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Showing posts with label viral marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label viral marketing. Show all posts

Braille Burger Video Spreads The Message For South African Fast Food Chain Wimpy.




South African fast food chain, Wimpy, wanted to let visually impaired people know that they offered braille menus in all of their restaurants. To spread the word they built braille burgers that blind people could actually read. With the help of skilled chefs they took sesame seeds and meticulously placed them on burger buns so that the seeds formed braille.





The company’s restaurants in South Africa have used Braille, the international language of the blind, on their menus since 2002 but wanted to spread the message and “let people know that Wimpy is a place where everyone can feel at home”.



Ad agency Metropolitan Republic South Africa had the idea to create 15 individual burgers and sesame seeds were arranged by hand on each one to create a message.

The burgers were delivered to three institutions for the visually impaired in South Africa and taste tested by blind people whose reactions were then filmed. The Art Director for the advertising campaign Dale Mullany said the company were delighted by the response.

"The response we had when these people read the message was worth every moment that it took," Mr. Mullany said.

The video (of which there is also a voice over version for the visually impaired), shown below, claims that through social media and the blind community’s Braille newsletters, the message was spread to 800,000 visually impaired people.



Credits:
Director/Editor: Willian Collison
Executive Creative Director: Paul Warner
Executive Creative Director: Peter Khoury
Creative Director: Wes Phelan
Art Director: Dale Mullany
Copywriter: Keith Manning
Agency Producer: Simone Bosman
Retoucher: Darren Bell
Photographers: (Mike Lewis and Nic van Reenen)
Music: Loyiso Madinga

images courtesy of Wimpy and Metropolitan Republic
news source: African Business Review

Jen Aniston's Sex Tape For SmartWater



Mocking some of the most popular youtube videos, Jennifer Aniston, playing dumb about social media, stars in one of her own. Puppies, Dancing Babies, Double Rainbow and a kick to the crotch help create a virus- er, viral video for the bottled water owned by Glaceau.







I just wish it had ended with her riding bareback saying "I'm on a horse"

Intel's CHASE Web Video Is Kicking Ass On The Viral Charts




To build excitement around the 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i5 processor, Intel launched this action-adventure video titled "The Chase." The spot demonstrates the performance capabilities of the new processors by creating an action-movie style chase sequence that takes place through a wide variety of program windows on a computer desktop.



Ad Age reports that "With 1.8 million YouTube views and its first entry onto the chart, Intel's "Chase" mini-movie makes it to the straight to the top for a good reason -- it's a great action flick with a sexy heroine and two leather-jacket-and-gold-chains bad guys. The campaign won 1.1 million views in its first week alone."


Credits

Advertising Agency: Venables Bell & Partners, USA
Executive Creative Directors: Paul Venables, Will Mcginness
Creative Directors: Paul Foulkes, Tyler Hampton, David Kim
Copywriter: Josh Parschauer
Art Director: Beau Hanson, Dan Kenneally
Director Of Integrated Production: Craig Allen
Agency Producer: Kacey Hart
Interactive Producer: John Eagan
Interactive Design Director: Ezra Paulekas
Production Company: Nexus Productions
Director: Smith & Foulkes
Director Of Photography: Oliver Wood
Executive Producer: Tracey Cooper
Production Manager: Alistair Pratten
Editing Company: Trim
Editor: Paul Hardcastle
Sound Design: Human
Music: Human
Composers: Edmond Dunne & Gareth Williams
Music Producer: Jonathan Sanford
Mix: Play, John Bolen
Color / Flame: Time Based Arts, James Allen & Sheldon Gardner
Aired: January 2011

List Of Words Banished From The Queen's English For Mis-Use In 2011.




SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – It may have been word of the year in some wheelhouses, but "refudiate" wasn't looked upon favorably by many who sent in nominations for Lake Superior State University's 36th annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness, which was released on New Year's Eve.

In a busy U.S. election year, "the American People" told LSSU they were tired of not only "refudiate," but also "mama grizzlies" who wanted their opponents to "man up."

But words and phrases related to technology and the way we communicate dominated the list for 2011, including "viral," "epic," "fail," and the use of websites "Facebook" and "Google" as verbs. "Viral" received the most nominations.

