Benni Cinkle

Benni Cinkle is an American pop musician from Anaheim, California.^[1]

Cinkle first appeared in the music video for the song Friday by Rebecca Black, who attended the same school in Anaheim as she did. The song became viral within a few days, gaining mostly negative media attention. Cinkle herself was the target of many malicious comments by YouTube viewers. She became a widely-recognised internet meme (particularly after GIFs were made of her dancing in the music video),^[2] and soon she had entries in Urban Dictionary and the Internet Meme Museum.

Cinkle used her online attention to benefit charitable causes. She started her own nonprofit organisation, That Girl in Pink Foundation, which was initially started to help prevent bullying (particularly cyberbullying). She authored That Girl in Pink's Internet Survival Guide and visited schools in the US delivering her Don't Just Stand There presentation. She also organized a flashmob dance to help raise money for the American Red Cross to aid victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. As well as this, she organized a walk for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation which took place in fourteen countries, for which she received the 2012 Kids Curing Kids award from the foundation. She is also a regular blogger for The Huffington Post.

Cinkle released her first single Can You See Me Now and the accompanying music video in September 2011. The song, which she wrote in 2010, was inspired by stories written on the website sixbillionsecrets.com. The song deals with issues such as bullying, abuse, depression and self-harm. As of July 2012, the song's video on YouTube has over a million views. Her second single Gotta Get Out was released in June 2012. Its music video, which was filmed in New York City, Los Angeles and Paris was released in July of the same year.

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