Weezer’s Pork and Beans video, which features cameos and references to dozens of viral Internet videos, is a viral hit of its own.

Director Mathew Cullen explains the story behind the video:

“We’d been wanting to work with Weezer since their last album,” said Cullen, “and five weeks ago Weezer sent us this song, and we immediately got the idea. [“Pork and Beans”] is this amazing song about being happy with who you are. That’s exactly where it came from. There’s never been a time like now, thanks to YouTube, where people can put themselves out there. So I embraced that concept.”

“I wanted the video to be a celebration of that creativity. I wanted it to be redemption for those who’d been unintentionally embarrassed by the power — there is a sense of that for those who were shamed by it.” adds Cullen. “For example, take the Afro Ninja. He’s a professional Hollywood stuntman who made one mistake at a casting session that is etched in [millions] of people’s memories. It was leaked without his consent, it was him doing the opposite of what he does best — and it was embarrassing professionally. He was very hard on himself for years because of that, but at a certain point embraced it. In this video, I wanted people to know he can kick some butt. There is an unintentional celebrity that happens on the internet. In the case of the Star Wars Kid, he wasn’t able to get over it. Even though he’s not in [the “Pork and “Beans” video], we wanted to put a nod [to him].”

Expect more Internet meme goodness from the Pork and Beans video take – Cullens says that there’s interviews and more on the way.

via Wired