About
My New Haircut is a comedy skit about a stereotypical
Guido known as “the Broski” and his night out on the town with a group of friends. Since its YouTube debut in June 2007, the video has inspired an extensive collection of parodies featuring alternative monologues and references to other social and racial stereotypes or subcultures.
Origin
The original video was created by Brett Tietjen and uploaded via YouTube channel mca1018
[5] on June 10th, 2007. Set to Corey Hart’s 1984 hit single “Sunglasses at Night” as background music, the skit mainly consists of the Broski’s boastful monologues while grooming himself in preparation for a night of barhopping. Some of the highlights include his monologue about his haircut, a heavily gelled blowout
[6] also known as a Temple Fade
[7] or Brooklyn Fade, and cut scenes of himself primping in front of a mirror, lifting at the gym and yelling “Jagerbombs” at a bar.
The day after the video was shared on YouTube, it was re uploaded to MySpace.
[9] The next month, it was also shared on CollegeHumor
[10] and I Am Bored.
[11] On October 3rd, 2007, one of the first parody videos titled “My New Shape Up” was uploaded by YouTuber RiCanSuaVe79, who stars in the video to discuss his Shape-Up
[12] haircut, or a close cut around the hairline.
As of September 2012, Tietjen maintains a Facebook page
[13], a YouTube account
[14], two Twitter accounts
[15][16], a Tumblr
[17] and an Instagram
[18] under the guise of the Broski. Additionally, MyNewHaircut.com
[19] was established in November 2011 to collect all of Tietjen’s videos and social network postings. Despite having an official Facebook page
[13], an older fan page
[20] has gained more than 5000 likes.
Controversy
In January 2008, digital remix artist Joe Sabia
[22] posted a video titled “The Truth Behind My New Haircut” to YouTube. He claimed that “My New Haircut” was a blatant rip off of an essay titled “Look At My Striped Shirt”
[24] written by Mike Polk for the now-defunct website Phat Phree on March 18th, 2005. A live performance by Polk’s sketch comedy group Last Call Cleveland was uploaded to YouTube on August 31st, 2006. The monologue shares many of the same phrases as “My New Haircut,” included references to “Jagerbombs,” “Skanks” and calling people “Chief.” Though there is no evidence Polk himself ever sought out credit for the idea, the situation was covered by the New York Times Magazine blog
[4] on January 31st, 2008.