I think the author and commenters here are missing something. To make something viral, you have to make it addictive. To make it addictive, you have to make it

I think the author and commenters here are missing something. To make something viral, you have to make it addictive. To make it addictive, you have to make it rewarding. To make it more rewarding than the rest of the competition, you have to make it unique. The fact that he's "breaking expectations" is what makes his content unique. What makes it REWARDING to watch is that it allows viewers to live vicariously in situations that they would never have the guts (for lack of a better word) to do themselves. Defying the NYPD. Proving the cops wrong. Sticking it to a big corporation like Nike. Being a thief and getting away with it. Again...sticking it to big corporations - Apple. Have you noticed that every one of these gets one over on the entities that most people feel keep them down? Nothing is more rewarding than winning, and his content lets people vicariously feel what it's like to win over the thing that they really hate. They thing that they subconsciously blame for all of their problems. The authority. The man. This is what the author has completely missed. I could make a video where I turn on a light switch but instead the radio turns on. That breaks expectation, but it is not rewarding. If you want the viewer's reward system to fire, you need to engage their mirror neurons. You have the let them see you doing something they wish they could do. You have to get them to feel reward that they find missing in their lives. THAT is the real key to viral videos.