THROWBACK THURSDAY - Tea Partay Smirnoff

I wanted to honor one of the very first viral advertisements that really caught my attention back in 2012.  This video for a Smirnoff Tea Partay had quite the impact back in 2006.  Should this video be released today, it would probably cause only a ripple.  Timing is a key component of what makes a Viral video great.  Once something is copied and imitated, it loses its impact.

Passionate Lunchmaking - Mott's Applesauce

 So I stumbled across WhatsUpMoms YouTube channel last week with the Glad Press N' Seal Ad.  They have an entire series of very adorable commercials!  This one is for Mott's Applesauce and highlights a very big lunchtime problem, keeping up with the "crafty Mom":

New Ad Mouse Feature!!

BRAND NEW to the Ad-Mouse blog is the Ad-Mouse Viral marketing shop, powered by Amazon! Check it out for yourself at: http://ad-mouse.blogspot.com/p/viral-marketing-shop.html or click the button just under our banner.

Have ideas for items you would like to see in our shop?  Let me know in the comments!

Baby & Me - Evian Commercial

Continuing the theme of cute kids, how about this Evian Commercial?

Cute kids sell, and this ad is adorable.  What would your dancing baby look like?

Dad's First Time Alone with Baby - Glad Press N' Seal

 I've not seen many Glad Press N' Seal commercials that sparked my interest.  For those of you who don't know, it is a plastic wrap with pressure sensitive adhesive.  It certainly is an inspired product, but the commercials have been underwhelming, until I saw this one.  I thought that this Press N' Seal commercial was very cute and it has almost a million views on YouTube!  

Now wasn't that adorable!  What I found even cuter though was the behind the scenes video:

Welcome Back!

If you have been following this blog, then you know that Viral Marketing has been a passion of mine for many years.  Although it may be known by other names at this time, the concept is the same: Find a way to break through the clutter and connect with your consumers.  Sometimes this type of marketing is planned.  Major corporations spend thousands each year trying to come up with the next big thing. Many times the best kinds of Viral Marketing happens by chance.  A business tries something and it resonates with customers and begins to spread like wild fire.

As I am now finding myself with more free time, I am looking to re-launch the Ad-Mouse blog.  I have refreshed the layout to be able to make the most of some new Blogger features and I will be working on some new content.  Have ideas for articles you would like to see here?  Post them in the comments!

NOS Energy - No Nonsense

This is a very interesting commercial for NOS Energy Drink. I had not heard of this drink before but this commercial certainly caught my eye. So much so that as soon as I saw it, I thought to repost it here. Caution, slight violence. I love commercials that tell a story. The simple way that this one sets up catches your attention quickly. It easily conveys that this energy drink has none of the fluff and puffery of other energy drinks. The target market for energy drinks closely mirrors the market of MMA fighting as well, which makes this commercial a good fit. Very well done!

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like - Old Spice

The above Old Spice commercial is one of the most popular videos on YouTube with over 43 million views at the time of this posting.  Isaiah Mustafa, also known as the old spice man, enjoyed great success in his role as the cooly urban and appetizing smell good salesman.  It was an interesting strategy, to market body wash not to the intended user, but to the their spouse or significant other.  Overall, it was a great decision.  The majority of household purchases, including soaps, body washes, and deodorants are made by women.  So while they many not be the user of the product, women are indeed the target market that old spice needed to look at.

Before this marketing re-invention, the 74 year old Old Spice brand was largely considered to be for an older generation.  It lacked any modern polish and seemed out-dated.  It is amazing what a single advertising campaign can do for a brand.

The New Controversial Ad...

When you think of controversial advertisements, diapers are probably NOT the first products you think of; However, this advertisement for Huggies new Jean Diapers has made the papers from The New York Times to Glamour.



I thought the commercial was very cute. What did you think?

How Not to Do Habitat-Centric Advertising

I found this over at Friends of Irony:


see more Friends of Irony

It is very important to consider the environment you are placing your ads into. Such as the superbowl commercials where the Dockers "Wear the Pants" commercial followed right after the Careerbuilder "Casual Friday All Week" commercial.

Ten Little Vehicles

This cute Jeep commercial comes to us via TylerSchnaidt.com which brought it to my attention.

Jeep: "Ten little vehicles" from Michael Reissinger on Vimeo.

HP Advertisement, Finger Skilz

This ad was also highlight on the same site that I talked about yesterday. It's another classic, that includes a whole series of these Finger Skilz videos. You can find more at www.fingerskilz.tv Enjoy!

The Escalator

This funny escalator commercial is a classic, and has been used as an example in some marketing courses. I was reminded of this video by Baekdal.com's article of 7 Viral Marketing Tricks. The list included several other classics I have featured on this site including the Smirnoff Raw Tea and the Dove Evolution advertisements that I have highlighted in the past.



I felt it would work better with just a slight rearrangement of the text placement, but I'm picky. Your thoughts?

Super Bowl Commercial: Budweiser Clydesdales

I was slightly disappointed in this Budweiser commercial. Budweiser has a high standard that they have set in previous years, as I have posted about before (see more about the Clydesdales Here). This year did not live up to that standard in my opinion.

Super Bowl Commercials: Google

Google is not a prolific television advertiser, but they did feature one ad in this years superbowl. This ad was actually posted on youtube in November and has over a million views already.



This was a very cute commercial that made me go awwwwww...

Super Bowl Commercial: Denny's Free Breakfast

Denny's is at it again, offering a free breakfast on Tuesday Morning which they just advertised in the Super Bowl. Overall, a decent commercial with screaming chickens.



Edit:

And there is a follow up commercial to the Denny's SuperBowl offering. Call it Screaming Chickens Pt. 2 if you will.

Super Bowl Commercials: Monster.com

The second commercial hit of the evening, judging by the giggles and hoots and hollers around the house, is the Monster.com Fiddling Beaver Commercial. Just like the Doritos Commercial, it is silly, family-friendly, and actually promotes the product / service.



Edit:
I also noticed this morning that Monster is building off of its Super Bowl Momentum with a web ad campaign as well. I saw this one on Pandora, the internet radio station.

Super Bowl Commercials: Doritos Slap

So far, out of the Super Bowl Commercials, there are some hits, and there are some flops. One of the favorites so far in my household, is the Doritos Slap commercial. If you missed it, check it out here:



I did not feel that the second Doritos commercial was nearly as good as the first one.

Census Bureau Super Bowl Advertisement

Controversy is growing over the use of tax dollars for the Census Bureau to advertise in the upcoming Super Bowl. It is reported that the Census Bureau is spending $2.5 million dollars on a Super Bowl ad. This ad is only one part of a $133 million dollar advertising budget for a five month publicity campaign. All of it is aimed at getting households in the U.S. to participate in the upcoming national 10 question survey.

The census is a very important survey that highlights major trends in the American Life. Participation in the survey is voluntary and response rates are known to be rather low. Sun Times reports that "The government can save $80 million to $90 million in in-person census interview costs, we're told, for each percentage point increase in the national census mail-back response rate."

Is it worth it? $2.5 million dollars of tax payer money spent for a 30 second spot encouraging participation in the survey. Is it really worth it? I'm not sure, but I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Super Bowl 2010 Movie Preview

Grace Randolf at BeyondTheTrailer has a great preview of the upcoming movie ads in the 2010 Super Bowl. My question to you readers is... Is advertising upcoming movies a good use of 2.8 Million dollars? I would love to see the actual stats on the true impact of Super Bowl trailers.