Crazy Frog (originally known as The Annoying Thing) is a Swedish CGI-animated character and Eurodance musician created in 2003 by actor and playwright Erik Wernquist.

The Crazy Frog spawned a worldwide hit single with a cover version of the Beverly Hills Cop theme tune "Axel F", which reached the number one spot in Turkey, New Zealand, Australia and most of Europe.

He posted this on a website and caught the attention of a Swedish television researcher, who convinced Daniel to perform the sound live on air.

[5] After it debuted on television, recordings of his performance began appearing on file sharing networks and various websites under the filename "2TAKTARE.MP3" ("Tvåtaktare" is Swedish for "two-stroker").

[10][11] On 1 July 2005, UK-based publishers Digital Jesters announced that they had acquired the rights to the video game licence for the Crazy Frog.

Crazy Frog Racer (featuring the Annoying Thing) was released in December 2005 on PlayStation 2 and PC as a racing game.

[13] In 2005, the German production company The League of Good People was in talks with broadcasters about a TV series based on Crazy Frog.

[citation needed] The Crazy Frog toured Australia in late 2005, beginning in Perth on 4 December and continuing through other major capital cities.

[19] "Axel F" (a remix of the 1980s Harold Faltermeyer song produced by the German band Resource[20]) was released on 23 May 2005 and became one of the most successful singles of the year.

The ASA did not uphold the complaints, pointing out that the advert was already classified as inappropriate for airing during children's television programmes as it contained a premium-rate telephone number, and that it was the broadcasters' decision how often an advertisement should be shown.

[53] In November 2021, the Crazy Frog Twitter account made light of the controversy, saying, "A lot of people were shocked to see my PP in 2005.

[citation needed] In May 2005, viewers inundated the ASA with new complaints regarding the continuous airing of the latest Crazy Frog advertisements.

According to The Guardian, Jamster bought 73,716 spots across all TV channels in May alone — an average of nearly 2,378 slots daily — at a cost of about £8 million, just under half of which was spent on ITV.