Viral commercials that create publicity are commercials that people enjoy watching because of the creativity, audacity of the participants or humor that strikes a chord with the viewer.
When the right combination of these attributes are found in an ad it goes viral successfully, and in some cases can catch people by surprise. Take for example:
Derrie-Air
This airline was selling seats at the price of $2.25 per pound of the passenger for a cross country trip. Their newspaper ads had banner headlines such as "Nice Tail!" and "We are a carbon neutral luxury airline." And "The More You Weigh, the More You Pay."
The one day ad campaign was immediately covered by CNN and many other news outlets prompting outrage from some pundits and support from others. The airline's website in the print ads received thousands of hits in the first 24 hours after the ads ran. But the airline never got off the ground. Because? It never existed to begin with.
It was a one-day advertising campaign about a fake airline by Philadelphia Media Holdings, The Philadelphia Inquirer’s owner, and Gyro ad agency. At the bottom of the website ran a disclaimer labeling the ad campaign "fictitious" and says it is designed "to test the results of advertising in our print and online products and to stimulate discussion on a timely environmental topic of interest to all citizens." "In other words," it says, "smile, we're pulling your leg."
News agencies later had to retract their stories and the publicity for the newspaper was significant with their no-harm tweaking of media noses, thus proving their point of the effectiveness of a well-crafted print ad. Check out the website:
www.flyderrie-air.com
The Honda Choir Commercial
A choral group was given the task to vocally make the sounds of "what a Honda sounds like." The two-minute video received hundreds of thousands hits and even spun off a "Making of" ten-minute video. The choir makes the sounds of wipers, driving on different road conditions and even shifting of gears. The video still receives frequent hits years after its release. Not many commercials have that type of staying power, yet this ad continues to be spread virally. Check it out at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuyaVcqTgic
What made these two viral marketing ideas get so much publicity? Their creativity and uniqueness. The Derrie-air idea came on the heels of all the airline discussion about charging for two seats for large passengers and the furor that idea created. They capitalized on a newsworthy idea and had fun with it.
The Honda ad was viral in its creativity and appealed to their buying audience. Neither idea warranted expensive computer graphic ideas, or was overly expensive to do (keeping in mind Honda was going to purchase a television ad to begin with.)
Sometimes something as simple as two guys sitting in a car having funny conversation for 30 seconds like the hugely successful Sonic ads will do the trick just fine.
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