Viral Video Ad Mid-Year 2009 Round-Up

Posted on July 10, 2009 in Online Branding, Social Media Marketing

Half a Year of Viral Video Ads in 2009

It is July, and 2009 is already more than half-way over. Here is a list of viral video ads of note for the first part of the year. My pick for most innovative product promotional video was released by Microsoft/XBox last month, and it features their new Project Natal. Director Steven Spielberg was equally impressed with this product, saying that “This is a pivotal moment that will carry with it a wave of change, the ripples of which will reach far beyond video games.” Agency credit goes to World Famous:


The gaming industry continues to infiltrate other product lines, with popular characters making their way into mainstream commercials. Here’s a video released by Mountain Dew and Blizzard Entertainment® last month that uses characters from World of Warcaft. The commercial, which is currently running, promotes two new Mountain Dew flavors, Game Fuel® Citrus Cherry and Game Fuel® Wild Fruit:

Choose Your Side for Mountain Dew by BBDO

My honorable mention for most crowd-pleasing video goes to Taco Bell, and features Snowball the dancing cockatoo. This ad promotes Taco Bell’s new smoothie drink, the Fruitista Freeze. Viewers can forward this video to their friends telling them that they have been Colada’d, Taco Bell’s much-friendlier version of the Rick Roll:


The following is a list of other popular viral videos that have made their way to our computer screens this year:

Most Valuable Puppets featuring Kobe, LeBron and Lil’ Dez, for Nike by Wieden & Kennedy
T-Mobile Dance promoting Life’s for Sharing, filmed in Liverpool Street Station, by Saatchi & Saatchi, MediaCom
Ken Block’s Gymkana Two Project for DC Shoes, guest appearance from DC team rider, Rob Dyrdek, by Mad Media
Audrina Partridge Teriyaki Bikini Burger for Karl’s Junior, by Mendelsohn Zien
Test Drive Bras for Alton Towers Resort and Ultimo, produced in-house
Eyebrow Dance for Cadbury by Fallon

Finally, this viral video gets my vote for most artistic and creative, and it just happens to have been filmed in Evision Worldwide’s hometown city of Chicago. By Diageo Ireland, this ad was shot by award winning Director Chris Palmer and written by Dave Henderson and Richard Denney. The commercial was filmed over five days from an actual Chicago train. Overall, the film crew remained on the train for 50 hours in temperatures that were often below freezing. The train ran every day on the usual schedule, and rode at exact speeds to match the pace of the song. Each lyric had to happen at exactly the right moment for film capture. The actors stayed outside for as long as ten hours per day, also in freezing temperatures, and often in costumes that were not weather appropriate.

The song, “All Together Now” was written by Lennon & McCartney. Originally recorded by the Beatles in 1967 and released in 1969, it is performed here by The Hours. The band wanted to keep the recording as organic as possible. They recorded in their hotel room using basic equipment, and some of the percussion was even made in unusual ways, such as banging a fire extinguisher against a metal heater: