You say you want a social media revolution? Then The Beatles are the band for you. Based on alleged found footage Jimmy Fallon aired on the "Tonight Show" Monday of the band chatting with their audience after their groundbreaking "Ed Sullivan Show" appearance in 1964, the Fab Four were really, really ahead of their time.
The footage, of course, is more Faux Four than Fab Four. It became abundantly clear as John Lennon (a mop-topped Fallon) and Ringo Starr ("Late Night" bandleader Fred Armisen) talk about how their screaming fans can reach them via social media.
"We're the Beatles! ... Don't forget to like us on Facebook! And you can follow us on Twitter at @TheRealBeatlesUK!" Fallon-as-Lennon told the crowd.
Turns out they also had an Instagram account (The_Beatles1) where they posted "Throwback Thursdays" photos. And, Faux Lennon promised, they'll be live-tweeting the MTV Video Music Awards with a corporate sponsored hashtag and everything. (By the way, don't bother looking for the Twitter account. The username is 16 letters, one more letter than is allowed by Twitter, and the Instagram name leads to an error page.)
Branded Beatles! Imagine how much bigger they could have become if they'd only had social media to rely on.
"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. on NBC.