How Do You Reinforce The Idea That Texting Is Dangerous?

Why, you make a short film, entitled COW, meticulously detailing a highway wreck set in motion by a distracted female texter. And a really hardcore one at that. Though you can feel that something is wrong from the beginning (you don't cut to two passengers in the back unless you're sure they're going to die), the piece just piles it on with smash after glass after crash, a highway sign reading 'Tredegar welcomes careful drivers,' and the ever-reliable "wake up Mommy and Daddy." The spot is from the school Tredgar Comprehensive and the Gwent Police in the UK. Not only is the work currently the number one viral video; it is very effective. I'd say it's almost too effective such that you forget about the texting causing the destruction and just start becoming spiritual again.



Here's part two featuring tense and grieving relatives. I really want the campaign to be about women drivers rather than txting (British translation I guess) because I'm totally in the mood for misogyny. But I won't. I also promise to limit my texting (which somehow is not a word on Blogger) to city driving.

What Happens When A Viral You're Not Responsible For Saves You?

Or, in Chris Brown's case, his career. Although this wedding dance clip choreographed by a Minnesota couple and featuring the singer's "Forever" is not an ad, it has effectively put Brown's name back into a good light after his hit-and-run with singer Rhianna. In fact, as it maintains its status as number 1 viral video on the 'Net, it's fairly prudent to assume that the two parties (Brown and the wedding crew) have nothing to do with each other. The video is number one for damn good reason: it's utterly engaging, it features a church crowd both shocked and totally into it, and the quite catchy song and its sound fits perfectly with the mood of the occasion. It's a marketer's wet dream; and yet any increase in record sales for Brown is mere coincidence.



The dancers even got their extra fifteen minutes on the Today Show last week with the song intact. Is this coincidental success a result of a simply good song or is the Invisible Hand of the Internet giving Brown another chance after an unfortunate circumstance? Either way, double your pleasure, double your fun, and double your freaking revenue.

Update: Pretty awesome parody video on College Humor.