Two Attempts To Stop The Harlem Shake - W+K NY & Freddie Wong

I've never seen a meme explode so quickly as the Harlem Shake craze (there's currently 4,000 harlem shake videos per day being uploaded).  If you want background on the phenomenon, check out this YouTube trends blog post.  At the same time, I've never seen a meme become so immediately and thoroughly tiresome.  When the anchors of the Today show are doing it, you know that it's time to take it out behind the barn and put it down for good.  Thankfully, people more talented than I are doing their part in putting an official end to this phenomenon.

First up YouTube star Freddie Wong:


And the good people at Wieden + Kennedy New York bringing an old meme into the mix:
And finally, the guys at Vice have a good write up about why the Harlem Shake as currently imagined is but a shell of it's former self and generally sucks.

TomTom - (Almost) Makes A Viral

TomTom, the maker of various GPS navigation devices, positions itself as the navigation option that 'Gives You More.'  They're running a competition/game that gives you the chance at winning 'More' prizes during the holiday season.  Nothing particularly new there.  What is new is their approach to promoting the TomTom Gives You More game.

To promote our new competition at http://www.tomtom.com/more, we really, really tried to make a great video. But because we spent our entire advertising budget on thousands of great prizes and presents for you, this "viral" might not be as impressive as we would have liked. Sorry.

In short, TomTom has admitted that they're creatively bankrupt and instead made an (almost) viral based off previous viral hits.  This is not unlike the Jennifer Aniston Smart Water 'Viral' from a year or so back, but I love the tongue in cheek nature of this video.  For instance, the end of the video states 'We know this 'viral' video probably isn't as impressive as you are used to, but we spent the entire advertising budget on prizes.'

See if you can spot all the various viral video references below.


hat tip: Buzzilla

Radi-Aid - Africa For Norway

The holiday season is upon us...besides being bombarded with consumer messages and saccharine holiday songs, it's also one of the most active times of year for charity organizations soliciting aid and donations.  A little over a week ago the Norwegian Students and Academics International Assistance Fund (SAIH) released an amazing campaign, entitled Radi-Aid.  The faux charity video is a spoof on the typical Band-Aid/We Are The World type call for action videos that are often full of patronizing language and imagery.  The premise is simple...if viewers knew nothing of Norway and saw the Radi-Aid video, what would they think of Norway?  Now apply that logic towards Africa and the aid campaigns that exploit the perception and imagery of a continent full of nothing but poverty, AIDS and crime.

SAIH is trying to reframe the typical fundraising campaign and striving to 'promote a more nuanced image on countries in the global south than is usually portrayed in the media and by some charitable organisations and fundraising initiatives. While there are negative issues that need to be reported and a lot of organisations are doing very important work, we are frustrated at the constant repetition of the same negative images. Since the narrative tends to be the same as it was when development assistance first started some 50 years ago, it might give the impression that none of these efforts have produced any results and thus lead to apathy.'  Check out the video below.
The Guardian has a great article on the campaign and you can read more on the Radi-Aid: Africa For Norway site.

Two Nice Stunt Videos - Sony Xperia & Red Stripe

I keep thinking that stunt campaigns are somehow going to die off, but the public appetite for them shows no sign of slowing down.  What's more impressive is that agencies keep coming up with new and innovative ways to communicate a clear product message through stunt videos.  The latest hot stunt was developed by CP+B Stockholm to promote the new waterproof Sony Xperia phone.  During screenings of the new James Bond film, Skyfall, several  of the waterproof phones were hidden inside free soda cups given to random viewers.  It's a nice way to demonstrate the main USP of the phone in a way that fits nicely into the overall theme and feel of the Bond film.  Check it out below...I do question how the hell the people managed to get a drink without noticing that there was a phone embedded in their massive Coke.


Another delightful stunt comes from Kessels Kramer for beer brand, Red Stripe.  For one day only, a corner store became a giant musical instrument, playing 'A Message To You, Rudy.'  Products on the shelves and items left scattered around the store part of an ad-hoc orchestra, triggered when a customer chose a Red Stripe from the shelves.  Just a really nice way to reward customers who choose your product with a delightful and unexpected experience.  Check out the video below and it's also worth checking out the behind the scenes video as the 'making of...' is fascinating.

Bodyform Responds - The Truth

Many of you have probably already seen this as it's been rapidly making the rounds on the interwebs.  To truly appreciate the response video below from maxipad brand, Bodyform, you need a bit of background.  Two weeks ago a guy named Richard Neill posted a rant on the Bodyform Facebook wall.  As mashable reported, his rant went viral and gathered more than 40,000 likes in 24-hours.  Have a read at the rant below.

