Obviously straight away there was the desperate attention seekers claiming it to be fake straight off the bat, but Nokia have since launched the individual tricks in a separate, slowed down version of the video. Great content exposure Nokia, well played.

As for the branding, Nokia are introducing their Nokia N8 handset, complete with a snazzy camera that they are claiming to be one of the best on a handset to date…I think this was before the iPhone4 came out with high resolution, full HD capabilities and a built in editing suite.

Regardless, it does look like a very good product and this is a great little viral.

Im pretty sure that a staggering amount of people would be over the moon with such a thought. It must be the same feeling a person has when they realize; “Holy sh*t….Im really good at football…Holy SH*T…Im going to make a massive amount of money from doing one of the most favorite things in my life!”

That must be a pretty special feeling

Its exactly what is happening to Rhett and Link.

These two friends started out making some really quality, shoe string budget viral videos. Just as many other millions of people have done on YouTube. But it didn’t take long before the pair where snapped up by McDonalds to perform a stop motion remake on their classic, T-Shirt Wars, which received over 4 million views and counting.

These guys dreamt the dream, and woke up in the wake of its reality. McDonald’s knocking on their door, asking to do a promotional film for them, was just the beginning. They have gone on to work for a vast number of brands and have developed their hobby into a full time, well played production service.

They are creative geniuses at what they do. They have produced over 200 short films, as well as music videos, and have been recognized as “Internetainers” to the world. They don’t actually like the term viral video, but unfortunately that term will stick around a while longer, but I certainly see the point they make.

They are on a rising list of internet stars who have been asked to replicate a promotional film for a brand with their own creative twist. This is certainly proving to be a rising industry and worthy enough to one day compete with the giant of promotional films, Television advertising.

Here is one of their latest productions which soared its way into the viral charts effortlessly because of their huge fan base that already exists.

when combined with a team of stop motion fanatics who know what they are doing, two companies who are looking for some viral stars, and an ad agency who thought the two would make a perfect mix = A well funded and produced piece of online media and you have another example of how people from YouTube and other video sharing network sites have found fame and fortune from their creativity online, and asked to reproduce that for a company viral.

Home made stop motions are great, and I hope they never die out due to the larger corporations funding YouTube antics, but there is something very satisfying about seeing a production that has been well epuiped and well funded, yet ran by the same guys who did it without all that momentum and funding. You just know that they put their all into it when it was free, so an even bigger effort and performance will follow now that it is paid for.

I have attached the behind the scenes clip underneath too so you can see the team behind it all and how they did it. Stop motion is a long, long process. But the finished result tends to be spectacular.

The question is who will step up to the fast lane and take the plunge down the slide, instead of the normality of the stairs and conformity of society.

The experiment is launched on the back of Volkswagens Social Media campaign combined with the new Polo GTI, as it joins the online world with a Facebook fan page and a twitter account. This step up to the online media world is more than welcome by Volkswagen who produce some top quality automobiles. Its a clever viral, that whilst lacks complete originality still has some great aspects, the main being that it is carried out in a social environment where the public are unaware of what is happening. This has proved time and time again to be a winning formula for viral campaigns.

Its a little surprising to be honest because I think its a fantastic clip. There’s a nice soundtrack, powerful slow motion footage of the African culture and attitude towards this World Cup, and of course there is some big names in here from the African teams.

Its a great branding video for Puma but has yet to grace the global viral charts. This was found in the UK charts with only half a million views. Now that is clearly a lot of views but compare that to Puma’s main rivals during these world cup and they have missed the mark.

Its a great shame and I do hope that people start sharing this more and more because its astonishingly better than a lot of world cup ads. Take for example Pepsi’s attempt to bring African culture and love for football into their viral…big names, cheesy production yet it gained millions of views.
This is a powerful production that shows off true culture and passion, great skills and a wide variety of all ages showing how people enjoy, watch, follow and play the beautiful game.

Compare this to Adidas Star wars edition – truly great viral, full credit due. Nike, Write the future – again fantastic viral and the ongoing sharing stats will prove that time over. Puma, The journey of Football….Its a different route to the other two but its the best of its kind.

It deserves better!