The "back story" on LSSU's popular list began on Jan. 1, 1976, when former LSSU Public Relations Director Bill Rabe and a group of friends each contributed a few expressions that they disliked to form the first list. After that, the nominations stacked up for future lists and Rabe's group, known then as The Unicorn Hunters, didn't have to make up its own list again. LSSU receives well over 1,000 nominations annually through its website.

And now, here's a look at the 2011 list. Get ready for the "wow factor!" It's full of "epic" "a-ha moments" that are sure to go "viral." It's a no-"fail" list that you'll be "facebooking" and "googling" with your "BFFs." "Just sayin'."

VIRAL

"Often used to describe the spreading of items on the Internet i.e. 'The video went viral.' It is overused. I have no objection to this word's use as a way to differentiate a (viral) illness from bacterial." Jim Cance, Plainwell, Mich.

"This linguistic disease of a term must be quarantined." Kuahmel Allah, Los Angeles, Calif.

"Events, photographs, written pieces and even occasional videos that attracted a great deal of attention once were simply highly publicized, repeated in news broadcasts, and talked about for a few days. Now, it is no longer enough to give such offerings their 15 minutes of fame, but they must be declared to 'go viral.' As a result, any mindless stunt or vapid bit of writing is sent by its creators whirling around the Internet and, once whirled, its creators declare it (trumpets here) 'viral!' Enough already! If anything is to be declared worthy enough to 'go viral,' clearly it should be the LSSU Banished Words list for 2011!" Lawrence Mickel, Coventry, Conn.

"I knew it was time when the 2010 list of banished words appeared in Time magazine's, 'That Viral Thing' column." Dave Schaefer, Glenview, Ill.

"I didn't mind much when 'viral' came to mean an under-handed tactic by advertising companies to make their ads look like pop culture. However, now anything that becomes popular on YouTube is suddenly 'viral.' I just don't get it." Kevin Wood, Wallacetown, Ont.

"Every time I see a viral video on CNN or am asked to 'Let's go viral with this' in another lame e-mail forwarded message, it makes me sick." Lian Schmidt, Bandon, Ore.

EPIC

More than one nominator says the use of 'epic' has become an epic annoyance.

"Cecil B. DeMille movies are epic. Internet fallouts and opinions delivered in caps-lock are not. 'Epic fail,' 'epic win', 'epic (noun)' -- it doesn't matter; it needs to be banished until people recognize that echoing trite, hyperbolic Internet phrases in an effort to look witty or intelligent actually achieves the opposite." Kim U., Des Moines, Iowa.

"Over-use of the word 'epic' has reached epic proportions. Tim Blaney, Snoqualmie, Wash.

"Anything that this word describes in popular over-usage is rarely ever 'epic' in the traditional sense of being heroic, majestic, or just plain awe-inspiring." Mel F., Dallas, Tex.

"Standards for using 'epic' are so low, even 'awesome' is embarrassed." Mike of Kettering, Ohio.

"I'm sure that when the history books are written or updated and stories have been passed through the generations, the epic powder on the slopes during your last ski trip or your participation in last night's epic flash mob will probably not be included. This may be the root of this epic problem, but it seems as if during the past two years, any idea that was not successful was considered an 'epic-fail.' This includes the PowerPoint presentation you tried to give during this morning's meeting, but couldn't because of technical problems. Also, the ice storm of 'epic proportions' that is blanketing the east coast this winter sure looks a lot like the storm that happened last winter." DV, Seattle, Wash.

FAIL

One nominator says, "what originally may have been a term for a stockbroker's default is now abused by today's youth as virtually any kind of 'failure.' Whether it is someone tripping, a car accident, a costumed character scaring the living daylights out a kid, or just a poor choice in fashion, these people drive me crazy thinking that anything that is a mistake is a 'fail.' They fail proper language!"

"Fail is not a noun. It is not an adjective. It is a verb. If this word is not banned, then this entire word banishment system is full of FAIL. (Now doesn't that just sound silly?)" Daniel of Carrollton, Ga.

"When FAILblog.org went up, it was a funny way to view videos of unfortunate people in unfortunate situations. The word fail is now used by people, very often just to tease others, when they 'FAIL.' Any time you screw up in life -- a trip up the stairs, a bump into a wall, or a Freudian slip, you get that word thrown in your face." Tyler Lynch, Washington, Iowa.

