Viral Video: even old media is taking notice

Today there was an article in the Daily Telegraph about viral video and how marketers are taking advantage of the new trend in online video dissemination. There was talk about whether it was ethical for an advertising agency to disguise their marketing in what at first sight seemed like a genuine organic, grass roots campaign.

The article is worth a read and is available by clicking the link: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/secret-sell-brands-exploit-viral-videos-20110224-1b61p.html

Also, as a side note, I thought I would include the YouTube viral videos in this post that were referenced in the article with a brief caption on each:

The Shaving Helmet

This was eventually ousted as a hoax by a shaving cream company.

Hell Pizza: Interactive Zombie Game

A promotional online video campaign for a pizza chain in New Zealand. Beware this one is quite long and actually allows you to pick your way through the adventure similar to a pick a path book.

Old Spice Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZOm2YhOI4c

If you haven’t seen this you would have had to be living under a rock (especially if that rock was not in the United States and did not have a wireless internet connection). The commercial above was actually created for television however the Old Spice campaign had no idea how much attention the clip would garner online. In fact the clip was so successful that Old Spice followed up with an online only campaign of the Old Spice guy answering questions from Twitter users, one of the clips can be seen below:

Carlton Draught: It’s a Big Ad

Sometimes when it comes to online viral success, nothing beats a huge budget and a bit of humor.

NAB Bank Break Up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BZl21_2tuo&feature=player_embedded

I actually did a blog post devoted to NAB’s online efforts in a previous blog post which can be found here. Even though this runs the thin line of being cheesy however I respect it for its audacity and embracing of new technologies.