I hope you enjoy it and share it round your various social media circles

Not too far from the truth…

This is a collaboration between Nivea, Cosmopolitan and some music and YouTube stars. Whilst appearing to look like a regular music video, you can soon tell by the constant and repetitive lyrics that this is some form of viral collaboration.

Does it work?

Its certainly impressive, and eye catching but I think more time could have spent to promote the brands behind the lyrics. There is a scene with all the girls standing together dancing, forming the words Nivea. They all have glow sticks and a flash of an overhead shot during the video gives a snippet of what the word is. A bit more time could have been spent here, as it is an impressive shot.

So my conclusion is that it is an good video, but an annoying song. The main reason it is annoying is because of the repetitive lyrics and uncertainty to whether they are meaning to promote the brands. Im a little disappointed its number 1 in the viral charts at the moment. But im pretty confident thats due to teenage boys seeing girls in bikinis as the thumbnail – not appreciating the video as a good viral for the brand.

Acted out by Americans, the sketch involves a BP board meeting discussing how best to solve the current problem. This time the problem is coffee spilt over the table…not quite as devastating for sure, but a crisis nonetheless!

This disastrous situation leads the whole team down a number of avenues and tactics to solve the problem. All are thwarted by the impossible spillage and the blame and responsibility is shifted round the group.

It is a pretty funny parody of a not so funny situation with a cheeky cameo from Kevin Costner too. Definitely worth a watch however and with nearly 5 million views on YouTube alone Im sure the rest of the world agrees too.

Featuring the likes of David Beckham, Daft Punk, Snoop Dogg, Franz Beckenbauer, Noel Gallagher, Ian Brown, Ciara, Jay Baruchel, DJ Neil Armstrong, not to mention the original cast and settings from Star Wars – It even has the same music with the characters interacting with the original footage as if they were always a part of it.

This clip from Adidas Originals went viral in June and has already collected 3.2 million hits on YouTube alone. It displays a wide range of their products from shoes to polo shirts, and includes a selection from smart to casual, modeled by the array of celebrities.

I imagine this is the kind of advert that they all wanted to be in and had a lot of fun doing, Star Wars is such an iconic film saga and a brand in fact, that its almost supporting the Adidas brand with an even bigger brand, itself.

I don’t have anything negative to say about it, I think its a great advert that allows you to relive a famous film scene with new characters and you have the added bonus of spotting which celebrities are taking part throughout the clip.

Great viral.

Now compared to the likes of those adverts, all striking the same World Cup theme – this clip from Pepsi has failed to get as wide a reach than the others. Not for the lack of trying though, the campaign features Lampard, Drogba, Arshavin, Kaka, Messi and Akon…certainly some big names there, but it lacks the same level of interest than the others and seems to rely on the quality of the big names involved to make it viral rather than the content of the ad.

There is no real tricks or flare from the players and the concept is a little strange and unexplained to say the least…Im not expecting an introduction middle and end here, but why are they all in Africa without enough money to buy a can of pepsi even? An overly cynical critique perhaps and its not dreadful by any means, but it does not make me excited about the World Cup or the brand – Pepsi Max. Something has not quite worked here for pepsi, who are renowned for creating some pretty special World Cup adverts.

Now these guys are none of the above. But this little gem from Hi-Tec has already collected over 4 million views in over a month. Created by CCCP, an award winning dutch production agency, this agency has captured and delivered exactly what Hi-Tec wanted.

This is a perfect example of a viral video, it has literally made people doubt, believe and question it so much so, that the creators had to release a “Walking on Water – The Making of” video. They also created a lot of pictures and footage of all the staff and sportsmen involved to add more to the viral element – creating a hive of information online ready to be shared across peoples viral networks at the touch of a few buttons.

What I really like more than anything is the comments on YouTube from people:

“Its fake, its definitely fake”
No way man its real!! They even explain it in the making of video!”

This is perfect, they have created a debate amongst the masses and video responses have started as an attempt to justify the cause on each side. This has done wonders for Hi-Tec who were a relatively out of date brand in the sporting world and forced to focus on more mountaineering and outdoor sports. This will have kick started the brand amongst a younger generation and justified its position in the outdoor sports market.

If you are wondering whether its real or not, take a look and see for yourself. But just to save you the trouble of scrolling the web looking for the answer, I have also included the making of video – Which is definitely worth a watch.