hurra birthday

December 15, 2005 9:41 PM

Hurra Torpedo has been to America and their tour has been documented. Did a metafilter email lead to, if not a world tour, an American tour? At least it brought joy to these children (video #3), the ecstatic witnesses to Hurra's first American gig. If you don't get a thrill from the performance, have no love for beards, or find that crack of ass does not so much smile at you as it much as it sneers, you can still try win an automobile.
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat (15 comments total)

I can only say . . . Wow!
posted by birdhaus at 10:33 PM on December 15, 2005

These guys rock.
posted by JakeEXTREME at 10:46 PM on December 15, 2005

I miss Pretty_Generic; he really added a lot to this community.
posted by thirteenkiller at 11:22 PM on December 15, 2005

You know, Ford could have at least had them do something besides Total Eclipse of the Heart, because if I want to see them do that, I can see it without the advertising and fake documentary crap. And without streaming video that doesn't work.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 11:45 PM on December 15, 2005

Was that original TV clip of 'Eclipse' - the one supposedly from 1995 - even real? I no longer trust - or care - that it was.


The original video is *the* best thing on the internet. THE best thing ever on the internet.

I doubt that video was part of a viral campaign by Ford. I'm not even sure this is a viral campaign. Theres no cats getting their heads chopped off by Ford Ka sun roofs this time. And frankly, I dont care.

I'm just gutted that they're not touring the UK (though I do suspect they are a one hit wonder - fingers crossed they cover the Pet Shop Boys "Its A Sin").

So I reiterate.

The original video is *the* best thing on the internet, ever.
posted by 13twelve at 2:54 AM on December 16, 2005

I'm not even sure this is a viral campaign.

It is. The original video's apparently legit, though, and indeed its greatness should not be besmirched by the rather lame marketing machine they've been made part of. Mind you, neither should they be thought badly of for being part of it--if someone were to offer me a good chunk of money to beat the hell out of kitchen appliances with the caveat that I show plumber's crack, what the hey? I'm all over it. Beats 9 to 5.

Now obviously I'm just some dude on the internet with a silly pseudonym telling you that a friend of mine was involved with the project on the technical side, but...well, a friend of mine was involved the project on the technical, web, side. Mainly in doing things in getting HurraTorpedo.com to actually reliably work--when he first showed me a month or so back, it was even more bandwidth-unfriendly than what's there now. We had conversations that I can sum up like this:

Him: and here's thecrushingblow, which is supposed to be the blog of the manager who "discovered" them. And the HurraTorpedo homepage.

Me: (brief pause to look) If I were still on dial-up, I would kill you for the latter one. I know broadband penetration and all, but what the hell?

Him: Yeah, I know. They want to add more stuff to it, too.

Me: Jesus.

Me: (after longer pause browsing crushingblow) Yeah, okay, I know I don't have the genius of crowds, or of the candescent brilliance of marketing committees, but that's just trying so desperately hard to be clever it physically pains me. Mostly because I'm also picturing umpty thousand man-hours going into it, and I can get equally painful trying-to-be-clever-but-failing for free that's not trying to sell me...whatever they're trying to sell me. What are they selling me again?

Him: Ford Fusion--follow the contest links.

Him: But in their defense, I'm pretty sure that's exactly the tone they were going for.

Me: Huh. Well, good car name, at least. Still not as good as the Mitsubishi Seance, but still pretty good. Only if it comes with a tokamak ring, though. And again--fully admitting I don't have the genius of committees, but I think they'd be better served by just shutting the hell up about their attempted-clever-content and letting the genuine weirdness of the band shine through uninterrupted.

Him: Well, yeah, can't really argue with that.

Me: Then again, I may not be their target market.

Him: Probably not.

So there you have it--on the authority from some random schmoe on the net with an adjective for a name.

To sum up: really dumb viral marketting stuff that's eaten an absurd amount of man-hours, in which there's probably some damning misanthropic lesson if you're the type to dig for one. However: gloriously great source video.
posted by Drastic at 3:37 AM on December 16, 2005

Lol Drastic - my conversations tend to be more on a par with Jay and Silent Bob (and not that long chatter from Chasing Amy that bob does).

However: gloriously great source video

Like I said; The original video is *the* best thing on the internet, ever.

And: Bar my country of origin - am I the target audience for this car? I wouldnt buy it - its a Ford and I like VWs. So who is the target audience for this? School kids a la video 3?
posted by 13twelve at 4:09 AM on December 16, 2005

Whining for the Fords? I had no idea. I have not watched enough to get the gist of the marketing mockumentary. I did, however, google around a bit and found out these guys are a legitimate band, but it's more of a side project from other bands (Black Debbath, Thulsa Doom, The Cumshots*).
I imagine these leads more children to bust up kitchen appliances than it inspires the purchase of a car. And thanks, Drastic, for the dialog.

*My Google search history now includes "norwegian cumshots", which will be used against me one day.
posted by kingfisher, his musclebound cat at 4:42 AM on December 16, 2005

I remember being amused by the original video some months ago. This Ford sponsored mockumentary on a scale of one-to-Spinal Tap rates a 1.135 (because it is almost as entertaining as "A Mighty Wind").

I can't fault Ford for trying, though. They've hit some (mostly self-induced) rough spots lately, as have all the American-originated global car manufacturers who refuse to believe that the fordist era is dead (or shaking with death rattles), and so trying to reinvent themselves is hard work.

I find this far less anoying than the ads with the little lad intoning "zum-zum", but as that's Mazda, which is Ford controlled anyway...still, I find most car ads suck out loud.

Hey, I like VW's, too, but their ads (at least here in the US) are pretty juvenile.

And since I drive a 13 year old wagon (not a wagen wagon) I'd be slap happy to accept a free Ford Fusion, even if it was pre-owned by a Norwegian "metal" band.

btw, best mockumentary on North Country rock bands touring the US? Aki Kaurismäki`s Leningrad Cowboys
posted by beelzbubba at 5:15 AM on December 16, 2005

Pretty_Generic would like to express His pleasure at this new development, and to wish all users a high-quality solistice and a lucrative new Gregorian year.
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome at 7:04 AM on December 16, 2005

wow. pepsi blue AND a double.
posted by 3.2.3 at 8:45 AM on December 16, 2005

I saw them live at their first new york gig at Tonic. We had to sign waivers claiming we wouldn't sue ford if HT threw a washing machine at us or used our images to hawk ford products in perpetuity etc.

I have to say, these guys are FUNNY. They also work HARD - it's not easy smashing all those appliances continually for 1.5 hrs - the drummer WORKS for his cash.

Best moment: for one of the drum finales, the drummer goes in the abck of the stage and get a large steel wheel (from a horse& cart maybe?, definitley 3 feet across, >50lbs) and lifts it above his head and drops it 5-6 of times for a drum section. Looking exhausted, he tramps off stage.....to return...with a BIGGER wheel (maybe >80-90lbs, and easily 4.5 feet across) which he proceeds to beat the crap out of a wahsing machine with.
posted by lalochezia at 10:16 AM on December 16, 2005

Shit! having the back up singer actually perform, "turn around brown eye" was classically disgusting.
posted by thomcatspike at 12:28 PM on December 16, 2005

excuse my, "total eclipse of the heart joke."

Shit! having the back up singer actually perform, "turn around bright brown eye" was classically disgusting.
posted by thomcatspike at 12:32 PM on December 16, 2005

beelzbubba posted ...on a scale of one-to-Spinal Tap

Would that be to eleven?
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 1:31 PM on December 16, 2005