Ever dream this man? Every night throughout the world hundreds of people dream about this face. [more inside]
posted by logicpunk on Oct 15, 2009 - 139 comments

China's latest Internet obsession began with an anonymous post on a computer gaming forum: "Jia Junpeng, your mom is calling you to come home and eat." [more inside]
posted by tapeguy on Sep 6, 2009 - 34 comments

Hey Meta,

Just saw a news report that you were on. Cool! Here is the link.

Best,

gnfti
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Jul 11, 2008 - 62 comments

Viral marketing for The Dark Knight kicks it up a notch. The Gotham Times -- Joker's Take -- A Safer Gotham -- Gotham National Bank -- Gotham Police -- Gotham City Rail -- Victim of Crime -- Harvey Dent for DA -- Wanted: Henchman
posted by flarbuse on Nov 26, 2007 - 25 comments

It's just a teaser trailer for a monster movie, but people (geeks) are going crazy trying to figure out what it's about. It may or may not have some ambiguous viral marketing associated with it (previously). Some think it's Cthulhu come to destroy New York, some think it's Voltron. Other less sensible people think it's a lion. It is definitely not a lion.
posted by jiiota on Jul 11, 2007 - 122 comments

Viral Marketing Suggestions. At one time, when YouTube was new, ordinary people filled it with interesting content. But only 3 years later, after television content producers have forced them to remove millions of copyrighted video clips, we are starting to see an even more insidious phenomenon: the posting of "phony" videos on YouTube, for marketing purposes. NBC has just been caught posting a bogus parody of their show "Heroes". Not to mention Agency.com's pathetic attempt to get an ad contract with Subway, lonelygirl15, and many more that have yet to be discovered. Best of all, you can now find how-to instructions on marketing websites showing how to use YouTube for viral marketing. People are starting to notice....yet it is becoming more and more commonplace. (And I won't even mention how many MySpace and Facebook pages are viral in nature.)
posted by metasonix on Mar 11, 2007 - 36 comments

Calvin Klein is releasing a new fragrance for our "technosexual" generation: A typical line from the press materials for CK in2u goes like this: “She likes how he blogs, her texts turn him on. It’s intense. For right now.
posted by monaco on Mar 8, 2007 - 65 comments

The bastard offspring of Borat and Inspector Clouseau shares his insights on internet marketing, the time to take action, the correct use of videos (!!) and plenty more. Warning: his website crashed my browser.
posted by unSane on Feb 14, 2007 - 15 comments

I pooted. Enigmatic billboard advertisements, apparently promoting a Cartoon Network show, Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends seen in several major cities.
posted by ijoshua on Jun 22, 2006 - 54 comments

Won't somebody please think of the children? Oh, don't fool yourselves! Americans under the age of 12 now spend or influence the spending of $565 billion a year - up from $2.2 billion in 1968, and kid-spending has roughly doubled every ten years for the past three decades, tripling in the 1990s. Which means someone is always thinking of the children. The American Association of Pediatrics (pdf) cites this bludgeoning of kidvertising as creating in children "a fever for shopping and spending, swollen expectations about material needs, decreasing immunity to the assaults of advertisers, self-concepts defined by brands of clothing, and a rash of of debt by the time they leave college". [more...]
posted by taz on Sep 19, 2005 - 55 comments

The Bloodhound Gang is attempting to change the state song of Pennsylvania (right in time to support their new album, of course). Is this the Bloodhound Gang's actual attempt at being clever/helpful to the peeps of PA to change this song or is it the band's shameless buzz marketing campaign? (Ooooh... Hooray for Viral! (flash)) Well, it's working for this guy at least... Listen to the song here (only mildly annoying pop up) or download it here ... /me feels dirty. Who has a Pepsi Blue? Or Green?
posted by AspectRatio on Jul 29, 2005 - 30 comments

"I just read about CNN Headline News in us weekly. Those guys at the football game were total jerks." --Thoth
posted by jca on Apr 25, 2005 - 42 comments

British band Coldplay revealed the artwork to their new album X and Y. It's cryptic cover has the record company bosses hoping for public intrigue. No clues from the thread at the official forum. I know it's viral marketing, but what could it mean?
posted by kenaman on Apr 5, 2005 - 107 comments

Remember this? It has won recognition as "Best Interactive Viral" in the Viral Awards. With all the viral¹ and stealth² marketing campaigns, comment spam, astroturfing³, and other tools that marketeers are using to infiltrate the Brave New(ish) World of blog, we sometimes forget that we also have the power to do good, so "you know, like, reclaim the streets, or re-frame the conversation, or some damn thing". Words of wisdom from our not-so-subservient chicken. [and, a bit more...]
posted by taz on Mar 26, 2005 - 20 comments

Not only is pop star Ashlee Simpson lip syncing and manufactured, but so are some of her fans:
"I just read about Ashlee in us weekly. Those guys at the football game were total jerks." -- mandyc19

Welcome to the world of message forum viral marketing, "street team" advertising, and corporate shills. That "fan" posting in forums about Court TV, The Smoking Gun, or shows on Fox isn't a fan at all -- just another type of spammer -- only this time employed by giant media corporations.
posted by jca on Jan 25, 2005 - 85 comments

"I was lost, proper lost, but thanks to Cris Formage and the fine folks at The Epsilon Program, I've found a better way to live. No more cocaine, no more heroin, no more ceaselss, boundless self pleasure. henceforth, ladies and mental patients, I am following the words of the tract!" - Maccer

Viral marketing nicely done in advance of the new Rockstar games production of Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas (some slightly NSFW words and images)
posted by triv on Aug 27, 2004 - 5 comments

More viral marketing? Move over, BK chicken. I love bees is teh rox0r.
posted by cohappy on Aug 2, 2004 - 7 comments

Stolen: one garden gnome.
posted by grumblebee on Dec 28, 2003 - 26 comments

Giving lip. Put your words in the mouths of talking heads. Or dogs, with Scottish accents. Brought to you by the good folks at Bud. Weis. Er. Excellent pronunciation!
posted by steef on Feb 20, 2003 - 24 comments

Are you "e-fluential"? It's possible you are without even knowing it--you never know who might be listening in. While I don't find all gadget/soft drink/product discussions insidious, it does seem like they pop up pretty regularly. Has anyone here been contacted? Or are these companies (and others like them) just targeting product-oriented boards?
posted by _sirmissalot_ on Oct 30, 2002 - 35 comments

I must keep on the move. I must not allow them to stop me or trace my whereabouts. I must keep on the move. I must not allow them to stop me or trace my whereabouts. I have set the date for the release in the future to allow time to build publicity. With the worlds full attention, these secret agencies or privately run factions cannot deny or lie to the public about what I will reveal. This smacks of hoax, but I'm leaving the final decision on that up to you.
posted by bryanzera on Oct 23, 2002 - 85 comments

Hey, it's a clever flash game ... umm ... something's off here. Never a sucker for banner ads, I click on an ad from Yahoo for some type of "advertising trivia" game. Cool enough, but it seems all of the questions are about laundry products, P&G laundry products. The capper came when the started streaming a Tide ad as part of the "game." So naturally, the whois is some entity in Cincinnati.

Jeez, do I feel like a simp.
posted by foist on Dec 12, 2001 - 8 comments

Underground marketing shills "put it in your life". Big Fat co. sends 18-34yr olds into the world to act out ad dramas promoting products. "I feel so great, so real." (I'm not sure what the writer means by "facially attractive, in that asymmetrical sort of way," though.)[via null device, NYT reg. req.]

Ten-day Ubik deodorant spray or Ubik roll-on ends worry of offending, brings you back where the happening is.
posted by aflakete on Jul 16, 2001 - 12 comments

Kathicam.com is fake! [NYTimes, free reg. req.] A new twist in advertising online? ESPN.com has created a fake website called kathicam.com, put up a blinding pink background and created a character who writes poetry, has a webcam, is sorta attractive, and hates ESPN.com. Each page of "kathi's" site has a prominent link to ESPN.com, and they've gotten a ton of click-through traffic. Inspired? Insipid?
posted by acridrabbit on Feb 28, 2001 - 38 comments

The next wave in Internet Advertising in the post Blair-Witch era.
posted by chaz on May 12, 2000 - 12 comments