Top Ten Tips For Creating A Lame Ass 'Viral' Campaign

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Tips and tricks for creating yet another lame "viral campaign."

1. Make sure you shake the camera when filming as if you were having a seizure. Because everyone knows only professional camera operators can hold a camera still.

2. Make sure you employ painfully contrived situations such as two female friends who are far too old to actually be caught dead on camera singing, "Don't you wish you were hot like me?"

3. Make sure you feign fear and incessantly zoom in and out on a mundane "clue."

4. Always type "WTF?!?!?" in the description of your video.

5. Hire a grandfatherly figure to lend some levity and calm to the stunt because, hey, grandpa never lies.

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by Steve Hall    Dec- 5-11    
Topic: Viral



Guy Who Cut Parking Meter With Chainsaw Just Another Marketing Stunt

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Perhaps many of you have already seen the video that shows couple of workers in Brooklyn face off with a meter maid after their meter has expired. The video gets interesting when, rather than accept the ticket, one of the guys whips out a chainsaw and cuts the meter in two. With close to 500,000 views, some media outlets reported the video as an authentic capture of the event.

Well, it's just another marketing stunt. Yesterday the company behind the stunt, Thinkmodo, posted a longer version of the video which reveals it was all a publicity stunt for the upcoming film In Time which opens today. We are told the initial video contained several elements of the movie such as the blue jump suits the men wore.

It's wonderful the original video has received almost 500,000 views. The problem here, of course, is that the "reveal" video had less than 500 views. Unless that video gets as many or more views as the original, it's all really just a waste. Unless, of course, we press types all write about it and inform everyone what it's really about. Which, of course, is exactly what Thinkmodo wants us all to do.

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by Steve Hall    Oct-28-11    
Topic: Video, Viral



Nike 'Viral' Falls Flat With Falling Skateboarder

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Here's a new "viral" for Nike. In the video, we see a guy on a skateboard traveling down a road at increasing speeds. there's the ubiquitous close up shot of the shoes before the camera pans out to capture the ubiquitous wipe out which is supposed to make the viral funny. You can laugh if you want to. We didn't. This stuff is way too predictable. Of course he was going to fall as soon as he got on the board. Some originality, please, people!

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by Steve Hall    Jul-20-11    
Topic: Video, Viral



'Viral' Video Promotes New Planet of the Apes Film

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We admit it. We are a fan of the sometimes brilliant, sometimes cheesy 1970's movie series The Planet of the Apes. If you've been living on another planet and don't know what it's all about, it's a circular time travel story about how apes came to power and turned humans to slaves. The allegory, of course, is that we humans did, in some ways, the same to apes.

Tim Burton took a stab at a remake in 2001 to mixed reviews. The ending attempted to set of a mirror scenario in which Mark Whalberg time travels to an earth that is now run by ape. It seemed the series would continue in the vein of the seventies series exploring role reversal of apes being the superior species.

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by Steve Hall    Jul-18-11    
Topic: Viral



Can Viral Be Bought?

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In an Internet Week panel entitled Can Viral Be Bought, panelists Buzzfeed Founder and CEO Jonah Pretti, BBDO Creative Director Jeff Greenspan and Bnter CEO and TFLN Co-Founder Lauren Leto discuss viral marketing and whether or not it can be bought just like advertising.

In the past few years we've noticed an interesting phenomenon: it's become cool to "like" the ad. This new cultural norm has contributed to making ads viral. It's ironic. What viewers didn't like before (ads) have now become cool. To become viral though, somebody has to see it, like it and share it. So the question becomes, "can you buy clicks?" The answer to some extent is yes. If people share it then you can optimize for sharing. Add a little science, add a little art, and share.

Read the rest on Yahoo! Scene

by Steve Hall    Jun- 8-11    
Topic: Industry Events, Viral



Ken Leaves Barbie Over Compulsive Deforestation

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Remember Greenpeace's zealous campaign to get KitKat parent Nestle to stop killing orangutans? New year, new take on the mission.

This time, the target of Greenpeace's gleefully effective marketing is Mattel, whose low-cost packaging options contribute to deforestation in Indonesia. The weapon of choice? Barbie's off-again, on-again beau Ken, who, well, isn't into dating "serial killers" (no, not even the kind with exploding conical bras).

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by Angela Natividad    Jun- 8-11    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Good, Online, Spoofs, Video, Viral



Nude Gaming Stunt Hypes Extend Game Controller

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With a video that has garnered over 750,000 views on YouTube, Thinkmodo, which produced Times Square Hack, is helping game controller extend get some publicity. The video purports to be a report of sorts on what is said to be a growing trend: nude gaming parties; gatherings in which gamers show up nude and game together.

Of course, nude gaming isn't a thing unless you count drunk, ball scratching guys who are too lazy to get dressed or women who are so hot they can't help but do everything nude just to get attention and drive those of us in view insane with desire.

Nope, it's all just a marketing stunt. And a good one at that.

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by Steve Hall    May-31-11    
Topic: Racy, Video, Viral



Jennifer Aniston Tells Us How to 'Go Viral'

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Hahahaha! Dirty Dancing Babies! Classic. Yea, that and a kick to the nuts, a rainbow, lip syncing, puppies and, yes...a sex tape!

Yes. The viral video has come full circle and gone mainstream. In a new video from SmartWater, Jennifer Aniston tells us all about SmartWater...and how to make a viral because, well that's how we have to sell things these days. We can't just do the obvious thing like, oh, just tell people about the product and why it might be good for them.

Nope. We need entertainment. babies. Stupid pet tricks. Ans sex tapes!

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by Steve Hall    Mar- 8-11    
Topic: Celebrity, Video, Viral



Ass Cam Catches People Staring at Ass

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Here's a video that answers the question all women with nice asses ask themselves each day: who is staring at my ass? As part of a promotion to pimp Levi's Curve ID Skinny Jeans, two women, Jessie and Reanin, with a lot of help from BBDO Auckland, strapped a tiny camera to their asses and took a walk. The result is unsurprising because we all know girls with nice asses get started at.

Of course, Levi's is calling this a huge success because...well, because the video has achieved almost 6 million views since it went up February 14. And that means viral success!

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by Steve Hall    Feb-22-11    
Topic: Guerilla, Viral



Sophia Vergara Pimps Fitness, Bennett's Seeks Biker Babes

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- You just saw her in that controversial ad for Diet Pepsi's new skinny can. Now you can see Sophia Vergara in all her delicious glory in an old ad for Bally Fitness.

- Bennetts insurance company is seeking a collection of new Bennetts Babes with a new video featuring Jennifer Metcalfe.

- Here's the story behind the fake shaving helmut stunt that was developed to promote a real shaving device specifically designed for the head.

- Boston University Adlab students talk about their work for Zipcar and Converse.

- F5, a two day creative conference held April 15-16 at the Roseland Ballroom in New York will explore the intersection of art, design and entertainment.

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by Steve Hall    Feb-17-11    
Topic: Celebrity, Commercials, Industry Events, Racy, Video, Viral