"Mis-used. Over-used. Used with complete disregard to the 'epic' weight of the word. Silence obnoxious reality TV personalities and sullen, anti-establishment teenagers everywhere by banishing this word." Natalie of Burlington, Ont.

"It has taken over blogs, photo captions, 'status' comments. Anytime someone does something less than perfect, we have to read 'FAIL!' The word has failed us all." Aaron Yunker, Ishpeming, Mich.

WOW FACTOR

"This buzzword is served up with a heaping of cliché factor and a side order of irritation. But the lemmings from cable-TV cooking, whatever design and fashion shows keep dishing it out. I miss the old days when 'factor' was only on the math-and-science menu." Dan Muldoon, Omaha, Neb.

"Done-to-death phrase to point out something with a somewhat significantly appealing appearance." Ann Pepper, Knoxville, Tenn.

A-HA MOMENT
"All this means is a point at which you understand something or something becomes clearer. Why can't you just say that?" Audrey Mayo, Killeen, Tex.

BACK STORY

"This should be on the list of words that don't need to exist because a perfectly good word has been used for years. In this case, the word is 'history,' or, for those who must be weaned, 'story.'" Jeff Williams, Sherwood, Ariz.

BFF
"These chicks call each other BFF (Best Friends Forever) and it lasts about 10 minutes. Now there's BFFA (Best Friends For Awhile), which makes more sense." Kate Rabe Forgach, Ft. Collins, Colo.

MAN UP
"A stupid phrase when directed at men. Even more stupid when directed at a woman, as in 'Alexis, you need to man up and join that Pilates class!'" Sherry Edwards, Clarkston, Mich.

"Another case of 'verbing' a noun and ending with a preposition that goes nowhere. Not only that, the phrase is insulting, especially when voiced by a female, who'd never think to say, 'Woman up!'" Aunt Shecky, East Greenbush, NY.

"Can a woman 'man-up,' or would she be expected to 'woman-up?'" Jay Leslie, Portland, Maine.

"Not just overused (a 2010 top word according to the Global Language Monitor) but bullying and sexist." Christopher K. Philippo, Glenmont, NY.

"We had to put up with 'lawyer up.' Now 'man up,' too? A chest-thumping cultural regression fit for frat boys stacking beer glasses." Craig Chalquist Ph.D., Walnut Creek, Calif.

REFUDIATE
"Adding this word to the English language simply because a part-time politician lacks a spell checker on her cell phone is an action that needs to be repudiated." Dale Humphreys, Muskegon, Mich.

Kuahmel Allah of Los Angeles, Calif. wants to banish what he called 'Sarah Palin-isms': "Let's 'refudiate' them on the double!"

MAMA GRIZZLIES

"Unless you are referring to a scientific study of Ursus arctos horribilis, this analogy of right-wing female politicians should rest in peace." Mark Carlson, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

"These politicians in Congress say 'the American People' as part of what seems like every statement they make! I see that others have noticed it, too, as various websites abound, including an entry on Wikipedia." Paul M. Girouard, St. Louis, Mo.

"No one in Washington can pontificate for more than two sentences without using it. Beyond overuse, these people imply that 'the American people' want/expect/demand all the same things. They don't." Dick Hilker, Loveland, Colo.

"Aren't all Americans people? Every political speech refers to the 'American' people as if simply saying 'Americans' (or 'people') is not enough." Deb Faust, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

I'M JUST SAYIN'

"'A phrase used to diffuse any ill feelings caused by a preceded remark,' according to the Urban Dictionary. Do we really need a qualifier at the end of every sentence? People feel uncomfortable with a comment that was made and then 'just sayin'' comes rolling off the tongue? It really doesn't change what was said. I'm just sayin'." Becky of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

"I'm just sayin'...'I'm not sayin'''…Actually, you ARE saying… SAY what you are saying. DON'T SAY what you aren't saying." Julio Appling, Vancouver, Wash.

"Obviously you are saying it…you just said it!" Catherine Wilson, Granger, Ind.

"And we would never have known if you hadn't told us." Bob Forrest, Tempe, Ariz.

"When a 24-hour news network had the misguided notion to brand this phrase as a commentary segment called, 'Just sayin', I thought I was going to wretch." Casey Conroy, Pleasant Hill, Calif.

