Viral video
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The term viral video refers to video clip content which gains widespread popularity through the process of Internet sharing, typically through email or IM messages, blogs and other media sharing websites. Viral videos are often humorous in nature and include televised comedy sketches such as Saturday Night Live's Lazy Sunday and unintentionally released amateur video clips like Star Wars Kid, the Numa Numa song, The Dancing Cadet, The Evolution of Dance and web only productions such as I Got a Crush... on Obama.
With the proliferation of camera phones, many videos are being shot by amateurs on these devices. The availability of cheap video editing and publishing tools allows video shot on mobile phones to be edited and distributed virally both on the web by email or website, and between phones by Bluetooth or MMS. These consumer-shot videos are typically non-commercial videos intended for viewing by friends or family.
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[edit] Marketing uses
While the viral video phenomenon has occurred in a largely unstructured manner, a number of organizations are attempting to find marketing strategies that rely on the distribution of viral video, with mixed results.
Companies such as Kodak, Trojan and Ford are a few of the initiators of this new trend. Humor, wit, and creativity, combined with the randomness of "word of mouth" distribution, causes huge numbers of people to distribute a video among friends, co-workers, colleagues and reach masses of random users that are exposed to a video which promotes a brand. Small companies have found that viral videos can provide a tremendous "bang for the buck" in many cases. A famous example is the "Hiring the Right Person" video created by California recruiting firm Accolo, which parodied the Paris Hilton Carl's Jr. ad. In this case, the ad garnered so much attention that it even ended up on traditional media news reports and other non-internet venues. Marketing firms have flourished from this form of distribution and now dedicate specifically to the creation of viral video. Spoofs for viral videos are common as well and often get as many views as the original video.
YouTube now shares revenues with certain users who generate enough hits that their video may be considered viral and therefore economically valuable.
Ikea announced a contest with a prize for the most innovative video for making a bed. On the same note, Coke, who rejected any involvement related to the creativity of two individuals who created "The Diet Coke and Mentos experiment", rethought its move and decided to capitalize on the video's popularity with a YouTube contest. Coke turned Coke.com into its own site for consumer-generated media.
[edit] Social impact, the case of YouTube
[edit] Internet celebrities
A lot of the "Viral Video" concept comes from the popularity of YouTube and other related websites.
YouTube creates Internet celebrities, popular individuals who have attracted significant publicity in their home countries from their videos.[1] These memes have come from many different backgrounds.
Geriatric1927, one of the most subscribed YouTube members, is an 80-year-old pensioner from England who gained widespread recognition within a week of making his debut on the site.[2] For these users, Internet fame has had various unexpected effects. YouTube user and former receptionist Brooke Brodack from Massachusetts has been signed by NBC's Carson Daly for an 18-month development contract.[3] Another has been the uncovered fictional blog of lonelygirl15, now discovered to be the work of New Zealand actress Jessica Rose and some film directors.
[edit] Band and music promotion
YouTube has also become a means of promoting bands and their music. One such example is OK Go which got a huge radio hit and an MTV Video Music Awards performance out of the treadmill video for Here It Goes Again.
In the same light, a video broadcasting the Free Hugs Campaign with accompanying music by the Sick Puppies led to instant fame for both the band and the campaign, with more campaigns taking place in different parts of the world. The main character of the video, Juan Mann, has also achieved fame, being interviewed on Australian news programs and appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Death Metal band Job For A Cowboy attribute their popularity to a Spongebob Squarepants viral AMV.
[edit] Whistleblowing
Viral video has become a way for people to air their grievances in instances of alleged abuses of authority. For example, in 2006, a courtroom video of Utah Third District Court judge Leslie A. Lewis spread rapidly through Utah and was picked up by the news media.[4] The video showed her finding a courtroom spectator in contempt of court and arresting him because he left the courtroom while the judge expressed her displeasure at his brother's hunting activities. The judge recused herself from the case due to her professed bias against deer hunters. Lewis lost her retention vote in the 2006 election.
[edit] Notable viral videos
[edit] Buffalax
Buffalax (real name Mike Sutton) is a mondegreen director on YouTube who uploaded non-English music videos which were edited to include subtitles of the written English approximation of the video's original language's sound.[5] These include Internet memes such as "Moskau",[1] "Tunak Tunak Tun",[2] "Indian Thriller",[3] and "Benny Lava",[4] which have been viewed more than ten million times in total as of May 2008. The term "Buffalaxed" is now synonymous with mondergreens, "words or phrases misheard in ways that yield new meanings."[5]
[edit] Chocolate Rain
"Chocolate Rain" is an original song sung by Tay Zonday. The song originally was posted on YouTube in Spring of 2007. The song was greatly publicized by various online forums and Tay Zonday was brought onto many shows, including Attack of the Show, due to his popularity. The song was written by Zonday about Black history, which he confirmed in a special he did for [[Dr. Pepper]. However, the song became popular because of Tay's low voice and his peculiar facial expressions. As of May 2008, it has been viewed over 21 million times.
[edit] Crazy Frog Bros.
The Crazy Frog Bros. (as they are known on the internet) are 2 boys who lip-synced the Crazy Frog version of the song Axel F. The video on Youtube has been viewed over 12 million times [5] and has spawned a parody of the video showing them supposedly 15 years later.[6]
[edit] Little Superstar
"Little Superstar" is a video of Thavakalai, a short Indian actor, break-dancing to MC Miker G & DJ Sven's remix of the Madonna song "Holiday", in a clip from a 1990 Tamil movie Adhisaya Piravi, featuring actor Rajnikanth.[6][7] As of May 2008, the video has been viewed more than ten million times.[7]
[edit] Numa Numa
Numa Numa is an Internet phenomenon based on amateur videos, particularly Numa Numa Dance by Gary Brolsma, made for the song "Dragostea din tei" as performed by Moldovan Eurodance band O-Zone.
[edit] Rickroll
The Rickroll is an Internet meme where viewers are tricked into viewing a video of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" by clicking a link described to contain another type of video.
[edit] Star Wars kid
"Star Wars kid" is an Internet phenomenon which started when a video clip recorded by a fourteen-year-old Canadian male high school student was shared online by a number of other students.
[edit] What What (In the Butt)
What What (In the Butt) is a viral music video for an original song sung by Samwell. As of May 2008, the video has been viewed over 12 million times on YouTube alone.
[edit] Jenny Crosby
'Jenny Crosby' is a fictional character from Liverpool, England. Her videos have created a nation-wide phenomena and has started a hunt for the actress involved. Now removed from Youtube, for being unsuitable, it has to be sent via Bluetooth or viewed on another video-sharing website. At its peak, this video had been viewed over 10 million times on Youtube.
[edit] Notable viral video sites
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Feifer, Jason. "Video makers find a vast and eager audience", Worcester Telegram, June 11, 2006.
- ^ geriatric1927's YouTube profile
- ^ Collins, Scott, "Now she has their attention" Los Angeles Times, July 19, 2006 (Accessed July 19, 2006)
- ^ Geoffrey Fattah, Hunters Target Judge, DeseretNews.com
- ^ a b Monty Phan (2007-11-06). Buffalax Mines Twisted Translations for YouTube Yuks. Wired News. Retrieved on 2008-05-11.
- ^ Keith Olbermann (Oct. 2, 2006). 'Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Sept. 29. msnbc.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-12.
- ^ Tucker Carlson (Sept. 29, 2006). 'Tucker' for Sept. 28. msnbc.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-12.
