This weeks Viral Friday #1 position goes to CPDRC Inmate’s Michael Jackson Tribute. With the sudden loss of The King of Pop there have been many tributes dedicated to Michael Jackson worldwide. The most popular viral video of this week are the dancing inmates of the Cebu Provicial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Filipines. The runner up spot is for Kia Soul Rock. South Korean car manufacturer Kia launched a viral video to promote their new car, the Kia Soul! MacBook Transforms Into Mini Jet completes this week’s top 3. A surprising entry on ViralFriday from an unexpected corner. LaPoste, the French postal service, launched a video with a transforming MacBook and then aiming for conversion to laposte.fr/lre.

Do you want to see this week’s list from 1 to 5? Go on then, and have a look! We’d like to hear your opinion about the virals. Have fun!

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1. CPDRC Inmate’s Michael Jackson Tribute

With the sudden loss of The King of Pop there have been many tributes dedicated to Michael Jackson worldwide. The most popular viral video of this week are the dancing inmates of the Cebu Provicial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) in the Filipines. The 1,500 inmates have now reached worldwide fame with their dance performances to numbers such as Soulja Boy – Crank That and Michael Jackson’s famous song Thriller. That video has been watched over 28 million times.

The dancing inmates have reached over 3 million views since 27th June and have become the biggest rising video of this week. The signature move of Michael Jackson must be the world famous Moonwalk which he introduced and demonstrated on 16th May 1983 during a performance. This dance has been honored with many tributes as well.

2. Kia Soul Rock

South Korean car manufacturer Kia launched a viral video to promote their new car, the Kia Soul! The video takes its viewers to the Motko port in South Korea, where hundreds of Souls are being shipped everyday. At the site of port, over a hundred Kia Souls, driven by professional stunt drivers, create various images with the cars. There is a man waving his arms, a Soul rolling over the road and finally the Soul logo.

The responses to the viral video are positive and the video was posted on Korean portal Tagstory, as well as on a number of influential international blogs such as Streetfire, Topspeed, Carblogger and Autoblog. Within one month the video got over 1 million YouTube views. According to Kia, they wanted to capture the atmosphere of the site as if it was actually happening during shipping. However, at the end they do warn not to try this home!

3. MacBook Transforms Into Mini Jet

A surprising entry on ViralFriday from an unexpected corner. LaPoste, the French postal service, launched a video with a transforming MacBook and then aiming for conversion to laposte.fr/lre. The results are quite extraordinary, especially for this kind of business. The video generated over 400,000 views on LiveLeak and almost 430,000 views on YouTube since June 15, which brings it to a total of over 830,000 views in under three weeks!

Earlier Matthijs shared his thoughts on this video, read his posting here.

4. Web Site Story

CollegeHumor know exactly how to surprise us time and again. Now they have launched the amusing internet musical spoof Web Site Story. For all of those who ever wondered what would have happened to Tony and Maria had they lived in the digital age.

CollegeHumor’s first Broadway musical since Cats, as they like to call it, only went live this Monday but already found its way on the web. In just five days, there are over 3.500 retweets, diggs and stumpleupons. Next, the video got the attention of some major blogs such as Techcrunch and Slashfilms and leading news sites LA Times and Wall Street Journal.

This week CollegeHumor also launched the entertaining video “Luigi finally Snaps“, in which Mario’s famous sidekick finally stands up against his friend. Within a few days, this video generated over 800,000 views on YouTube alone.

5. Nokia N97

The Nokia N97 is the latest “mobile computer” in the Nseries of smartphones by Nokia and was launched last month. To promote the phone in the Russian market Russian agency “Социальные сети” (or “Snetwork”) created the above commercial. The video first aired on Nokia Mobile Camp in Moscow. Maybe it’s not the most original commercial you’ve ever seen and it is slightly predictable, but it does feature the one aspect that, usually, sells: a hot babe. Maybe it’s the difference in culture, or maybe it’s all due to the woman, but the video almost 300,000 views on YouTube and the Russian video portals urk.net, Yandex video, RuTube and Repka since June 15. The viral made it to the second place in the Yandex “most popular” video list and can be found on several Russian blogs and sites.
(Source: Adme.ru)

Ashton Kutcher was so dedicated to win the war that he helped his cause by buying billboards, like the one above, to encourage people to follow him on Twitter.

