Gizmodo: viral marketing

Bruce Lee Plays With Fire In Nokia Viral Ad

Elaine Chow — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST

Can't get enough of Bruce Lee secret training videos, even if they happen to just be viral ads for Nokia's Lee-themed N95? Me neither! Following last week's awesome ping pong battle, here's a new clip where a dude playing the Master of Jeet Kune Do lights freakin' matches with his nunchucks! [Youtube]

Bruce Lee Nunchucks the Crap Out Of Ping Pong in Nokia Shill

Elaine Chow — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:00:00 EST

A couple of weeks ago, a ten second clip called “Bruce Lee's secret training video,” featuring someone looking like the famous Kung Fu master completely owning at ping pong with a pair of nunchaku, was uploaded to the Chinese Internet. Now, the entire clip is up and... it's a Nokia ad! For a Bruce Lee version of their N96! I guess with the rising middle class already getting jaded with traditional marketing, companies in China are starting to embrace virals. Still, in terms of ads, Nokia seems to have hit on a winning formula. I can't think of many things I love more than Bruce Lee, ping pong and pwnage! [Youku]

Cellphone Popcorn Video Is Viral Marketing For Bluetooth Headset

Jason Chen — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EDT

You've probably seen the video above where people put cellphones around popcorn kernels and pop them by making a call. Turns out that it's a slightly disingenuous video by Cardo, a Blutooth headset manufacturer, in order to scare people into thinking that cellphones have that much radiation and they really need a headset. The viral video sure did raise awareness for the brand, but there are better ways of selling your products than to try and scare your customers into thinking they need it. [Cardo]

Cubicle Farm Rampage Video Was Just a Viral Marketing Stunt

John Herrman — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:29:43 EDT

Last week's post about a guy absolutely losing his shit in a becubicled office turned out to be a viral ad for Wanted, that new action film with James MacAvoy and Angelina Jolie. I guess the video could be considered a success in that it was convincing and popular, but the fact that it is associated with a commercial film was and will remain lost on just about everyone. [Cinematical via Gawker]

Rumor: Zune to Pay You For Sharing Songs?

Charlie White — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 13:11:36 EDT

The Microsoft Zune may pay you for sharing a song with others if they end up buying that song themselves. As you probably know, the Zune's WiFi capability will let you send a song to another Zune user, and then that user can listen to it three times for free within three days, after which a prompt appears asking for $1 to buy it. As the rumor goes, Microsoft will give you an unspecified number of credits for passing along that song that was later bought. Then, you can redeem those credits for free music or anything else from the Zune Marketplace.

This is a great idea. If enough people buy into Zune, the product will reach critical mass, and because of this bounty, everyone will be eager to offer their song lists to others in hopes of amassing enough credits to buy more music. It's viral/incentive marketing on a micro-payment scale. If this is just a false rumor, if I were Microsoft I would do it anyway. – Charlie White

Zune to Pay You Back for Sharing Songs? [CrunchGear]

Microsoft Viral Marketing: Gaming Hardware?

Travis Hudson — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 10:30:31 EDT

Another day, another sad attempt by Microsoft for a viral marketing campaigh. Yeah, that I Love Bees campaign worked really well for them, but since then they have a new gig every damn week. This one can be found at www.notfornoobs.com. Which is an interesting domain, to say the least.

My prediction is that this has something to do with a line of gaming hardware. At one point the television screen flashes an odd three-headed snake, which this savvy blogger knows is the logo for Razer—the company that makes high-end gamer hardware. Also, having a domain name with the word "noobs" in it suggests something relating to gaming. We'll keep you posted as Microsoft unveils this project and stops beating around the bush with lame viral marketing attempts. Thanks, Stephen – Travis Hudson

Not for noobs

Edit: Forgot to mention that the countdown seems to end next Thursday night at midnight, eastern. Thanks, Michael