FACEBOOK/GOOGLE as verbs

"Facebook is a great, addicting website. Google is a great search engine. However, their use as verbs causes some deep problems. As bad as they are, the trend can only get worse, i.e. 'I'm going to Twitter a few people, then Yahoo the movie listings and maybe Amazon a book or two." Jordan of Waterloo, Ont.

LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST

"It's an absurdity followed by a redundancy. First, things are full or they're not; there is no fullest. Second, 'live life' is redundant. Finally, the expression is nauseatingly overused. What's wrong with enjoying life fully or completely? The phrase makes me gag. I'm surprised it hasn't appeared on the list before." Sylvia Hall, Williamsport, Penn.

artwork and text from -LSSU-

The Pomegranate Phone: Dialing Up Interest In Nova Scotia




Introducing the Pomegranate Phone: A mobile phone, mp3 player, gps system, internet, global voice translator, camera, video player, movie projector, coffee brewer, razor and harmonica in one!



Okay, before you get too excited and start scouring the net for release dates, tech specs and availability, it's not an actual product but an ad campaign ruse launched on October 1st, 2007.

A well-produced false product introduction complete with hilarious video vignettes by Journeyman Films, tech specs, accessories and more, this micro site is a wily subterfuge to introduce you to Nova Scotia's Come To Life tourism campaign, positioning the province as the venue that has a lot to offer.





The micro site is impressively designed and filled with all the demos and charts you'd expect from an actual tech product introduction. Even the voice over and music (by Windom Earle) are great.




However, marketing critics are calling the campaign a bust. (Update: this post has consistently been the most widely read and searched for post on my blog since this campaign broke and still is one full year later - editor)

Jeff White of Brightwhite says:

"Viral marketing is great, but the fact that Nova Scotia taxpayers have spent $300,000 to foot the bill for this campaign is a shame. Next to no one will have any idea that this even is a site about Nova Scotia. And those that do find this more or less hidden link feel cheated.
 
So, even though lots of people will forward the site to their friends, very few will get to the true nature of what it's trying to say and that makes this a very expensive experiment. You only need to read what people are saying on Twitter to see that the general opinion is that this campaign bombs."

It's even been deemed the Pombomb by tweeters.


Nevertheless, I applaud Novia Scotia for trying something bold and new and without all the actual media placement info, et cetera, I, personally, will refrain from hypothesizing about why it may or may not have succeeded. Besides, it's too soon to tell and I have yet to locate actual stats as far as visitors, etc.

But I will show you some screen grabs, because whether or not the site is driving interest in Nova Scotia, it deserves kudos for imaginative thinking, clever copy, nice design and wonderful videos.

As a coffee maker:




As a razor or shaver:


As a movie projector:

As a voice translator:

As a harmonica:


They even included faux 'goodies' such as a a lucite holder, speaker system and t-shirts:




If you don't respect it as an attempt to be a 'viral' campaign (which, by the way, is not something you can set out to do, but instead a campaign may become 'viral' if one is lucky), at least take a look at it for entertainment.

credits: The campaign was produced by Bristol Group, Egg Films/Hatch, and Breathe Media.

* Art Director: Dan Couto
* Copy writer/creative director: Albert Ianni
* Production Manager: Collette Snow
* Designers: Andrew Grantham, Michael Gatto
* Internal Programmer: Melissa Castle
* External programmers/designers: Breathe Media
* Production/Post: Egg Films/Hatch Post
* Actors/Models: Christopher Killam, Lita Lewellen, John Beale, Laura Bleasdale, Andrea Wilson, Pasha, and others

Special thanks to Alex Asher Sears!

The Pomegrante Phone


If you are a fan of clever 'misdirects', you'll love the TATTOO YOUR HEART site for the launch of Vikunja. See that here.

Viral Maketing Better Than Product: Bullet Proof Baby.



UPDATE: In 2007 I blogged about Bulletproof baby- what I thought was a company that made actual Bulletproof baby gear and infant safety protection. Even then I thought it seemed absurd, I didn't make the leap to the fact that it was part of a marketing rouse (nor did slashgear, gawker, metro uk and many other sites and bloggers) for a then soon to be released film.

