1. Product Testing Institute – Models – Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson has released this series of online video ad campaigns for the mobile phone Xperia X10. The viral video commercial “Product Testing Institute” is featuring several focus groups putting smart phones through their paces, from toddler, senior citizens, surfers, guidos, models, and glam rockers. The five different videos have all together generated more than 2.4 million views and over 50.000 shares in under a month.

Agency: Dare New York

2. Sesame Street: Smell Like A Monster

Sesame Street has launched a campaign to promote a new season. The classic children’s television program is doing a big push with the
well known blue monster, Grover. In the video, Sesame Street’s Grover spoofs the Old Spice commercial with hilarious results. This video is very interesting, as it recognizes the fact that this year’s most successful campaigns, the Old Spice campaign, has truly become a part of our culture. Sesame Street has their by made it possible to make a spin off with great success. The video has had more than 180.000 shares and over 6 million views in just over a month.

Agency: Sesame Street US

3. New Windows Phone 7 Official Ad

With Microsoft’s rollout of Windows Phone 7, ranking as one of Microsoft’s biggest product launches in recent years, there is a huge pressure on the ad campaign that will accompany it. The Video displays people in all age groups in various situations being more than normally focused on their phone and not realizing what is going on around them. The campaign’s main message is – designed to get you in and out and back to life. Be here now. This is something most people can relate to and is maybe also why it has been so successful until now. With more than 1.1 million views in just under a month.

Agency: Crispin Porter + Bogusky US

4. Motorhead create slow Ace of Spade – Kronenbourg 1664

The new campaign for the French Beer brand “Kronenbourg 1664” is featuring the iconic rock band Motorhead performing a slowed down
version of their classic song “Ace of Spades”. It is 30 years since the song was first written and the track has now been specially re-written by the band for this Kronenbourg 1664 campaign. It is originally a TVC which however works very well online. The video has only had 145.000 views on YouTube so far. However considering that the video is only 2 weeks old it seems like there is more to come. Especially as this is the first video in a new series of unique musical collaborations which Kronenbourg 1664 has planned for the upcoming year.

Agency: BBH London

5. Rise Up Girls – Axe

Another surprising ad by Axe deodorant has shown itself on the web. This rather old video has mostly been aired in France, but has now somehow managed to spread all over Europe. In this ad there are ten hidden women, body-painted to melt into the background like we’ve seen in so many ad photographs before, but this a first for video, probably. The message in this ad is:” why are so many women hiding around this lazybones house? – The Axe effect -. What else can I say – you will at least watch it twice

Agency: Buzzman Paris

6. Megan Fox in “The Tip”

This video produced by Emporior Armani has now released the full version of its suggestive lingerie commercial called “The Tip”, featuring Megan Fox. In this great video we see sexy Megan Fox open the door to her hotel room, wearing close to nothing, as she invites the bellboy inside to serve here breakfast. The Bellboy however soon loses his focus on the serving and is instead very focused on her. Megan Fox was chosen as the new spokes model for Armani to replace Victoria Beckham who has modelled the brand since 2008. The video has over 2,8 million views on YouTube and that is very impressive considering the fact that it only has been on you tube for 5 weeks.

Agency: DDB Paris

7. All Blacks tricks & skill at training – RD – Rugby Channel NZ advert

This video features a training day of the All Blacks players Piri Weepu, Cory Jane and Rene Ranger are seen pulling off a series of unlikely kicks, throws and catches. If this video was real there would at least be a few terrified rugby teams around the world. This viral video made by Sky TV’s Rugby Channel is a another great example of known sportsmen
displaying “supernatural” powers. We have seen similar videos to this with stars like Kobe Bryant and Roger Federer displaying some amazing “skills”. The video has had over 1.1 million views in just over a month so that is actually quite impressive.

Agency: Sky TV’s Rugby Channel

8. The Phillips wake up light.

The Wake-up Light from Philips is in this video undergoing the ultimate test. In one of the world’s most northern places on earth, where the sun does not shine for four long winter months. Here, residents have each received a Wake-Up Light for thorough testing. Filmmaker Doug Pray, director of Art & Copy, is making a documentary of the experiment, plus five films of villagers. The video has only received 46.000 views within two weeks wich is not rather impressive considering the content, but newer the less worth a look.

