Borrowing a silky leopard scarf from animal print fanatic Piko-Taro, soccer player Gerard Piqué joined the YouTube star to perform “PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen)” while on a trip to Japan. A video of the duet that Piqué posted on Instagram has racked up over a million views since it was posted on Tuesday (July 11).
In the video, the FC Barcelona defender and Shakira gamely sings and dances the novelty hit that in 2016 became the record for shortest song ever to land on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and is still driving parents of elementary school-age children insane.
Piqué’s ability to maintain his cool demeanor while singing the silly song, which Piko-Taro fan Justin Bieber previously performed in an earlier viral video, is more impressive than his vocal or dance skills.
No matter, since his interest in the entertainment industry has been strictly business. Piqué is an entrepreneur whose holdings include Kerad Games, which produces soccer-themed video games. His encounter with Piko-Taro comes after a meeting with Hiroshi Mikitani, president of Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, which is the Barça team’s new 55-million-Euro-a-year sponsor.