I don’t know how I missed this viral ad from Samsung, but it is one of the best ones I have ever seen and I’m so jealous I didn’t think of it. Tapping into our cultural obsession with cuteness, the video shows various adorable baby animals and how they creatively use the Samsung Ultratouch cellphone (hint: not as an actual phone). This ad combines two of my favorite things: cute animals and miniature dioramas. What could be better?
Last weekend, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade opened up his life off the courts in an unprecedented way. No, it is not another reality show. Wade went live with his life via his Ustream account for the first installment of “3 Under the Tree,” a series of charity events hosted by the Wade’s World Foundation.
Fans could follow Dwyane live for a day on Saturday as he attended a charity event, went go-karting and interacted with followers in realtime, through both Twitter and Ustream. ESPN gave the event a bit of flak for being a PR stunt, but they did note that Wade did reveal a few genuine moments that made him seem a bit more human.
I think this is a brilliant idea, despite what some may say. PR initiative for Wade and his charity? Of course! Effective way of generating buzz for his cause while at the same time making him more accessible to his masses of fans? Definitely! It will be interesting to see if more athletes open up their lives in this manner. Judging by the number of athletes already on Twitter, I have no doubt others will follow suit.
You know those annoying FreeCreditReport.comcommercials with the guitar-playing guy singing a catchy song about how you can easily check your credit report online? Well, it turns out that FreeCreditReport.com isn’t exactly free (who’da thunk it, with the word “free” in the name and all?). When you sign up to receive your credit report, you have to provide your credit card information, and if you don’t call and cancel within 7 days (and they don’t make it easy for you — I’ve done it), your card is charged $15 per month.
Apparently, many people have been reeled in by the catchy jingle and charged for their supposedly “free” credit report. Now, the FTC is fighting back with their own online videos — complete with a guitar-wielding dude and catchy jingles — to promote AnnualCreditReport.com, which is actually 100% free. The videos are spot-on parodies, and it’s very clever of the FTC to give them a dose of their own medicine.
Whether you love him or you hate him, Gary Vaynerchuck is obviously engaging. His web marketing book called Crush It is actually crushing the bestseller lists.
Anyway, here’s a clip of him being a lunatic on Fox and Friends.
Saturday was a wash — literally and figuratively. Thanks to monsoon-like rain, replete with thunder and lightning of Hollywood proportions, I literally only left the house to walk my dog. Sure, I kept busy by cleaning my bathroom, color-coding all the clothing in my closet and making guacamole…but eventually it was time to zone out and pick a new TV show to immerse myself in online. Yep, I turned to Hulu — the best companion to the boredom-stricken since YouTube.
I watched about five episodes of Modern Familyand caught up on my current fave, Glee. Now, in the interest of full candor, I happen to be one of those people who holds out on technology. I jumped from an old school cell to a BlackBerry, an iPod mini to the Touch, and Nintendo NES to Wii (yeah, I still have Duck Hunt). I have yet to cross over to DVR or Tivo fanaticism, but as I watched episode after episode (and let’s not forget all those commercials), I realized that it’s been a while since I saw my favorite shows in primetime. But how much is that convenience worth to me?
Hulu, owned by News Corp., NBC and Disney, announced this week that the site will start charging for content in 2010. According to a recent poll by Lifehacker, only 17% of Hulu users would still visit the site if they had to pay for content. Um, duh.
Do you like Star Wars…like, more than a friend? Do you stay up nights thinking about Princess Leia in her bikini as you practice wielding a “laser” sword in your garage? Chances are, if this sounds like you, then you probably also own a webcam. (Actually, if this sounds like you, then you probably also have a burning desire to wear a cape and speak in a secret language that is a cross between C++, pig latin and Vulcan — but that is a non-sequitur.)
Anyway, the Star Wars: Uncut project capitalizes on the number of Star Wars fans who also enjoy making viral videos. The project is simple — they’ve divided the movie into 472 15-second sections. Fans can then log on to the site, claim a section and film their own version of that snippet.
Once all of the sections are complete, they will be strung together to create an entirely crowdsourced version of the film. It will be perfect for people who liked the original, but wish it starred more awkward teens who “think prom is stupid anyway.”
In fairness, some of the 15-second offerings are really amazing and the project concept is totally brilliant. I, for one, am hoping that this is a trend. I’ve already picked out the 15 seconds of Mean Girls* that I’d like to re-create.
Earlier this month, the airline KLM gave online personality “Mr. Safety” quite a wedding gift, with two business class tickets to anywhere the carrier flies. The catch was that online viewers got to pick the destination, after visiting KLM’s destinations page to peruse where the carrier flies.
According to KLM, 14,000 people connected to the site in just one week and 4,000 registered their e-mails for KLM updates, which is a pretty good ROI in terms of getting in front of potential new fliers.