Agency: Tribal DDB, Netherlands

9. Professor Green – ‘Coming to get me’ – Doritos

Doritos have teamed up with a host of artists around the world for their “Late Night” campaign. In September news was leaked that
Rihanna joined the campaign. Lately the U.K. rapper Professor Green also joined in and the first results were immediately shown on to the web with a lot of online video views. This new 360 campaign by Doritos focuses on high consumer involvement with giving a free teaser by showing this video and if the consumer wants to see it with the new 360 feature they have to visit the Doritos’s YouTube channel. (http://www.youtube.com/doritosuk)

Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO London

10. The Greatest Race Never Run – Boag’s Draught

The Australian advertising company – Holler Sydney – has just created the world’s first Facebook horse race. It might sound complicated, but it is actual very simple. To celebrate the 150 years anniversary of the Melbourne Cup, Boag’s Draught has set up a virtual Race where the 25 best horses to ever have run the Melbourne Cup (Australia’s largest horse race) race. Each Horse has their own Facebook page and the more likes/followers they get, the faster they get propelled to the finish line. The actual promo is on the bottle caps where you have to collect the winning trifecta. This is a great combination of online video and social media. The video has had close to non views but is still on
our list as the idea is new and innovative.

Agency: Holler, Sydney

1.    Tipp-ex – A hunter shoots a bear

The ad is a new type of interactive video introduced recently by YouTube, in which the site along with the video becomes part of the advertisement. In this case users are asked to create their
own ending of the story. The video is originally titled “A hunter shoots a bear,” but due to – Tipp-ex correction fluid – users can replace “shoots” with anything they want. And there are videos
for almost anything you can think of. Yes, also that thing!!!

Agency: Buzzman – Paris, France

2.    Diesel Sneakers – Kick ass

Diesel Sneakers are catching up on the Diesel Stupid Campaign with “Kick Ass”, an integrated advertising campaign also using online video, featuring asses getting kicked in a variety of different
situations. To align with the rest of the “Stupid campaign” Diesel describes their videos like this:” Diesel is different. Diesel is stupid and stupid doesn’t run from anything. Stupid likes to
kick asses”. The videos are very funny and are performing great in regards to views. The latest video has already reached 250.000 views within a few days and with a total of 7 videos until now,
the campaign can expect many more to come.
Agency: Santo Buenos Aires

3.    Samsung – ute little girl has a catchy dance

This video catches the attention of the viewer by introducing a little girl that dances a very special dance. The setting however changes very fast and suddenly everybody in the room dances the
same dance as the little girl, which surprises the viewer in the end. It is a funny movie and the girl is very cute, but this concept is not truly original, as it seems like it has its take-off
in the T-Mobile dance a few years ago. Anyhow the video has received more than 4 million views an around 50.000 shares in little under a month, so they must have done something right.
Agency: The Viral Factory

4.    DC shoes –Ultimate Playground; l’Autodrome, France

The DC x Ken Block Gymkhana racing video series now consists of seven videos and is a true viral internet sensation; these videos have had more than 70 million views online and received numerous
awards. Most recently the Gymkhana TWO video was named one of Ad Age’s “Top 10 Viral Ads” with more than 12 million views within two weeks. This is very impressing considering that the content is
mostly targeted towards men.
Agency: Mad Media, US  

5.    Arab dairy – Never say no to panda

Panda, an Egyptian manufacturer of cheese and dairy products, has dramatically revamped its advertising. The video is build around a somehow ‘crazy idea’ that if you don’t like Panda dairy
products, eat Panda products, or refuse a Panda sandwich, the Panda will kick your ass. Never say no to Panda is in fact a string of new TVCs, which show people refusing to eat Panda cheese, but
they also perform very well online. It has gotten just over 2.5 million views in less than two weeks.
Agency: Advantage Marketing & Advertising/Elephant Cairo

6.    Intel – Intel bass jump

Ever since Intel Finland made the “biggest Intel chime” last year, offices around the world have been trying to come up with new viral campaigns. Now Intel Romania came up with “Intel bass jump”
where they hooted five giant horns with five Intel employees, by dropping them from the roof of their six-storey headquarters. Only about 450.000 have seen the video, but it is still good
content, as offices try to outperform each other in the name of viral content.
Agency: Intel, Romania

