Viral ad

Viral advertising is a very interesting topic to look at, mostly because I have experienced it myself. I can't count how many times some has said 'Hey, have you seen this?' and then I've gone home, looked up then told somebody else about it, maybe even tweeted about it? and the cycle continues. What makes an ad, or anything really, go viral? To be honest, I am not completely sure, even after experiencing it first hand I can honestly say I just can't put my finger on it. I remember one day my friend came up to me and told me he was the guy from the 'Old Spice' ad. I had no idea what this was, so he sent me a link to a video of it that night.  This was the ad he had sent me.

I remember finding it hilarious, and I heard a lot about the Old Spice advertisements from others as well. Then Old Spice made a Youtube channel and began responding to questions that were commented on their videos. 

 

I always thought this was such a great marketing idea. Old Spice was now able to get so many of these videos out to the public at no real cost to them. Plus,they became so interactive with their audience it felt a lot less like advertising.  So, it began with one viral ad on television but led to many YouTube videos that each received over a million views. The actor (Isaiah Mustafa) even made two appearances on The Ellen Show. 

I chose this ad because I was a direct part of it, I watched all the videos and loved them. I think what's different about these ads is that they appeal to both men and women. Guys want to be him and women want to marry him. It's something everyone can find clever and humorous. To this day I'm still not completely sure why I liked these videos SO much, but they are definitely my absolute favorite marketing campaign.They got my attention which is hard to do because I rarely pay attention to ads seeing as I am exposed to so many on a daily basis, and they always kept my attention. I would watched the videos weekly and never get bored or sick of them, along with a million other people.I suppose that is the only way to really describe why things go viral. Whether it's a picture,video,website or ad, they're the types of things that have you saying 'There's just something about it that I like' and have you telling your friends they need to see it as well.