The 2015 helium craze: how squeaky voices took over the internet

In 2015, a funny little voice-changer app set off a wave of helium videos across Instagram and YouTube — and some very famous faces joined in. Here's the story.

Four faces stretched and squashed by Crazy Helium Booth filters on a yellow background

Every few years the internet collectively agrees on one very silly thing to do. In 2015, that thing was talking like you’d just emptied a party balloon.

Crazy Helium Booth had a simple pitch: point the camera at your face, pick a filter, let the app pitch-shift your voice into a squeak while you talked. No editing, no account, no setup. The formula turned out to be irresistible.

The craze

What started as friends pranking each other in group chats spread fast. The “helium challenge” practically invented itself: read something serious in the squeakiest voice you can manage, try not to laugh, tag a friend to go next.

Tech blogs noticed. Laughing Squid called it a camera app that distorts faces and voices in bizarre ways — which is precisely what eighteen million people downloaded it for.

And yes, some very famous faces joined in. A few of the biggest names in music posted their own helium videos at the peak, and some are still up today. We’ll let you go hunting.

A face filter applied live in the Crazy Helium Booth camera
Filters apply live, so you perform to the distorted face rather than discovering it afterwards.

Why it worked

  1. Zero friction. About fifteen seconds separated “I have this app” from “I have a funny video.”
  2. Everyone’s voice is funny in helium. No skill gap — your grandmother’s helium video was exactly as funny as a comedian’s.
  3. It begged to be shared. Watched alone it’s amusing. Sent to the family group chat, it’s an event.

Still going

A decade and 18+ million downloads later: 500+ face filters, 40+ voice effects, and the ability to convert videos you’ve already shot — all processed on your phone. The squeak endures.