7.    Phillips –  Nigel & Victoria

This new viral campaign from Phillips feature Nigel and Victoria, a romantic comedy which broadcasts exclusively online. The series of eight episodes is about Victoria, a popular Dutch gadget
lover that reviews new Philips products on camera. And about Nigel, a marketing manager from Philips, who’s on the set to keep an eye on the review videos. The project is an interesting shift
within online videos as it tabs into the current web series and branded entertainment trends. Newer the less the first episode of the Phillips love story has only received 29.000 views on
YouTube.
Agency: Wenneker.tv, Amsterdam, Holland

8.    Cebu Pacific – Cebu Pacific FAs dancing

This video was uploaded on the 30 Sep. and has by now gotten more than 5 million views on YouTube, which is very impressive. It displays a crew of Cebu Pacific flight attendants carrying out the
safety brief to the tunes of Lady Gaga, while dancing through the cabin. The nature of the video lets the audience believe that it is a passenger who is recording the events and that is actually
working quite well. Great viral content!
Agency: Cebu Pacific

9.    French Connection uk – Youtique

Clothing retailer FCUK has now created something very interactive in regards to online video. The ‘Youtique’ a direct sales channel on YouTube featuring stylist Louise Roe. Roe doles out fashion
tips in annotated videos. They allow consumers to directly purchase the featured items through contextual links to the frenchconnection.com website. Until now it hasn’t hat many views 5.400 only,
but the idea is very creative and it has only been online for a week. Let’s see what happens. 
Agency: Poke, London

10.    Samsung – Memory card testing: Overkill Edition

The video about “magnet-proof, shockproof and waterproof” qualities of the Samsung SD card shows a different way of showcasing product durability. The card is attached to a remote controlled,
camera-equipped vehicle and then subjected to a mini-obstacle course that includes fish tanks and puppy tongues. The question is if it will survive the test? Until now it has only had about
150.000 views which is not allot, but never the less it is quite funny and has potential.
 Agency: The Viral Factory

1. Gillette – Amazing Roger Federer Trickshot

Gillette – Amazing Roger Federer Trickshot This video has been circulating the web in the period leading up to the 2010 US Open tennis tournament. In the video tennis superstar Roger Federer performs an amazing and very tricky shot to knock a can off the head of a crew member during a Gillette advertising shoot. The video, which seems believable but still leaves viewers in doubt whether it is real or fake, has generated more than 6 million views.

2. Heal the Bay – The Majestic Plastic Bag

Heal the Bay – The Majestic Plastic BagThis video – named a mockumentary – is a satirical look at the lifecycle of a plastic bag narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Jeremy Irons. The video details the threats a single-use plastic bag encounters in ‘the wild’ and its journey through “the open plains of the asphalt jungle.” The video has achieved more than 690.000 views and is produced by activist group ‘Heal the Bay’ in support of California’s recent plastic bag ban.

Agency – DDB, Los Angeles

3. SNCF – Bienvenue, Au Revoir

SNCF – Bienvenue, Au RevoirNot long ago, the biggest trend within online branded videos was flash mobs – some videos more entertaining than others. In this video, SNCF, the French National Railway Corporation, have taken the concept a little bit further by making a personalized welcome and send-off for six surprised travelers to promote its online booking service.

Agency – DDB Paris

4. Carlton Draught – Slow Mo

Carlton Draught – Slow MoSlow motion videos have been widely used in the past but this video for Carlton Draught still manages to bring something new to the table with its beautiful execution and funny shots. The video is shot in super slow motion and showcases the daily life at the pub – all accompanied by an amended Puccini soundtrack.

Agency – Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne

5. Cadbury – I Gotta Be Me (Flying Ostrich)

Cadbury – I Gotta Be Me (Flying Ostrich)With the aim to make people feel the same joy they experience when they eat Cadbury Dairy Milk, the focus of this video is an Ostrich and the joy it would find in flying. The video slowly reveals the mission of the Ostrich while the song “I Gotta Be Me” by Sammy Sammy Davis Jr. works perfectly together with the visuals to create a very sweet short story.

