21 Feats for Which People Were Briefly Famous

‘I was in one of those Truth anti-tobacco commercials’
21 Feats for Which People Were Briefly Famous

Pop quiz: Who coined the phrase “15 minutes of fame”? It wasn’t Andy Warhol. In fact, he probably never said anything about it, and it dates back to at least 19th-century France. They were just talking about one-hit wonder novelists, though. They couldn’t have anticipated a world in which people’s lives are literally broadcast to the world in several-minute chunks.

It’s not just the ever-present threat of viral video notoriety, though. Some people become world-famous for an impressive but short-lived accomplishment, others only gain hometown renown for their niche achievements, and a few were just in the right place at the right time to be briefly recognizable and then forever forgotten. That’s why user JXSTYLES asked r/AskReddit, “What’s your ‘15 seconds of fame’ moment?”

Toothlessdovahkin 1y ago I am Time's 2006 Person of the Year.
Outrageous_Zombie945 1y ago Had my boobs out for the local paper!
Jetter37 1y ago I found myself on People of Walmart
necianokomis 1y ago I was one of the little kids trick or treating in the opening sequence of Halloweentown.
Old-Yogurtcloset1283 1y ago I was on Americas Funniest Home videos!!!
Yaancat17 1y ago I was the victim of a popular prank video on Tiktok that went viral. It's completely ruined my Social life
Wonder_woman_1965 1y ago 2-day Jeopardy champion. One of the best experiences of my life.
druu222 1y ago I was on Google Street View. Recognizably. That's global, man!
1y ago I voiced a video game and when I recently looked up the game reviews on Reddit, people said one of the most annoying aspects of the game is my voice!
never_stirred 1y ago Cramming a hotdog in my mouth while a famous golf shot was made in a Major. It is a rerun in a lot of sports highlight reels.
redsox113 1y ago I bowled the highest 3 game set in my local bowling alley and local bowling association's history. That blew up in my community for a couple of days.
draggar 1y ago My dog was in the Latin-American soap opera, ¿Donde Esta Elisa? - he was even in the opening credits. (This is more towards my ex-wife's 15 minutes).
Jealous_Union_3356 1y ago I was on the front page of a London newspaper when I was 10. Throwing snowballs and enjoying the snow. When I got home and told Mum I'd been photographed playing in the snow, she said it was probably a pedophile. Proved her wrong when Dad bought home the paper that evening.
MrChopsticks89 1y ago I was on a who wants to be a millionaire, i didnt participate but i was the one who came as a friend for participant, after that episoded aired on the next day at school i was pretty popular. After 2 days nobody gave a shit anymore.
onedef1 1y ago I was (14yo, 1985) a recipient of of one of the early Cochlear Implants this side of the country. I went on speaking engagements, did some interviews, articles in newspapers and teen magazines, did a benefit with Woody Paige (he wrote the newspaper articles too) and I met with prospective patients around the state for a couple years.
SchylaZeal 1y ago Years ago when I was a teenager I was in one of those Truth anti-tobacco commercials. My role was the popular girl at a beach party that missed out on the fun because she just HAD to go have a smoke. They made me take huge puffs from a real cigarette to induce coughing, it was nuts lol I never got a copy of the finished commercial but I got to see it before it aired.
PM_ME_YOUR_JUNK_ 1y ago When I was a child, maybe 8 or 9, my mum took us to London, and we were just on the way out of the natural history museum and there were a couple of people on the street with a camera asking passers by if they wanted to be on TV. Long story short, I ended up on the Disney channel (in the UK anyway) announcing one of the nominations for some awards show, i think in an ad for the show and not in the show itself. Anyway, looking directly into the camera, I was instructed
reefguy007 1y ago I became somewhat known in the retro gaming community for doing this insane YouTube video on an obscure shooter (SHMUP) from 1992. I'd goto cons and get recognized. It was incredibly bizarre but wonderful at the same time. It led to me meeting a somewhat well known game dev. In 2019 he invited me out to San Francisco to a game release party where I spent the day with a bunch of legendary game devs as well as Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song. Good times.
SereneCaffeineDream 1y ago A very long time ago when cops were originally really starting to enforce the no talking on your cell phone while driving law, I was driving while talking on my cell phone in my very small town and was pulled over. However, I did not know that the local news channel was following this particular police officer for the day while he was pulling over cell phone offenders. I didn't find this out until after he approached my car, told me he saw me talking on my phone, asked for my license and registration and THEN had
1y ago A documentary crew was visiting the hospital I worked at. They were filming the average shifts of doctors and nurses etc. I didn't want to be part of it and as I came around the corner, there they all were, coming straight toward me and talking to another nurse. I immediately turned left to get away, tripped over a wet floor sign and fell flat on my face. When the documentary aired, they included the quick talk with the nurse and all you could see in the background was me run, fall and then see my feet
Remarkable-Visit-471 1y ago When I was 10, I got hit by a car. Dented the fender with my knee, broke the windshield with my back, flew 10 feet, when they slammed on the brakes and didn't get hurt. Local paper wrote about it with the title boy hits car, car damaged Someone sent it to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and he talked about me and showed the newspaper clipping with my picture. Said something like, The terminators kid is running around and to be careful

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