Nude gaming party

When I first saw this, my first thought was ... this can't be real.  This has to be fake. 

Here's a nude gaming party for the XtendPlay controller.  And everyone's naughty bits are covered up.  Where did they find enough attractive people willing to be nude?  Usually nudist are not so good looking...

And turns out, it was totally and completely fake.  

I am weary of this kind of stuff.  Sure you want your things to go viral, but when it has a hoax-y kind of flavor to the sham, then it kind of leaves a bad taste... 

"Viral" sale-a-bration

Here is a "viral ad" by Pixar to promote Cars 2:

I think what initially bugs me about this viral vid is the fact that it is live-action.  Pixar produces great CGI-animated films, so why is this campaign live action?  Which in itself is not that bad, but the video is not really compelling nor does it contains the components of the typical weirdness found in viral.

This viral ad mimics low-budget local car dealership commercials usually found on telly in the wee-hours of the night.  There are hints of Pixar-stuff in the background with the mysterious bad-guy in the background and the robot that pops out from underneath the car, which will probably become clearer once the film is released.  

But this ad is such a disconnect from this, the image we have become accustomed to of Cars universe:

To this:

Teasers tend to tie-in with the whole campaign so this video was a gigantic HUH? for me.  Maybe it'll make more sense with the movie, but I don't recall there being a human in the first Cars film. 

But I will say it was incredibly meta to have a fake ad be the platform for your ad. 

Putting your finger there makes a difference

The first time I watched this video for Skittles I did not follow instructions and place my finger on the screen:

Big mistake!  It's kind of a creepy, but it works.  When the kitten is liking your finger, it almost feels like it's actually liking your finger.  When beardy-cat comes along, this ad gets infinitely creepier with his eye expressions.

The others in the Touch campaign are pretty hiliarious:

Don't use the word "viral" in an ad

There have been some crappy viral campaigns coming out, like this "press conference" with Ford ... and Doug the puppet? 

 

The first time, I got to 1:33 before I found something better to do.  The jokes were pretty awful.  Viral cannot be forced.  It gets worse with the one-on-one interview with Doug and pretty pants.  And apparently... there are going to be a whole series of webisodes with Doug.  Unfortunately...

And then there was the LOSS protests for GE appliances.

  

This advert seem really tasteless considering very serious and very real protests happening around the world.  And at the end, "NOTICE: ... "You, on the other hand, understand this is an elaborate joke.  We hope it makes you chuckle.  Or chortle.  Or both."  Interesting way to get around legal copy copywriters, but it draws attention to the fact 1) the suspension of disbelief has been broken 2) if you have to say it's a joke, it's not funny.

Last one, and I actually like this one.  But I have a soft spot for nerdy boys.  It has the right percentage of hokey.  It is a little too long, but of course it's a "music video."  And they brought back the Kid n' Play...

 

It just works for me, until the faux tour when they walk into the "viral video" department.  That just kills it.