Agency – Saatchi & Saatchi, Johannesburg

6. PUMA –  After Hours Athlete

PUMA –  After Hours AthletePUMA has taken a charming new angel on the passion of athletes in this video that honors the After Hours Athlete. The video is part of the new “PUMA Social” integrated campaign in which they “applaud the champions of late night games, from ping pong to foosball to phone numbers, and they wholeheartedly encourage the 5AM cab over the 5AM run.” The focus on everyday people which are just as dedicated as traditional sports athletes is both fun and refreshing.

Agency – Droga5

7. Google – New Baby

Google – New BabyGoogle’s search story video series first drew attention with the widely successful “Parisian Love” video that told the story of an American finding love in Paris. The latest in the series of sweet videos is “New Baby” which tells the (search) story of a dad adjusting to becoming a new father. Google encourages people to make their own search story videos with only a few Google searches and a little music.

Agency – Google Creative Lab

8. V Energy – Pomparkour Ladder Sport

V Energy – Pomparkour Ladder Sport This video shows a group of guys doing some very crazy stunts and tricks. Pompakour is a new urban extreme sport that is a mash up of parkour and ladder climbing. The video is created by V Energy, a brand from New Zealand, to promote their Guarana Energy drink.

Agency – Colenso BBDO

9. Drench – Cubehead

Drench – Cubehead Cubehead is a very well produced – yet a little creepy – video featuring a puzzled man trying to solve his own Rubik’s style puzzle head. With the classic song Oops Upside Your Head by the Gap Band, the man walks down a tube station with a baffled head.  By keeping his brain topped up with Juicy drench he manages to solve the puzzle.

Agency – CHI & Partners

10. ORBIT – The Dancer

ORBIT – The DancerThe second episode in the new web series from Orbit chewing gum is labeled the “The Dancer.” In this episode Jason Bateman is caught in another unusually dirty situation: performing on the main stage of a strip club. Again, Orbit gum is used to clean up the dirty situation.

Agency – Electus / DumbDumb / Energy BBDO

1. Old Spice – Questions (and Responses)

Do you want a man who smells like he could bake you a gourmet cake in the dream kitchen he built for you with his own hands? Old Spice and Isaiah Mustafa – The man your man could smell like – is now back with a new video to continue to the success. In this video, Isaiah is balancing on a log in a lake, swan diving down a rocky waterfall and taking a dip in a hot tub, on a motorcycle – all in one fast-paced gliding sequence. However, this was just the start, as the video kicked off a series of rapid freshly-made personalized responses from the Old Spice man to fans and celebrities asking him questions via Twitter and YouTube. All together, 186 real time customized video responses were created and posted on Old Spice’s YouTube channel – many of the videos have created views ranging from 100,000 to more than a million.

Agency – Wieden+Kennedy

2. Levi’s – Walk Across America

Stop motion videos have proved to be a very good technique for creating successful online video content, and this video is no exception. In only two weeks the video has achieved more than 1.5 million views. The very well done stop motion video features a man walking cost-to-cost across America – as the title indicates – from New York to San Francisco. The production agency and video director pitched the concept of the video to Levi’s, who then bought into the idea and provided free product and sponsorship funds. This may explain the very low Levi’s branding in the video. To document the route of the journey in the video a Google map has been created and there is also the opportunity to watch the behind the scenes video.

Agency – Conscious Minds

3. Dentyne Pure – Epic Rap Battle

Dentyne has teamed up with intertainers Rhett & Link to create what most precisely can be put as a nerdish rap video. In the video, with the help of the breath-cleansing Dentyne Pure, Rhett & Link engage in a macho – yet nerdy – rap battle in order to win the phone number of a diner waitress. Viewers watching the entire four and a half minute will learn that the efforts pay off at the end. On their blog, Rhett & Link ask viewers; who they think won the rap battle? How they think the story should continue? And if they tried calling Tiffany’s – the waitress’ – phone number.

Agency – Rhett & Link / Platinum Rye / PainePR

4. Burn (Coca Cola) – Ride

This short film was created alongside two other short-form documentaries by Coca Cola to promote their energy drink Burn. The video is shot in Mexico City, and takes us through the city in the trails of a couple of – literally – flaming skaters. The aim of the low branded video was not to over-romanticize skateboarding but to create a surreal cinematic feel that was original and authentic to the target group. The two other videos of the series, Peepshow and Playground, feature real-life talented rappers and snowboarders. Whether or not the visually stunning campaign has succeeded in genuinely connecting with these youth cultures is yet to be seen.