Usually that'd be the end of the it...a brief blurb in the never ending story of the Internet.  But wait...there's more!  Bodyform (and their agencies Carat & Rubber Republic) created a brilliant video addressed to Richard Neill.  They created a fictional CEO, Caroline Williams, who calmly and hilariously responds while apologizing for the lies that Bodyform (and other femcare brands) have perpetuated on the male population through years of advertising.  Check it out below.  It's quite possibly the best response video I've ever seen.  Again, it's great to see brands/agencies being agile and quickly responding as a way of tapping into even the briefest moments of zeitgeist.

Felbelfin - Amazing Mind Reader Reveals His 'Gift'

I try not to show 'viral' videos too much on this blog.  From a brand perspective they're pretty much a mythical creature and cloud otherwise rational thought around online video.  Simply put, if viral is your strategy, then you don't have one.  That said, there's been one agency that seems to have cracked the code of producing amazing stunt campaigns that also tie back nicely to a single brand proposition and generate a huge response online.  That agency is  Brussels-based Duval Guillaume Modem.  These are the people response for the Carlsberg stunt with bikers in the cinema, as well as the TNT - Push For Drama stunt.

Their latest video is for Felbelfin, a Belgian financial umbrella organization.  As part of their 'Safe Internet Banking' campaign, they employed a 'psychic' with powerful abilities to see into people's lives.  Volunteers were told they were going to take part in a news show then brought into a white tent. Inside sat the psychic, Dave (btw - Dave seems like a rather normal name for a psychic, no?).  These folks tell Dave their names, he does some laying of hands and then starts telling them things that no stranger should know.  The injuries they have, their romantic situation, medical history, bank balance, etc.

Then Dave reveals his trick. A curtain drops & there's a room full of masked researchers on computers looking up the personal details of each person and feeding it to Dave through a hidden earpiece.

The message appears 'Your entire life is online.  And it might be used against you.  Be vigilant.'

Great piece of work for what would normally be a dry and boring message.  Again, hat tip to the guys at Duval Guillaume Modem.

Pepsi Max - From Youtube To A 30-second Spot

This is a bit old and I meant to post it a month or so ago, but it's still relevant as we see more and more brands working from the inside out.  That is, starting with a digital execution and then translating that to traditional media or into a 30-second spot.  This example comes from Pepsi Max.  In the video, we see Uncle Drew going to attend a pickup basketball game with his nephew.  When one of the other players goes down with an injury, Uncle Drew steps in.  After a slow start Uncle Drew starts dominating and talking trash while the  other players try to figure out how the hell this old guy has such ridiculous game. At the end of the video we see NBA rookie of the year, Kylie Irving, being transformed by Hollywood makeup artists into an old man, 'Uncle Drew.'  The stunt actually relates nicely back to the brand as Pepsi Max is 'the zero calorie cola in disguise.'

The five-minute video is fantastic.  It's compelling enough that 80% of the viewers were still watching at the 4 minute mark.  Pepsi could've considered the 10 million views the video over the course of a month success in it's own right.  This was never intended to be a 30-second spot or to have a presence on TV, but as a Pepsi spokesman says "Once we started looking at the metrics, it became clear that we couldn’t miss the opportunity to bring Uncle Drew to the sport’s biggest stage."  Pepsi decided to run a cut-down version, basically just a teaser for the full video, during the first three games of the NBA finals.  That in turn drove further viewership of the YouTube video, creating a nice virtuous cycle.





Additional Articles: MediaPost | AdAge

[GALAXY Note] Beckham plays Beethoven's Ode To Joy

OK, so it doesn't have much to do with the product, but I still felt compelled to share this version of Beethoven's Ode To Joy as played by David Beckham to promote the Samsung Galaxy Note.

Granted it's not as spontaneously delightful as the Elephant playing the Galaxy Note, but much better than the over the top fake of the previous Beckham Pepsi viral.  See below for some pure 'viral' enjoyment.

Samsung - Elephant Plays with a Galaxy Note!

Samsung has been coming on strong in the smartphone market lately.  According to Cannacord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley, Samsung is the second place manufacturer for mobile carriers in the US behind Apple.  Of course, that's really just an excuse for me to post this delightful video that The Viral Factory created to promote the Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone/tablet.  The video features an elephant (named Peter) playing/interacting with the Galaxy Note.  What I found really interesting (besides the fact that an elephant is playing with a freaking smartphone!) is that so many viewers were skeptical about the authenticity of the video, despite the fact that the description is explicit in saying that this was 100% real, In fact, the Viral Factory posted several behind the scenes videos to demonstrate that no post-production trickery was involved.  I suppose skepticism is to be expected considering how good the execution has become for various hoax campaigns such as those produced by agencies like ThinkModo.

See below for original video and behind the scenes.

Supporting Articles: Inspiration Room | AdFreak