhaps to remind you that childhood is dead (as if we needed a reminder). Dinosaurs holding wrapped gifts will make you feel old as cakes drop from the sky, then catch fire. Sheep scream, turtles do gymnastics, dogs eat cake, all before bursting into flames. Why _is_ everything on fire? Is it a message about rebirth? Starting the year anew? We’ll probably never know. It looks like the channel, which joined YouTube in June of 2013, and boasts over a million views, has been adding videos of names in alphabetical order over the last month, after having stopped on August 20, 2013\. So look up the names of friends and family members with a weird sense of humor, and try it on them. **MORE:** [Hidden Google: 10 Fun Search Tricks](http://time.com/3033959/hidden-google-10-fun-search-tricks/) **MORE:** [The First YouTube Video Was Uploaded 9 Years Ago Today](http://time.com/72892/the-first-youtube-video-was-uploaded-9-years-ago-today/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3481648/type-happy-birthday-name-youtube/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3481648/type-happy-birthday-name-youtube/"},"headline":"Type 'Happy Birthday' and Your Name Into YouTube Right Now and Something Magical Might Happen","datePublished":"2014-10-08T15:27:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:13:40.434Z","description":"YouTube trick of the day","url":"https://time.com/3481648/type-happy-birthday-name-youtube/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Internet"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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