Agency – Publicis Mojo, Sydney

5. Samsung – Redneck Hunter goes to Jail and meets a new “friend”

To promote their Bluetooth hands-free headsets, Samsung has created two funny online videos. In the first video, we saw Redneck Hunter – the main character – out deer hunting in the forest only to be outsmarted by Deer Rudolph and Eagle Eye, which ultimately results in Redneck Hunter being confronted by the law enforcing forest ranger. This second video continues the miseries of the Redneck Hunter as he takes the long walk to meet his new cellmate. The video manages to integrate Samsung’s Bluetooth headsets in a humorous twist to the storyline.

Agency – Cheil Worldwide

6. Domino’s Pizza – Domino’s Pulling the Cheese

Domino’s has created a video that shows all the crazy things that are done at pizza photo shoots, and furthermore to let consumers know that Domino’s has made a promise about how they shoot their pizzas in the future. The video funnily uncovers just how unnatural food photography can be. Through the video, Domino’s invites customers to participate in a new sort of photography competition – people can upload pictures without any retouching of their pizza’s to the Dominos site, and earn the chance to have their pizza photos used in an actual advertising campaign.

Agency – Crispin Porter + Bogusky

7. Pepsi MAX – Diner 2pointZero

The cola wars are back with this new video from Pepsi Max that compares the no-calorie version of Pepsi against Coca-Cola’s equivalent Coca-Cola Zero. The video is a remake of the iconic 1995 Pepsi commercial Diner, which compared the longtime No. 2 Pepsi against rival Coca-Cola. As in the original, the 2.0 remake video features a Pepsi truck driver and a Coke truck driver becoming friends in a diner – however it is soon obvious that there is no happy ending to their friendship or the videos. The video definitely plays the nostalgia card, which is clearly marked by a cameo appearance from the original Pepsi truck driver.

Agency – TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles

8. California Skateparks – World’s Largest Skateboard Disaster

A fun filled day outside at a terrain park area unfolded to the World’s Largest Skateboard Disaster video. At the afternoon, the people at the park decided to take out a giant skateboard created by California Skate parks. The owner of California Skate parks, Joe Ciaglia was determined to full-fill his dream to ride his board solo down one of the largest hills in the park. The video shows Joe’s moment of glory. However, even though he was confident in his ride, the enormously over-sized skateboard was not easy to steer and Joe decided to take a last minute jump off the skateboard as it was approaching a big dirt jump as it can be seen in the video.

9. Harold B. Lee Library – New Spice | Study like a scholar, scholar

This video is an example of a quality produced spoof – there are many spoof videos of commercials or other popular content out there that are of low quality and irrelevant; but only few that are well produced and well executed. The New Spice | study like a Scholar, Scholar video is produced by the Multimedia Production unit at the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University as a spoof of the widely talked about and successful The man your man could smell like Old Spice campaign. The video is created with an attempt at using similar setup and shooting techniques to create a similar look and feel. To see the making of the video go to their blog.

10. HP – Hit Print

If your printer could bring your research to life, how would it look? That is the premise of this video from HP. This video is a sequel to a video created by two students back in 2009 called HP – invent. HP liked the first video so much that they officially commissioned the two students to make another video using the same technique. The video includes three HP Photosmart printers used to tell a complex animated narrative when put up in speed. It is a enormous amount of paper that goes through the printers, so it is nice to know that all the recycled paper used to create the video has gone on to be recycled again.

June 2010

1. adidas Originals – Star Wars™ Cantina 2010

This latest video from adidas’ The Street Where Originality Lives campaign combines Star Wars, adidas and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Once again, adidas invites you to follow celebrities such as David Beckham, Daft Punk, Snoop Dogg, Franz Beckenbauer, Noel Gallagher and Ciara. However, the video even more extraordinarily also features appearances from Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. adidas has simply integrated new shots of David Beckham, Snoop Dogg and friends into old original Star Wars footage. The result is a funny and creative re-make of a classic Star Wars movie scene and the 2010 FIFA World Cup taken to a whole new galaxy.

Agency: Sid Lee, Montreal