Protesters sing ‘Baby Shark’ to toddler in car — and now it’s their theme song

The wildly popular children’s song “Baby Shark” has become a rallying cry in Lebanon after protesters in Beirut spontaneously sang the hit to calm a toddler whose mother’s car was trapped in the middle of a noisy demonstration.

When driver Eliane Jabbour’s car was surrounded by a rally in the capital last weekend, she asked protesters if they could stop shouting as her young son, Robin, was scared in the front passenger seat.

On the spot, the crowd spontaneously broke into a rendition of “Baby Shark,” complete with hand gestures depicting a shark’s bite, and big smiles.

The video shot by Eliane, which has gone viral, shows around 20 people around her car, singing to the surprised toddler as he clutches a bottle. A bearded man is seen dancing, wading in and out of the crowd with fish-like motions.

The original “Baby Shark” video was uploaded to YouTube by a South Korean children’s educational company called Pinkfong in 2016. It has become one of the most-watched videos on the platform, with over 3.7 billion views.

Protesters in Lebanon are angry about the state of the handling of an economic crisis, along with corruption and the state of public services, but the “Baby Shark” episode brought a moment of relief from the wave of dissent. And now it’s a rallying cry — videos of demonstrations (below) showed demonstrators waving Lebanese national flags, letting off flares and singing the catchy song.

Even Robin, who appears wide-eyed and a bit stunned by the all-singing, all-dancing crowd in the video posted by his mother, has become a fan.

“Although he looked confused in the video, right now he starts laughing whenever he watches it,” she told Reuters on Tuesday.