So will KLM give the FWD Thinking blog some free business-class tickets if we let our readers choose the location of the M Booth holiday party? I’m pulling for Rio de Janeiro…
It all started yesterday, when rumors circulated via Twitter and Facebook that Braff was dead, based on a fake webpage put up by prankster Chris Laganella in 2007.
Braff took charge by posting a video on YouTube to let everyone know that he is very much alive.
This is the kind of “viral” that every company dreams of.
Remember last Thursday? How happy you were when Tracy Morgan joined Twitter? Well, as Fraulein Maria said, “When God closes a door, he opens a window.” I’m here to tell you, the reverse is true too. Rather than explaining this tenuous metaphor, I’ll just give it to you straight: tween megastar Miley Cyrus (formerly @MileyCyrus) has quit Twitter.
Why would Miley introduce humanity to the worst suffering it has ever known? She says wants to live a more private life. And to PROVE that she wants to live a quieter, more introspective, Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond-esque life, Miley created a rap video explaining her decision-making processes. Now, this isn’t some two-bit, impromptu Miley + webcam joint. There is editing, backup dancers and text treatments that will remind you of your middle school television station. She means business!
Sensing the gravitas of the situation. Miley’s superstar dad, Billy Ray (@BillyRayCyrus), stepped in to try to tweet some sense into his daughter. (Take note, Nobel committee!):
“Miley. You are a light in a world of darkness. You were born ‘Destiny Hope Cyrus’ for a reason. You can’t leave everyone now. We r countin on u.”
Unfortunately, because of the 140-character limit, he was unable to incorporate the words “achy breaky” into his tweet. Currently, no domestic or international government agencies have issued any statements of warning or instruction. Until they do, we here at FWD Thinking recommend that you stay calm. This is probably just a stunt and she’ll be back in three weeks, y’all.
Last week, we worked with our client, The Macallan Single Malt Scotch Whisky, to host a progressive Twitter tasting throughout the city of Dallas, Texas. While differing in format from our previous Twitter tasting last June, the marriage of Twitter and Scotch continues to be effective, allowing us to simultaneously interact with local enthusiasts and consumers worldwide—a much larger group than traditional tastings allow for.
To get a better idea of the tastings’ format and ambiance, watch the segment above, which aired last night during Dallas’ local CW news broadcast.
The paradigm of publishing is shifting, evidenced by this week’s Conde Nast closures. Newspapers and magazines need to move with the times, and that might mean literally embracing movement.
Entertainment Weekly and Esquire generated serious buzz with their respective forays into the integration of motion + magazine. What’s next? Check out the above video, which shows where the future of magazines could be headed. It is a fascinating look at what might be in store for a changing industry. It is also a helpful catalyst for thinking about how the public relations industry will shift in response.
Last year, three friends started a Web site, meandgoji.com, allowing people to create their own cereals from a selection of healthy ingredients. Now, to celebrate their 1-year anniversary, they’re asking people to submit creative videos discussing what’s great about the site (and the creators), and new ideas for the future.
You can win a $100 gift certificate, and you get a free sample just for submitting.
First of all, if you haven’t been watching the new show Glee on Wednesday nights, you need to start. Not only is it hilarious and features great musical numbers, they’ve also been doing a great job of online marketing. They’re currently holding a karaoke contest on MySpace, where people can submit videos of themselves singing the songs featured in the show, for a chance to win a trip to Hollywood to visit the Glee set. In addition, the show will donate $1 for each entry to the Grammy Foundation.
Although it has its drawbacks, MySpace is the perfect platform for such a contest, since it is still the social network that focuses most on music. The contest already has hundreds of entries, some of which are rather amusing. It’s fun for everyone! In addition, some of the Glee characters — @RachelBerryGlee and @KurtHummelGlee —have their own very entertaining Twitter accounts. And don’t forget to tune in to Glee tonight on FOX at 9:00 p.m.
I’ve just learned from our beloved receptionist Shelly that an upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly’s print edition will be embedded with a video player that will run ads for CBS shows and Pepsi. All I can think of is how much this baby is costing the network.
Apparently, the ad will arrive in subscriber mailboxes wrapped in a heavy-paper package. The screen, said to be about 2”, will start playing automatically as the page flips open with a speaker embedded below it.
This sounds too crazy to be true — I wonder if it will turn into a collector’s item.
So, you want to “go viral?” I get where you’re coming from – the ROI is insane.
The only question is: what goes in the witch’s cauldron for viral potion? Sheep’s blood, hen’s feet…and what was the other ingredient?Many alchemists have tried, most have failed. You see, they forgot the secret ingredient: butt-catching!
As part of a new promotion for computer manufacturer MSI’s new series of ultra-thin laptops, they’ve posted a video of a man catching a laptop with his buttocks. Not only does he catch the laptop, but he does so in the most improbable of acrobatic positions.
On YouTube, the video currently has about 750,000 views, 2,600 ratings, and 1,900 comments. We’ll see what that’s up to by tomorrow at this time.
If you want to go viral, don’t forget the secret ingredient – something insanely funny.
