#1 M&M “Sexy and I Know It”
The Super Bowl is the most watched sporting event in the U.S, but some say it is the commercials that draw the real crowd. With the $4 million dollar for a 30 second ad price tag according to Forbes, companies must put out their best ads.
M& M´s SuperBowl 2012 commercial ¨Sexy and I Know It¨ more than paid off for them. The use of humor and the never off the radio song, ¨Sexy and I Know It¨ by LMFAO captured the attention of viewers and made the video go viral. With over 544,000 shares and over 22 million views, this video launched the M & M character of Ms. Brown and drew a lot of attention to M & M´s.
#2 Cadbury Eyebrows
Highly amusing children and a catchy song, it´s no wonder Cadbury´s Eyebrow commercial became a viral sensation. The odd and slightly baffling children with their crazy eyebrow skills, this video attracted over 345,000 shares and over 10.6 million views. The use of purple references the company’s colors and the branding at the beginning and end lets the view know it is a Cadbury commercial. These elements may be present, but this video is a prime example of engaging not advertising. Like I discussed in my article Don´t Advertise, Engage, companies should look to avoid direct promoting or advertising and instead give the viewer something entertaining to watch just like Cadbury did.
#3 Nestle KIT KAT Squirrel Ad
Nestle KIT KAT Squirrel ad attracted over 322,000 shares and 1.5 million views, but it wasn’t for Nestle´s official page, instead it was the video posted on an individual´s channel. This viral video brought attention to the brand, but Nestle failed to capitalize on it in terms of YouTube ad revenue. Don´t let this happen to your videos. When you post a video make sure to utilize SEO tools such as sitemaps, keyword tags, and others listed in my article Can´t Miss Resources for Video Marketing and SEO. In this video it is the humor of dancing squirrels and the use of a popular Hindi song that drew the shares.
#4 Phil Collins “Gorilla Drummer” Cadbury Ad
Like the Nestle ad Cadbury´s ¨Gorilla Drummer¨ ad did not go viral from its own link on its own branded YouTube channel. If one searches in YouTube for ¨Cadburry´s Gorilla Ad¨ Cadbury´s official page does not even come up. In fact they don´t even have it posted on its main YouTube channel, just on a few of its regional channels. One can only wonder why they do not try and capitalize on this internet sensation. For this video it is the humor of the gorilla playing the drums that keeps the viewer interested. This video and its mix of humor and subtle branding is also a good example of how Cadbury engages a user instead of going advertising in a traditional way.