Kutcher won in a close race. However, the real winner seemed to be Twitter. It got lots of extra free publicity due to this battle.

By the way, this battle was in April 2009. Today Ashton Kutcher has 2,540,912 followers on his Twitter!!

Kutcher’s wife Demi Moore also tweets frequently. Seems like Twitter could be a handy communications tool for couples that are separated frequently due to work…

Another TV Celeb not doing so bad either on Twitter is media mogul Oprah Winfrey. Today I counted 1,795,104 followers on her Twitter.

Our social marketing wizard Barack Obama is doing pretty well as well. His Twitter account showed 1,614,454 followers today.

In the category brands Dell is performing well with DellOutlet on Twitter with 770,162 followers.

In retail my fashion boutique Je m’ Appelle Iggy is performing extremely bad with just 11 followers on it’s Twitter account. Maybe some of you guys would like to subscribe, just to make my numbers and life a bit less painful…

Source: Billboard and Outdoor Advertising

The 4 Special Internet Service Announcements are truly in-your-face and can be (for some people even be) recognizable, but are also uncomfortably untruthful. From S.H.Y.N.E.S.S. to F.O.M.S. or G.R.I.P.E.S. and the last one (possibly NSFW) O.M.G.I.G.P.

People are asked to look up the site Browse for the Better where more information is available on the IE8 features.

A complete new way of advertising for Microsoft. In a way bizarre but funny commercials.

The commercials, though eerie, are more “personal” than the Jerry Seinfeld meets Bill Gates videos.

In all, Microsoft’s new approach seems to be on a more approachable level.

What happened? And why did this campaign ended up like something familiar that happened to Motrin (see the article: The Motrin Case: The Voice Of The Crowd, right here on ViralBlog).  Lets have a closer look at the campaign.

To start of with a hard statement: creativity isn’t what is used to be. Instead of targeting it on an individual, your campaign is being judged by a tribe of peers, who look critically as a mass to the message you try to bring to them.

Your message has to land clearly. Perhaps, this ad could have been a hit 10 years ago. If Bacardi launched it back then, the message could have come clean to a small group of crowd leaders. The ones who lead offline groups and are being respected by the rest of the group. Less communication in between the members and a big believe in the group leader; the one who pushes the message down the pyramid. If this leader loves the message, it’ll spread.

But now there is no more pyramid. It’s a sphere of peers, communicating as a tribe. No leadership, so every individuals opinion counts just as heavy. There is mutual respect for opinions from peers in any social sphere. If a message like this is disliked by a few of these individuals, the rest of the group reviews it once more.

So make sure you’ll let your creative message being tested by a tribe, not by a crowd. Aim for individual opinions in a tribe, not individual opinions in a crowd.

The campaign also caught a lot of traction on Search, Twitter and blogs.

Of course the buzz on Twitter and blogs caught the attention of Bacardi, who came with the following statement;

“Thank you for taking the time to post your story on Bacardi Breezer.

The campaign you are referring to ran in 2008 for two months in Israel. Even though Bacardi Breezer is not sold or distributed in the United States, we immediately notified the appropriate Bacardi affiliate and had this website shut down.

Bacardi proudly celebrates diversity and we do not endorse the views of this site. We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by this site and thank you for bringing it to our attention.”

Sources: The-f-word.org, change.org

Recently our SocialMedia8 have seeded this Motion Mania video for Sony Ercisson. Our ViralTracker is still tracking the reach, impact and ROI of the campaign.

We are not involved in this WTA campaign, but we like to see how Venus Williams smashes the hell out of an American Football defense line. Want to see more videos of the WTA campaign? Check the next ones…

Once regarded as having a weak serve, Elena Dementieva proves those days are in the past, in a spectacular way!

Accuracy: Elena Dementieva

The Danish rising star shows her incredible speed and anticipation in this rather unique match-up!

Speed: Caroline Wozniacki

Visit the campaign site if you like more information about the WTA Tour.

Us Now: a film directed by social anthropologist/filmmaker Ivo Gormley

Us Now follows the fate of Ebbsfleet United, a football club owned and run by its fans; Zopa, a bank in which everyone is the manager; and Couch Surfing, a vast online network whose members share their homes with strangers.

