Top 10 Viral ads of all time

Here's a great way to waste an half an hour or more: checking out the top 10 viral ads of all time, as featured in The Times online (thanks Mark!).

This whole area fascinates me. The YouTube-ableness of an ad is starting to become a new measure of success; and five years ago this was not even on most people's radars. How well the ad works in bought-for media is one measure of success. But brand teams are increasingly interested in how many people have seen the ad on the internet as well. And there are now specialist agencies that help teams understand what makes an ad "infectious", such as GoViral. This increased interest in viral advertising could work one of two ways I think.

Optimistically, it will stimulate creation of communication that is, as the article says, "So compelling that prospective customers forward it to their contacts quickly building up an audience of millions." However, it could also end up with agencies creating "sponsored entertainment": ads with viral potential that do nothing to sell any more of the product or service. Case in point is the list of attributes of the ideal viral campaign suggested by Go Viral's chaimen, Jimmy Maymann, who put the top 10 list together: "edgy, surprising, original, erotic and emotional – and taps into popular culture". Does feel like an invitation  for sponsored entertainment huh? And in his notes on why these 10 ads were chosen there is plenty of mentions about creative awards, and nothing about selling stuff.

So, I have split them into groups myself, based on whether they have pure sizzle/emotion, or a bit of sausage/product as well.

SAUSAGE and SIZZLE - pushes the product, at least a bit
NIKE (R10 football boot): "more than 50 million views globally. Featuring world famous soccer star Ronaldinho hitting the crossbar no less than four times, without the ball touching the floor. From Framfab, in Denmark". You do the shoes being taken out of the box, but the R10 model is not promoted; rather, its just Nike Football that is communicated
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsO6D1rwrKc

X-Rated, not for in-office viewing: AGENT PROVOCATEUR: "Kylie Minogue rides a velvet bucking bronco wearing nothing but lingerie from Agent Provocateur. More than 360 million views – and still counting – more than five years after its release." Interestingly, this is a product demo of why Agent Provocteur is "the most erotic lingerie in the world"!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HztQbRpKcMo

JOHN WEST SALMON: Ah, here we have some sausage/salmon! "A John West employee fights a grizzly bear off to land a fish – just to go that extra mile for quality. More than 300 million views and executed by Leo Burnett."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOpKFPEah3E

BERLITZ: "A viral video campaign featuring a language difficulty in a European coastguard station developed by BTS United Oslo, and originally pointed to a web site where people could download it and send it to their friends. By now - more than a year after the launch of the viral - the clip is represented in more than hundred versions on Youtube alone."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrYRY6kx550

PURE SIZZLE - tries to create emotional connection
QUICKSILVER DYNAMITE SURFING: "How to go surf in a country without waves: a group of young men throw a bundle of dynamite into an urban lake, by Danish Saatchi & Saatchi. Watched by more than 20 million people and four days after launch, it appeared on approx. 95 per cent of all surfer related websites"
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6xfBNxNds0Q

CARLTON DRAUGHT BIG AD: "Created by George Patterson and Partners (Young & Rubicam) of Melbourne. Released on the internet two weeks before being shown on television. Just 24 hours after release, the Big Ad had been downloaded 162,000 times and within two weeks it had been seen by over one million viewers in 132 countries. That number has since grown at least twentyfold".
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aWDNy43ATjc

X-Rated, not for in-office viewing: TROJAN GAMES: "In 2003, to launch Trojan Condoms in the United Kingdom, the "official" web site for the so-called "Trojan Games" was created with several clips by UK-based The Viral Factory. Viewed 35 million times. Now four years old the site is still active." [but where is the brand?!]
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AbTSmOS_m6Q

DOVE EVOLUTION: as posted on here last November.

DIET COKE & MENTOS BY EEPYBIRD.COM: Posted on here.
Eepybird’s website
Spoof site

MARK ECKO – STILL FREE: "an ideological statement on the First Amendment. Has generated several million views worldwide"
www.stillfree.com

Comments

[Umakant]

You're right about titles. The other thing I've noctied is that if you can get a lot of views fast when you launch a video you can get on Most Viewed' lists for different categories and then you start to get big traffic. I tried the service he mentioned for my FAMILY IQ marekting video. AWESOME. I'm already seeing my video rise in YouTube's search results. From nowhere to #3. Pretty damn great. It's paying for itself quickly.VA:F [1.9.6_1107]please wait...VA:F [1.9.6_1107](from 0 votes)

[Franz Perrigo]

These videos have garnered success because f their marketability. Videos that converses with their target market is what often captures the buyer's fancy. Combine that style with some wit and humor, and you got yourself a viral.

[Glenn Evans]

These show how viral advertisements shine in the world wide web, they grab the attention of everyone with their funny or heartwarming messages, in which the people will spread it to their friends over the internet to create a chain reaction, leading to high view counts, until it becomes a sensation.

[Kristofer Mencák]

Hi,

thanks for mentioning us!

I agree that there should optimally be both "sizzle" and "sausage". What's difficult for most campaigns though is to evaluate the influence the viral part has on sales and awareness, as it's normally part of a larger package, with activities in several channels/formats.

Best regards,

Kristofer Mencák - GoViral

[trish]

Great videos!!

But what are the Top Ten Brands right now and why?

And yes we know innocent will be on the list...if not number 1. :-)