The Viral Video That Best Represents Each Of America’s 50 States, Part 1: The West

America. Home to a diverse set of cultures, traditions, histories, and local phenomena. This leads to regional stereotypes, many of which are easy to make fun of. So that’s exactly what we’re doing.

The UPROXX staff set out to find the popular Internet video that best represents each of our 50 states. Over the next four days we’ll reveal our findings. Today, we tackle the 13 westernmost states. In alphabetical order: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Know of a video that works better for any of these states? Leave it in the comments.

Alaska: Sarah Palin’s Turkey Bloodbath

Alaska is many things: our nation’s largest state; a sprawling, breathtaking chunk of Earth where nature and man coexist in a way that calls to mind a simpler time; the home to a vast amount of natural resources, etc. But now and forever more it will be primarily known as the place where a politically ambitious governor pardoned a turkey for Thanksgiving and then gave a lengthy live interview about government policy while standing in front of a man cramming turkey carcasses head-first into a machine that would break them down for human consumption. – Danger Guerrero

Arizona: Amy’s Baking Company Goes Viral

Samy and Amy Bouzaglo got more than they bargained for when they agreed to have their restaurant, Amy’s Baking Co., featured on the popular cooking show, Kitchen Nightmares, starring Gordon Ramsay. Once footage of their terrible episode hit YouTube, people became aware of the couple’s unique behavior, in that we were shown them screaming at customers and being completely obnoxious with Ramsay. The situation spiraled out of control, complete with an epic Facebook meltdown, and now you can’t mention taking a trip to Scottsdale without someone saying, “You should check out that crazy lady’s bakery.” – Ashley Burns

California: #XMAS JAMMIES

White people appropriating a decade-old rap song. F-list celebrity hopefuls creating a manufactured “viral video” and using their industry connections to get interviews on CNN before most people have even seen it. Humblebraggy lyrics about how they had bit parts in movies and ran marathons. Children being dragged along for the ride. CALIFORNIA in capital letters. – Brandon Stroud

Colorado: 4/20 Parachute Stoner Dash

Colorado is frequently ahead of the curve when it comes to illicit substances. For instance, did you know that Colorado repealed Prohibition a full year before the federal government? Also, on January 1, 2014 it will open the first retail recreational marijuana shops in the nation. People in Colorado like to get high, as the above video of a college kid laughing way too hard for something that’s not particularly funny can attest. — Dustin Rowles

Hawaii: Triumph Does The Weather

Hawaii is the most perfect place on Earth when it comes to scenery and climate, and there’s really no better way to illustrate that than to have a foul-mouthed dog puppet show up on their local news affiliate and do the weather report. – Danger Guerrero

Idaho: Redneck Shot With A Potato Gun

Idaho is the #1 potato producer in the country, and it’s not even close. It also consistently ranks as one of the ten states with the most lenient gun control laws. Here’s a redneck insisting that his friend shoot him at point-blank range with a powerful potato gun. – Ryan Perry

Montana: Douchebag Bison

Montana features a diverse and unmatched beauty: vast prairies, a gorgeous section of the Rocky Mountains, glaciers, valleys, wild rivers, geysers, and spectacular national parks — including parts of Glacier and Yellowstone. Nothing quite symbolizes Montana’s majestic beauty quite like the American bison, of which there are nearly 500 on the sprawling, 100+ year-old National Bison Range in the western part of the state. Here’s a video of the worst bison on the planet. – Ryan Perry

Nevada: The Most Entertaining Arrest To Ever Happen On The Las Vegas Strip

Nevada is Las Vegas, and nothing is more Las Vegas than an inebriated man stumbling up and down the Strip with half a dozen cans of beer shoved down his pants and telling the police that he likes to wear panties. It’s funny because it’s accurate. Also, because of the thing about the beer cans in his pants and him telling the cops he likes to wear panties. It’s funny for a few reasons. – Danger Guerrero

New Mexico: The One Who Knocks

Did you know that New Mexico was called New Mexico long before Mexico was called Mexico? It’s true! New Mexico came first. But nobody cares, because the single most important fact in the history of all of New Mexico is that it’s where Breaking Bad was set and filmed. The only reason people visit New Mexico is for Breaking Bad tours.Dustin Rowles

Oregon: Helicopter Christmas Tree Harvest

What is Oregon known for? New York is famous for its liberal elitism, Georgia has a whole lotta rednecks, Florida is far and away the most Florida of states. But Oregon? Well, Oregon has a magnificent Duck, and a helicopter pilot who drops Christmas trees into trucks, mid-air. That’s it: I’m moving to Oregon. — Josh Kurp

Utah: Miss Utah

It’s tempting to go with FAKE BIGFOOT here, but the people need to be better educated about Utah, and who better to create educate better than Marissa Powell? — Josh Kurp

Washington: Phoenix Jones, Self-Proclaimed Superhero

One of the coolest things about Washington is that it’s a “mutual combat” law state, which means that if two people agree to have a physical fight, they’re allowed to go at it until one of them quits. Enter: Phoenix Jones, a mixed martial artist by day and a self-proclaimed superhero by night, as he patrols the streets of Seattle to offer his help to the police. Of course, this kind of law and stories of a superhero seem ridiculous to everyone else, which is why Jones constantly has to explain and defend himself. – Ashley Burns

Wyoming: Tumbleweed Takes Over Neighborhood

 

Wyoming is beautiful for so many reasons, one of the big ones being that there aren’t a lot of people around to ruin it. The state is last in population and 49th in population density (less than six residents for every square mile). And no video encapsulates the state’s barren landscape beter than this, a news report about a sh*tload of tumbleweeds taking over an entire neighborhood in Cheyenne. – Ryan Perry

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