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

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, and let the app pitch-shift your voice into a helium squeak while you talked. No editing skills, no account, no setup — record, laugh, share. The formula turned out to be irresistible.

The craze

What started as friends pranking each other in group chats spread fast. Videos made with the app began showing up across Instagram and YouTube — the “helium challenge” format practically invented itself: read something serious in the squeakiest possible voice, try not to laugh, tag a friend to go next.

Tech blogs took notice too. Laughing Squid described it as “a camera app that distorts faces and voices in bizarre ways” — which is exactly what eighteen million people ended up downloading 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 height of the craze, and some of those posts are still up on their public profiles today, a decade later. We’ll let you go hunting.

Why it worked

Looking back, the craze ran on three things:

1. Zero friction. The distance between “I have this app” and “I have a funny video” was about fifteen seconds.
2. Everyone’s voice is funny in helium. There was no skill gap — your grandmother’s helium video was exactly as funny as a comedian’s.
3. It begged to be shared. A helium video watched alone is amusing; sent to the family group chat, it’s an event.

Still going

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