American Greetings created this branded content six years ago. And every year, it finds a new audience across social media. Rightly so, because while it may be simple in execution, it is brilliant in concept. And performance.
Of course you can get ahead of the idea; most viewers probably do. But if that last woman’s emotional honesty doesn’t choke you up, you may be the Tin Man.
If you are lucky enough to have a Mom, hopefully you already sent her a card. If not, for god’s sake, get on the phone. You got less than ten hours left.
In the daily deluge of news items, memes, and hot takes regarding social distancing, this one leapt off my feeds …
Astoundingly elegant, powerfully persuasive
It is a public service ad shot for the Ohio Department of Health by Real Art: an experiential production agency out of Dayton. An incredibly imaginative idea that’s perfect in execution, it racked up over 6 million views within its first 24 hours. Perhaps the only negative about this piece is how it inspires so many shameless headlines that feature the word ‘snappy.’
Real Art’s video team lead Andy Nick provided some fascinating production details on his Twitter feed. The set up for the explosive shot required 8 hours. And like most productions, time got short toward the end of the day. So much so that for the final ‘distanced’ scene, he took the precaution of supergluing the balls to the traps in case the bouncing ping pong ball thrown into their midst went awry. Remarkably, it didn’t and he captured it on the first take. Check out another view of the madness on this BTS video he shot on his iPhone from another angle.
Very impressive thinking, an even more impressive production, and an unforgettable message. This is advertising at its best. Well done Andy and team.
My daughter forwarded me this Halloween clip that blew up across social media today. Click the link on the photo and make sure to turn up the sound as you watch..
A quick bit of Googling revealed that the man who posts on Instagram as @Shauhindavari is Shaw Duvari, a professor at Orange Coast College in Newport Beach where he teaches public speaking. He also coaches the OCCSpeech, Debate, and Theater team, which he drolly describes as “incredibly successful.”
A quick scan of his posts show his typical viewcount averages in the low hundreds, but something about this one struck a nerve. He’s already eclipsed 20,000 views due in no small part to a share from Barstool Sports.
No, he might never match the viral success of this oh-so-relatable post. But today, Shaw wins the internet. Good on you guy.
Anyone in the communication business dreams of creating something that hits a nerve and draws massive, global interest. But few might expect that to come from ballpark signs created by the Board of a Wisconsin little league.
We were really bummed out when MLB said they wouldn’t let us use any of their teams to make this ad which we wanted to seed as a viral video. Instead, we had to settle for a minor league game between the Fresno Grizzlies and the Tacoma Rainiers. But ultimately, that’s what fueled this clip’s plausibility as everyone from sports blogs to the Today Show asked “Did she really do that?”
