The song became well known for its music video, which parodies
Mentos advertisements, turning them into commercials for "Footos," with the "Freshmaker" slogan being rendered as "The Fresh Fighter".[7] The concept came from director
Jesse Peretz, who had originally pitched the idea to another band, and the Foo Fighters accepted the concept because, according to Dave Grohl, "We had some difficulty finding a treatment that would suit the song, which is this short, tongue-in-cheek, ridiculously candy-coated pop tune. We didn't want to make this big, pretentious portrait video. We wanted to make fun of ourselves and the song." The video, which was entirely filmed on location in
Sydney Central Business District &
North Sydney,
Australia,[8] debuted on
MTV on February 14, 1996, and quickly became a
Buzz Bin clip.[9] It was eventually nominated for 5
MTV Video Music Awards at the
1996 MTV Video Music Awards, winning only "
Best Group Video".
The video's success led to many fans throwing Mentos at the band whenever they played the song live.[10] For an extended period of time, the band did not play the song live due to this, as Grohl cited: "We did stop playing that song for a while because, honestly, it's like being
stoned. Those little … things are like pebbles – they hurt." The band only started to change its mind after
Weezer started performing "Big Me" during the Foozer tour both bands did together.[11][12]
2019 Record Store Day re-release
The "Big Me" single was re-released on a 3-inch vinyl for
Record Store Day on April 13, 2019.[13] The single is one of several 3-inch Record Store Day re-issues that is playable on special miniature record players.[13]
Singles
CD single
"Big Me"
"Floaty (BBC Evening Session Recording 23 November 1995)"
^"Airplay Monitor Best of '96: Modern Rock Tracks"(PDF). Airplay Monitor. Vol. 4, no. 53. December 27, 1996. p. 24. Retrieved December 26, 2023. Alternative Airplay was previously called Modern Rock Tracks