On Dotsub the 1 hour documentary by Banyak Films is subtitled in Croatian, Danish, Dutch, English, French, Georgian, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Vietnamese.

But where director Michael Bay loves over the top explosions and full on action Paramount, the production company responsible for the film, has chosen for a very smart approach to promote the film.

Obviously there are the explosive trailers full of action and hot women, but there is a deeper layer hidden behind that.

For example, two of the characters in the film have real live blogs: Robo Warrior and Leo Ponce de Leon Spitz are two competing bloggers who are looking to convince the world of the existing of robots and their bad intentions.

As evidence they present various UFO spotting like videos and images, including this one in England which clearly shows a Transformer.

The campaign has been created to get the films fans more involved with the back story of the film. Heath Tyldesly, marketing manager at Paramount explains the campaign as follows:

“Extending the narrative of the film into the real world prior to a film’s release is a great way of building buzz and awareness amongst fans and viewers, rewarding them for their engagement with the first film. Directors are really embracing broadening the platforms of the films narrative to include the web and Michael Bay is no exception”.

The characters in the film are not the only ones who have taken up blogging. Michael Bay, director of the film has also joined the blogosphere, often giving his readers never seen footage, fun facts and a look in the kitchen.

We think that companies like EA and Paramount years will create massive online awareness the coming years, by launching game and movie trailers within the social media landscape.

Next the companies will identify game and movie influencers online. And start outreach programs to engage these game and movie influencers with new campaigns and new compelling trailers, that the influencers next will feed, seed and embed into their base of followers, readers and fans.

This will create a massive opt-in base of brand ambassadors for EA and Paramount. Next EA and Paramount will decrease their media budgets since they will have created their own media (opt-in databases) and they will not have to buy attention but enable themselves to earn attention.

This might push advertising and media agencies to the end of the marketing value chain and pull social marketing agencies and digital/ eCRM agencies up the marketing value chain.

Next EA and Paramount will prove and improve their viral marketing ROI and digital content strategies with technologies like ViralTracker and create even smarter consumer connectivity programs the coming years.

So entertainment companies will lead the next step of digital marketing, since they have what consumers’ do like so much: compelling and entertaining online video content. And this is what lacks at most brands and traditional agencies: the creativity, guts and content to engage online consumers.

Earning attention online is simply where most brands have failed completely the last 5 years. And I really doubt if they will be able to make a switch soon. Why do I not believe in this turnaround?

Since successful digital marketing is all about mentality and DNA. And that’s a very difficult change management process for many brands. Some will need years to change their current lineair thinking and traditional behavior. Some will probably not even make it in time…

Source: Sniper Daan Jansonius

Eyecandy and a interesting topic must have done the trick. Watch the viral video of French mail service LaPoste:

The results aren’t extraordinary, but quiet nice. Especially for this kind of business. Within 3 days, the video generated over 300.000 views on LiveLeak and another 200.000+ views on YouTube since June 15, which brings it to a total of a half million views!

The video is aiming for conversion to the action page laposte.fr/lre. When I first saw the movie a few days ago, the special page wasn’t online yet. A typical case of launching the viral video to early hoping it won’t spread that fast. On the special page, there is not a single recall to the video. Not even a piece of text or visual identifier that reminds you why you’re on that part of the website. Missed chance.

The special page looks like it’s target audience is in the age of 50+, not so familiar with computers, internet and the possibilities of digital mailing services. However, the viral has no aim for that target group in any way; most spreaders of this video are the Mac geeks. The folks that love the eyecandy from their favorite machine.

I wonder how and if this video has reached its targets and objectives. However, the video remains very entertaining and highly viral. A great first small step in embracing social media from this traditional mail service provider.

Sources: Wikipedia, TheNextWeb

This weeks Viral Friday #1 position goes to Hot Babes Test Drive Bras. Ultimo, Britain’s leading underwear brand, and theme park Alton Towers Resort have teamed up to test if the Ultimo bras could withstand the G-forces on the different roller coasters. The runner up spot is for JibJab with He’s Barack Obama. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Barack Obama and he has come to save the day! Banksy Versus Bristol Museum completes this week’s top 3. British graffiti artist Banksy obtained fame with his social critical art. After years of exhibiting his art in forbidden public places he now for the first time shows his works in a museum: Banksy vs Bristol Museum.