Since then it has come to light, that the entire site, the products and the wildly shocking video were all part of a 'viral' marketing plan for what must have been an awful film called Shoot 'Em Up starring Clive Owens, Paul Giamatti and Monica Bellucci that was released in 2007.


the plot synosis: A man named Mr. Smith delivers a woman's baby during a shootout, and is then called upon to protect the newborn from the army of gunmen. The movie promised a lot of shooting (at one point Clive Owen even shoots the umbilical cord off a newborn).

Sadly, the site, the viral marketing video (the video shown below in which a mother is firing an automatic weapon at her baby clad in a bulletproof stroller) and the products within are far more interesting than the film turned out to be. See for yourself.

My post as it ran 2 years ago (now with a few parentheticals and addendums):



Can only afford a house in a not-so-safe neighborhood? Afraid to raise kids in a geographic area that's got a safety rating of 2? Fear no more! Bulletproof Baby Gear is here. The following products are not a joke, and what blows me away (pardon the pun) is that almost everything is out of stock.

Need a bullet proof stroller? Cost is $599.00 and it's sold out.


How about a Baby Flak Vest (seen below)? $70 and sold out.

Baby's first gas mask? My First Gas Mask runs $264.00 and is out of stock.

How about a riot helmet, a shield?
My first D4-55 riot helmet:


a Bullet proof crib? Yep, they're all sold out.


The toddler taser:




Watch them shoot up the baby stroller in their demo video (now uncovered to be a viral marketing ploy):


They also have some fun and well designed logos (see below) for the faux company and you can buy real merchandise from them at their cafepress store here.


The founders:

The 'now known to be phony' story behind the company:
Welcome to Bullet Proof Baby Industries, the baby protection specialists. I'm Stella Stevenson, Founder and CEO of BPB Industries. I've been an industrial designer all my life, and decided to establish 'bullet proof baby' when my first son, Randy, was nearly killed in a drive by shooting in 2004.

When stray bullets hit the pram but narrowly missed my son, I realized there was a gap in the market for a range of products to protect babies in today's increasingly violent society. Since founding the business in 2005, we've gone from strength to strength, adding new products to our line, and winning awards for our product design innovations.
Please note that due to recent events, demand for some of our products has been high and as a result some may be temporarily out of stock. Make sure you check back soon! Make your baby safer today, with Bullet Proof Baby industries.
----Stella & Brian

I had never heard of the movie written and directed by Michael Davis (perhaps you did?) despite it starring 2 of my favorite male actors and was put out by New Line Cinema.


see bullet proof baby here.

learn more about the movie here


Other Phony Viral Sites:

POMEGRANATE PHONE

Another viral marketing rouse that has continued to fool the public and garner a great deal of attention,is that of the faux Pomegranate Phone. I am still amazed how many of my readers write to me requesting the price or where they can purchase it.

TATTOO YOUR HEART
And then there was this phony site and service to promote a new music release from Vikunju, promising to tattoo your actual beating heart:

Betcha Haven't Seen A Pubic Hair Couture Show. Now You Can. Viral Video For Remington.






Well, after reading this and watching the accompanying video, you can say you have. The 2006 fashion show and video (shown below) was a viral marketing ploy for Remington (smart, huh?).



This viral video for Remington was directed by James Rouse at The Viral Factory. Editor was Justin Trovato at Jigsaw.



Below is text from the faux website for Stefane Monzon (no longer in existence):

THE SHOW
This summer we were able to premiere our first collection at the L.A. fashion week. Spurred on by the limits of conventional fashion we decided to showcase our very own minimalist, stripped down approach to it: welcome to follicular fashion! Thanks to our main sponsor Remington this ambitious project has been a tremendous success so far spawning a new class of events all dedicated to the motto of “It’s what’s on the outside that counts.

Below: Stefane Monzon prepping the model's pubic hair.


THE PHILOSOPHY
What do people see when they look at you? Do they see your inner beauty? Your good ideas, your friendly thoughts, your small-time visions? Let me assure you: they don’t. It’s what’s on the outside that counts. My designs are for people who want to stick out and express themselves.

People who want to experiment with what nature gave them to find out who they really are and who they want to be. My work is about individuality. It’s about expressing yourself. It’s about finding the beauty where no one has looked before. It’s about being inspired by the fullness of life around you. Absolute freedom that’s what I’m after: freedom to expose yourself, freedom to express yourself, freedom to grow a design on your body to explore the beauty of unconventional creativity.



Learn how to style your own pubic hair with the book below!

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