Friday, 2 April 2010

Old Spice YouTube Ad



I heard about this video through word-of-mouth from some colleagues. Naturally, I was inclined to check it out after hearing all the fuss. This advertisement, although not aired on TV, has had over 6 million hits on YouTube. Looks like I'm not the only one vulnerable to viral marketing. What implications does this advertisement have on the nature and distribution of advertisement nowadays?

17 comments:

MelissaBA said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

i'm on a horse
ahahaha

Sam said...

"What implications does this advertisement have on the nature and distribution of advertisement nowadays?"

I think this advertisement is similar to many we see around in the sense that it loosely links things we like and perceive as sexy and desirable, and fun to a random product, even though those activities don't really have anything to do with the product. I think the implication is that the company is taking advantage of our generational ADD.

Samantha Cara said...

Thanks for the insight cyberfriends! This ad does scream sex, huh? It amuses me, but I'm not convinced it's worth all the commotion. BUT it does has 6 mil + views, which makes me think people are more inclined to like something when they can see that others like it. Hmm, food for thought. Oooo ice cream...

Anonymous said...

I was unable to get the Old Spice Ad to work. What am I doing wrong? I love the idea that you post viral utube videos because I'm always hearing about them, but never go on utube. I can just go on your blog and stay current on what everyone is talking about! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

That's really interesting about Starbucks. I've heard similar things about Pizza Hut and how they changed their recipe based on social networking.

Samantha Cara said...

Hi Anonymous! Just press play and it's as easy as 1, 2, 3...Thanks for the Pizza Hut info, I'll definitely look into that! Why don't you mention it under the comments for my Starbucks post? Ah, the digital divide, how would a marketer address that?

Anonymous said...

Me again! I don't see a play button. Sorry!

Anonymous said...

I realized my office has blocked utube so that's why I can't watch the video. I'll watch it at home.

Anonymous said...

Definitely sex. Don't think it would have been a hit if it really aired.

Shivon said...

Ladies, would you realy want that as your man?

Rudy said...

What kind of straight man rides a white horse?

Anonymous said...

I actually have seen this ad on tv - and I LOVE it. I even stop to watch it instead of fast forwarding.

Anonymous said...

I think the interesting thing is that it may have played on tv briefly and was so popular that it went to viral marketing where it is free!

Elaine said...

I think what made this video go viral is its humor, not the sex. What's interesting is that while many businesses like newspapers are going to painstaking lengths to protect their content from being taken and put on the internet, an ad like this only prays for people to "pirate" it and spread it around. I think the only ads that will avoid having to use media channels are the ones that are so funny they go viral. Too sexy will offend customers.

Lisa said...

I just loved this ad. It was attractive, clever & unpredictable. And it's exciting that it attracted 6 million views online - you never really know how many see it on TV as viewers fast-forward, etc. While it's tough to watch traditional media lose their advertising dollars, maybe this sift to electronic media has a silver lining.

The real test was if there was a bump in sales during the 6 million views? Any data on that?

Gail Green said...

I loved thisad. I even stopped and did as requested. Luckily for me the man i looked at still makes me smile right next to me.

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