Do you want to see this week’s list from 1 to 5? Go on then, and have a look! We’d like to hear your opinion about the virals. Have fun!

Get our ViralBlog asset: the Viral Friday Widget! By default the widget shows you the latest Viral Friday, but it’ll also show you the seven most recent postings on ViralBlog.

1. Hot Babes Test Drive Bras

Ultimo, Britain’s leading underwear brand, and theme park Alton Towers Resort have teamed up to test if the Ultimo bras could withstand the G-forces on the different roller coasters, including Rita Queen of Speed and Spinball Whizzer, and to produce an underwear advisory guide. A variety of Ultimo bras were put to the test to check they kept everything in tact - after news spread that girls are having nasty mishaps on the rides this summer. “Many women across the UK wear ill-fitting bras, which can not only cause discomfort and long-term health problems, but also accidental exposure at inappropriate times,” said Ultimo’s MD Michelle Mone. The video of the bra test got over 430,000 views on YouTube since it was uploaded on June 15.

2. JibJab: He’s Barack Obama!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s Barack Obama and he has come to save the day! JibJab, created and founded in 1999 by Gregg and Evan Spiridellis, puts the rock in Barack with a new, over-the-top JibJab original satire, that debuted in front of the President himself last Friday at the 65th Annual Radio & Television Correspondents Dinner! JibJab also made a blog posting on how the video was made, including extra pictures and videos.
(Source: ViralBlog)

3. Banksy Versus Bristol Museum

British graffiti artist Banksy obtained fame with his social critical art. He shocked all of England with his paintings and even broke into the London and Bristol Zoo to portray his works there. After years of exhibiting his art in forbidden public places, Banksy, who’s real identity is still unknown, now for the first time shows his works in a museum: Banksy vs Bristol Museum.

The news and the accompanying film, which shows how Banksy ’secretly’ takes over the museum, fast spread online. Within two weeks, over 300,000 people watched the film on YouTube alone. British blogs discuss ‘Banksy vs Bristol’ and many respond with great enthusiasm, while others wonder if he selling out on portraying his provoking works of art in forbidden places. In a rare statement, the artist himself says: “The people in Bristol have always been very good to me - I decided the best way to show my appreciation was by putting a bunch of old toilets and some live chicken nuggets in their museum… This is the first show I’ve ever done where taxpayers’ money is being used to hang my pictures up rather than scrape them off.”

4. Mtn Dew Game Fuel: Choose Your Side

Mountain Dew (or Mtn Dew), the soft drink manufactured and distributed by PepsiCo, celebrates the launch of their Game Fuel beverages with this commercial. As you may notice, Mountain Dew teamed up with Blizzard Entertainment, the creators of World of Warcraft, to create awareness among gamers. “Choose your Side” at the special website warcraft.com/dew (only if you’re from the US, so keep that in mind while registering). The “Choose your Side” commercial got over 270,000 views, 540 ratings and 584 text comments on YouTube since June 14th.

5. Layar: Mobile Augmented Reality Browser

Layar is the world’s first mobile augmented reality browser and it premiers in the Netherlands. Layar is developed by SPRX Mobile and displays real time digital information on top of reality in the camera screen of the mobile phone. Layar is derived from location based services and works on mobile phones that include a camera, GPS and a compass. Layar is first available for handsets with the Android operating system (the G1 and HTC Magic). The introduction video got over 217,000 views since June 15 and sites like RWW, Engadget and TechCrunch wrote about Layar. Want to know the latest about Layar? Follow @layarmobile. Want to congratulate the team behind Layar? Follow @rhymo and/or @claireboo.

The liquor brand has launched a ‘viral’ advert on Sunday’s episode of Top Gear, in which Bacardi ambassador Michael Schumacher aka The White Stig was a guest.

The video shows Schumacher illustrating how drinking affects your driving.

Bacardi’s Champions Drink Responsibly campaign site features Google Maps, competitions and tips for designated drivers and party planners. The campaign launched in April 2008, with the latest push to include online advertising, TV and print activity across 35 markets.

With just well over 10,000 views since June 21, the video is not really catching on yet.

Source: NMA.co.uk, Reuters