Instagram egg acquired by Hulu for Super Bowl Sunday commercial

It became the world’s most popular Instagram post in January

Saturday 02 February 2019 12:06 GMT

The record-breaking picture prompted a response on Instagram from the previous record holder Kylie Jenner (world_record_egg/ Instagram)

The world’s most popular Instagram post finally has a purpose: to promote the US streaming platform, Hulu.

On Friday, the @world_record_egg account, which now has 9.8m followers, posted an image of a cracked egg complete football laces alongside the caption: “The wait is over. All will be revealed this Sunday following the Super Bowl. Watch it first, only on @hulu.”

The mysterious egg made headlines in January when it overtook Kylie Jenner to become the most-liked photo ever on the platform, garnering more than 25 million likes in just 10 days after it was posted alongside the caption: “Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram.”

The original image, which was posted on 4 January, now has more than 51m likes; Jenner’s post, which showed her newborn daughter holding her finger, held the previous record with 18m likes.

Little was known about the account that posted the image of the egg up until now.

The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked

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1/10The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked

The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – 2008

No frills, just good old-fashioned rock and roll. Tom Petty’s performance is often omitted from rankings of the best Super Bowl halftime shows, but we’re including it here because he absolutely crushed it. Kicking things off with “American Girl”, he followed it up with “Won’t Back Down”, “Full Moon Fever” and the emotional “Free Fallin’”, rounding off with a stirring rendition of “Runnin’ Down a Dream”.

AFP/Getty Images

The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked

U2 – 2002

U2 had the unenviable task of trying to raise everyone’s spirits just six months after the 9/11 attacks, but they did an admirable job, with performances of uplifting tracks like “Beautiful Day”.

AFP/Getty Images

The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked

Paul McCartney – 2005

McCartney preceded the pop stars trying to outdo one another with extravagant stage designs and lavish costumes. Instead, he offered four beautifully played songs, of which the final one, “Hey Jude”, prompted an epic singalong with the crowd at Jacksonville’s EverBank Field Stadium.

AFP/Getty Images

The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked

Madonna – 2012

One of the few to outdo Katy Perry’s 2015 entrance was Madonna, three years earlier, who appeared on a giant golden chariot led by about a hundred buff men dressed as Roman soldiers. She brought out Nicki Minaj and MIA for “Give Me All Your Luvin’” and also performed hits “Like a Prayer”, “Music” and “Express Yourself”.

AFP/Getty Images

The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked

Katy Perry – 2015

There are few entrances as grand as standing on top of a giant golden lion with glowing eyes. Katy Perry went all out for her halftime show in 2015 with performances of “Roar”, “Dark Horse”, “California Gurls”, “Firework” and “Teenage Dream”. And who can forget the notorious Left Shark and his poor coordination?

Getty Images

The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked

Bruce Springsteen – 2009

“Put the chicken fingers down and turn your television all the way up,” the Boss ordered. Springsteen’s 12-minute set started out with “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” and also included “Born to Run”, “Glory Days” and “Working on a Dream”.

Getty Images

The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked

Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake – 2004

Janet Jackson delivered a blistering, brilliantly choreographed show that ended with “Rock Your Body”. But the moment Justin Timberlake ripped away her costume, and exposed her breast for approximately half a second, overshadowed all of that. The incident, dubbed “nipplegate”, even inspired the creation of YouTube. Jackson was turned into a scapegoat for the ensuing controversy, while Timberlake didn’t receive anywhere near as much scrutiny.

AFP/Getty Images

The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked

Lady Gaga – 2017

One of the most outlandish halftime shows in recent memory, Lady Gaga began her performance by hurtling herself from the top of the stadium (attached to a harness, of course) – sparking a thousand memes. Once safely on the ground, she thrilled audiences with her biggest hits: “Poker Face”, “Born This Way”, “Telephone”, “Just Dance”, “Million Reasons” and “Bad Romance”.

Getty Images

The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked

Beyonce – 2013

Beyonce basically ties with Prince for the greatest all-time Super Bowl performance. It was bold, it was fierce, it was virtually flawless. Bursting onto the stage with “Crazy in Love” after an a capella “Love on Top”, she threw down some of her best dance moves, before moving on to other hits including “End of Time” and “Baby Boy”. Lastly, there was a hysteria-inducing Destiny’s Child reunion with Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland – a performance so powerful, the lights at the stadium cut out when it ended.

Getty

The 10 greatest Super Bowl performances, ranked

Prince – 2007

The greatest. Of course, the Purple One wasn’t responsible for the rain that began to pour during his hair-raising 12-minute performance, which included covers of “We Will Rock You” and “All Along the Watchtower”. But the timing was so perfect, you wanted to believe he was. Following renditions of “1999/Baby I’m a Star”, Prince closed on “Purple Rain” in what has to be ranked among one of his greatest live performances of that song.

Getty Images

“I’m an individual living in London”, the account holder told The Independent shortly after the image went viral.

At the time, the person, who goes by pseudonym Eugene the egg, was fairly vague with regards to their plans for the future.

“What’s next for the egg? I’ve got a few ideas. Stay tuned,” they said.

The post has already been valued at more than £250,000 by influencer marketing agency Pulse Advertising & Talent Management, a figure which is likely to increase as the account acquires more followers.

On Thursday, The Atlantic reported that the anonymous account holder was working with Jerry Media, the controversial social media agency behind Fyre Festival.

It’s not yet clear in what capacity Hulu will be working with @world_record_egg, but, as the latest post teases, all will be revealed on Super Bowl Sunday on 3 February.

Watch this space.

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