After researching through numerous viral ads the ones that really stood out to me are the ones that shocked me. I think these videos work really well and are often the ones I see distributed around because people like to shock and scare other people.
This ad by Carlsberg plays off of another Youtube phenomenon that is putting Mentos into Coke. When the min Mentos mix with Coke there is a violent reaction that causes the Coke to shoot out of the bottle. In this ad a guy is sitting in a bar or cafe with a pint of Carlsbery and he gets his friend to film him doing it to see if there is a reaction. As he does it he moves his chair slightly backwards into the road (although the viewer cannot see this road). With our focus on the Mentos and beer we are waiting for a reaction, this never comes but something completely unexpected happens, the guy gets hit buy a lorry. This is shocking to the audience because they never see it coming. It is also poses the question about how real the advert is.
This video "The Worlds Largest Snake Found Dead" is not a viral marketing advert but it is one of the videos I see mostly distributed on my Facebook. The video starts of fairly calm with a guy filming the body of a supposedly dead snake but as the video progresses the snake jumps out at the viewer and a voice over shouts "Boo" over the top of the film. People like to share this video because they like to shock and make people jump.
Road Safety UK.
This safety campaign was originally on the TV, this is the first time I came into contact with it. The video features a group of kids/teenagers walking along the pavement happily filming each other/messing around. Its a kind of throw away video, it dosnt have much meaning, its not really relevant to anything. It lulls you into a false sense of security that everything is alright, then one of the males in the group goes to cross the road. As the male crosses the road he dosnt look and is hit by an on-coming vehicle and you see his fly up into the air and away with the car. The first time I saw this campaign on TV I was sat there with my mouth open shocked at what I had just seen once again sat there thinking was that real? This provides a great talking point because it is so shocking and so realistic.
For my viral I want to create something that is shocking to the viewer because when I found the facts about bottled water I found them shocking. I always thought bottled water was something safe and I wasnt aware that polymers could travel through the plastic into the water and contaminate it. So by creating a shocking viral I hope to recreate the feeling and stun some of the audience.
