the 10 best viral ad campaigns

The 10 Best Viral Ad Campaigns of All Time September 2010

From Advertising Age’s “The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time”by Michael Learmonth Published: September 02, 2010

From Advertising Age’s “The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time”

by Michael Learmonth Published: September 02, 2010

• A little over five years ago, YouTube ushered in a new genre of video advertising, one that succeeded on its ability to rise above a world of pet tricks and backyard stunts, to entertain and to be passed around. Call them "viral" videos, super-sized TV ads, branded videos or just plain commercials, a few of them have crossed a significant psychic milestone: 100 million views and counting.

• Last week, the roller-skating babies of Evian's "Live Young" campaign reached the mark after a little more than a year on the web. This, without any significant TV exposure in the U.S. and very little overseas. It's advertising that entertains. And it got us thinking: What are the most-watched viral ads of all time?

• We put the question to our friends at Visible Measures, and the answer surprised us. It turned out the No. 1 viral campaign of all time is a consistent sleeper hit, not often among the weekly top 10 on Ad Age's Viral Chart, and not connected to a big, well-heeled brand or fancy creative agency. Rather, it's a cool gimmick that consistently delivers laughs along with cringe-inducing voyeuristic destruction.

• The No. 1 video advertiser of all time is Blendtec, whose "Will It Blend" series has been around in the same form for four years, accumulating 134.2 million views. The key? The brand found what works and stuck with it. Each of the more than 120 original clips has the same kitschy music, the same tagline, variations on the same stunt and the same host, Blendtec CEO Tom Dickson.

From Advertising Age’s “The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time” by Michael Learmonth Published: September 02, 2010

From Ad Age’s Article Written by: Michael Learmonth

• While brilliant, Mr. Dickson has to thank Steve Jobs for Blendtec's biggest hits, including laying waste to an iPhone in 2007 and an iPad in April.

• What's remarkable about the top 10 is that viewers would voluntarily watch an ad 100 million times, let alone 23 million times. Not surprisingly, given the recent growth of web video, most of the entrants are recent campaigns, launched within the last year or two. All but one, Pepsi's "Gladiator," came after the launch of YouTube in 2005. (The ad, starring Britney, Beyonce and Pink, appeared on TV in 2004.)

• In addition to Blendtec, Evian and Pepsi, the list includes two Old Spice campaigns (including the newly famous "Your Man" Isaiah Mustafa), Microsoft's Xbox Project Natal, Dove's "Evolution," DC Shoes' "Gymhana Two," and "T-Mobile Dance." While the chart stops at No. 10, special honorable mention goes to Nike, which holds the No. 11 spot for its "Write the Future" campaign, as well as the Nos. 12 and 13 spots for early viral efforts starring Kobe Bryant and Ronaldinho.

• While great creative is the key to keeping interest and generating pass-along, time also helps. It took Evian and Blendtec more than a year to get to 100 million views. The next campaign to do it will probably feature Old Spice's Isaiah Mustafa, not for the original "Man Your Man Could Smell Like" TV ad, but the "Responses" campaign, where Mustafa recorded customized replies to folks like Kevin Rose, George Stephanopolous, Gizmodo and Biz Stone.

From Advertising Age’s “The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time” by Michael Learmonth Published: September 02, 2010

From Ad Age’s Article Written by: Michael Learmonth

#10 DC Shoes “Gymkhana Two”

• Agency In house

• Views 32,872,531

• Release 9/3/09

From Advertising Age’s “The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time” by Michael Learmonth Published: September 02, 2010

#9 Old Spice “Odor Blocker”

• Agency Wieden & Kennedy

• Views 33,986,750

• Release 3/31/10

From Advertising Age’s “The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time” by Michael Learmonth Published: September 02, 2010

#8 Doritos “Crash The Super Bowl 2010”

From Advertising Age’s “The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time” by Michael Learmonth Published: September 02, 2010

• Agency Goodby Silverstein

• Views 34,168,845

• Release 1/5/10

#7 T-Mobile “T-Mobile Dance”

From Advertising Age’s “The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time” by Michael Learmonth Published: September 02, 2010

• Agency Saatchi & Saatchi

• Views 35,487,575

• Release 1/15/09

#6 Dove “Evolution”

From Advertising Age’s “The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time” by Michael Learmonth Published: September 02, 2010

• Agency Ogilvy & Mather

• Views 41,100,418

• Release 10/1/06

#5 Microsoft Xbox “Project Natal”

From Advertising Age’s “The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time” by Michael Learmonth Published: September 02, 2010

• Agency World Famous

• Views 42,698,599

• Release 6/1/09

#4 Pepsi “Gladiator”

From Advertising Age’s “The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time” by Michael Learmonth Published: September 02, 2010

• Agency AMV BBDO

• Views 46,742,892

• Release 1/1/04

#3 Old Spice “Responses”

From Advertising Age’s “The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time” by Michael Learmonth Published: September 02, 2010

• Agency Wieden & Kennedy

• Views 57,132,669

• Release 7/12/10

#2 Evian “Live Young”

From Advertising Age’s “The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time” by Michael Learmonth Published: September 02, 2010

• Agency BETC Euro RSCG

• Views 103,867,704

• Release 6/4/09

#1 Blendtec “Will It Blend?”

From Advertising Age’s “The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time” by Michael Learmonth Published: September 02, 2010

• Agency In-house

• Views 134,256,499

• Release 10/30/06

If you’d like to find out what we can do to help you builda social media sensation or have some interesting examples of your own to share, please contact –

Paula MurgiaVP, Digital Strategy – Paliopaula.murgia@palio.com

Mike MyersPresident, Palio

mmyers@palio.com

or Michael Learmonth

Author of this contentAdAge

mlearmonth@adage.com