Animal content is popular across all social media platforms, although, naturally, dogs and cats typically gather the most attention from internet users. Wholesome videos starring people’s pets being cute are always hits, but the funny content is also (if not more) appreciated. On TikTok, Matt Hobbs is responsible for a great deal of the latter type, currently having 749.5k followers on his account (@puppysongs), and over 14.8m likes across all his posts.
In the account, dog lovers can find a variety of songs created and performed by Hobbs, about puppies doing typical puppy things. His most famous creation is, by far, the “Cheese Tax” song, which quickly went viral and thus far has gathered over 14.9m views and 1.8m likes since it was uploaded.
The song is about his dog, Leni, who consistently approaches Hobbs whenever he’s cooking with cheese and demands to be given his well-deserved piece. What did he do to deserve it? He exists, which is motive enough. If the cheese is out, you have to pay up the tax, those are the rules. Otherwise, things might get ugly.
Besides its funny lyrics, the tune is so catchy that it has taken over the internet, getting easily stuck in the head of anyone who listens to it. The song’s success has even led to an extended version being officially released on Spotify, and later, Hobbs also shared an acoustic version of it on TikTok, which is just as delightful as the original. That video currently has over 2.1m views.
Needless to say, anything that becomes popular on TikTok is later taken over by other content creators. By now, many users have recreated the original video featuring their own dogs, proving this particular tax-paying experience seems to be universal.
Unfortunately, in the current economic climate, not even cat owners can get away with not paying the cheese tax, let alone mouse owners.
For some folks, though, the cheese tax isn’t a thing, but you can bet that there’s an ice tax in place. Whenever TikTok user @katiemm1017 gets some ice cubes for her cold drinks, her dog makes a sudden appearance, requesting she pays up what she owes.
Meanwhile, other creative people on the platform have put their unique spin on the original video, creating animated clips to go with the song, and even dance routines to the tune.
Every day, more and more people become aware of this tax phenomenon, which means the “Cheese Tax” song will likely continue its online domination for a long while.