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We reported Auntie Anne's V-day viral blast once already but we just noticed She's So Twisted for the first time and thought, how awesome would it be to hang out with someone who was bent out of shape all the time?
Not very. But this chick seems good-natured enough and we like how her little friend drags her around on a little rollie-board. Having a pretzel friend must be way funner than having a puppy or a ferret. We'd try being pretzels for a day but our drunker companions might eat us.
Symantec's RockDotRock has added a Valentine's Day Serenade feature that allows you to send a customized message to your loved one (as long as they are o the list of 200 names) sung by the heavy metal rockers who grace the site. It's a nice continuation of the decidedly very different software campaign.
To promote Tourgasm, Dane Cook launches a prank site where you can send customized dean letters and expulsion notices to friends. The prank letters are somewhat convincing but anybody who's been on the net long enough knows to check the e-mail address first. And it looks pretty spammy. Additionally, inches from the letter text you're told that Dane Cook has pranked you. That really destroys any possibility of shock and dismay.
One reader mentioned being pranked into thinking he got his ex preggers. We figure that, like people who still fall for voice mails that start with, "Hello ... hello...?" There remains a market out there for those who fall for prank e-mails. Plus it's Dane Cook and nothing he does could possibly be unfunny.
Channel 4 and viral site BoreMe are launching Germ2, the 2nd annual International Viral Awards which seeks the best viral work. Last year London based viral agency Maverick won the Best Commercially Produced Viral for a campaign to promote the racing simulation game Juiced. The awards are also open to individuals around the world, not just professionals. Entries can be submitted at until March 31st.
Turning a serious topic into a matter of farce is a great way to keep things relevant. Better still is the marriage of farce and sex, especially when it comes to politics.
It's not really clear who's behind this viral about a couple that decides to roleplay as Bush and The Country, but it's funny in a sadistic way to watch the one have a go at the other with pillow-talk like, "I'm gonna get you involved in a unjustified war in Iraq - with no exit strategy!" as the notched shouts, "Don't pull out, don't pull out!"
It's not hard to tell who here is getting screwed. Better still, the roleplay Bush tosses in some saucy grammar like "I'm gonna jeopardate social security - and I'm gonna make millions without healthcares."
We'll see how big of a splash the statement makes with 'net users at large, but you have to commend a group that attempts to turn you on, alter political bearings and make you laugh all at the same time. The words "habeas corpus" were never sexier.
We can't even count how many times somebody walked past our cubicle, leaned over really close and whispered "One - cut a hole in a box." This was only one travail we suffered resulting from the mind-boggling circulation of the Timberlake SNL spoof Dick in a Box, which came out around the holiday season.
It's since been spoofed by a girl who clearly wants Justin to know about her box in a box - and impressively, her version is more embarrassing to watch than the original, which at least limits its embarrassment factor to lovers of '80's teen idols and women with teased hair.
We hope the wrapped-and-ready brunette gets her wish: namely that Justin scopes Youtube for Dick in the Box spoofs, where he'll doubtless find her and fall in love with the one person who really understands him.
Update: Ivy Gate unveils the girl behind Box in a Box. Apparently she's a little high off her awesomeness right now, having opened a CafePress store for Box in a Box boxes on CafePress. We only wish we were kidding about that.
Kevin Nalty from Will Video for Food has created two fantastic lists. The first, Top 10 Viral Video Moments of 2006 gathers together 2006's shining moments in viral video from Google's purchase of YouTube to the LonelyGirl 15 sensation to the Diet Coke Mentos craze. The second, Top 10 Online Video Predictions for 2007 offers up some insightful crystal balling about what's in store for video in 2007. From the convergence of online video and television to YouTube killers to six-figure amateur online videographers to citizens reporting news live via video, the year is sure to be an exciting one.
Remember, hardly anyone had heard of YouTube this time last year. For those hopelessly out of the loop, that's former Rocketboomer and current ABC'er Amanda Congdon in the picture.
Remember Alan Becker's neat video about creative gone awry? Atom Films just published the sequel: Animator v. Animation II. It's arguably better than the first as the stick actually escapes his template, wreaks havoc on the desktop, breathes fire and duke sit out with AIM and the Firefox logo.
The ending may either disappoint or grant closure, but there's definitely room for a bad-ass third installment. Unleashed on the world at large? Can't wait.
Alphamonkey, editor of Transbuddha, has some strong words for marketers who think they need to throw a veil over their lame "check out this cool site" emails that flood the email boxes of those of us on the editorial side of things. We couldn't agree more. Alphmonkey writes, in part, "Don't treat site editors and bloggers like they're dumb, and we won't immediately consign your e-mails to our ever increasingly vigilant spam filters. If you (and your client) think your site is mierda caliente, then have enough faith in it to provide us the details we want. Who built the site? Who is running the campaign? What other campaigns go with it? That information won't tank a campaign, I promise." Marketers, please heed that advice. Work with us. Don't treat us like idiots.
We need a term for yuppie hipsters. Yipsters? Hipstuppies? Yupsters? Be-suited Self-Entitled Echo Boomers?
Whoever they are, Microsoft is groping desperately for their attention in this virally-intended video for Office 2007. It does a good job of demonstrating '07's various functions for the "technical types" of the world but doesn't change the fact that they're still the stodgy awkward behemoths just left of savvy. - Contributed by Angela Natividad
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