YouTube Summer Blockbuster Film Promotions

Promotions for Will Ferrell's soon-to-be-released movie, Step Brothers, are just another confirmation of YouTube's power. Not only does Ferrell and his co-star, John C. Reilly, open the promotion speaking directly to the YouTube audience, but they also introduce a new contest asking viewers to post their favorite scenes from the movie. It's a straightforward approach to keep the buzz for the movie going after opening day. Simple and smart. Naturally the main part of this video includes a promo of the movie.

While we're on the feature film promotion topic, take a look at the amount of content on YouTube about Dark Knight, the latest chapter in the Batman Series, which just opened Thursday. The Warner Brothers PR team has been working overtime trying to get the message out to the core teen audience who have been going to screenings of the film at all hours this weekend. Here's a different Dark Knight piece posted on YouTube interviewing film watchers, and some diehard fans willing to dress the part (unbelievable - don't get me started on Trekkies). The Dark Knight buzz in the teen and young adult audience was so strong that the film has taken top opening weekend honors grossing $155.3 million to edge out Spider Man 3.

The Heath Ledger story line here remains a strong, albeit sad one - his performance is said to be commendable. I'm ready to see the film ... can't wait to see it once the theatre lines subside.

Makeup for the Video Production Camera

CNN anchor Sean Callebs is a great friend. I was his producer. Alas Sean had one extremely annoying habit: he enjoyed torturing me on air. He was also a huge flirt. When I finally reached my tipping point (at lunch time), my revenge was often to point out the fact that he was wearing makeup to the cutest girl nearby. It worked. They would take a second look and see a man wearing a LOT of makeup b/c he was made up for work. Not that there's anything wrong with men wearing makeup!

The point here is that video and film do not see makeup the way the human eye sees makeup. An incredibly smoked up room will often barely look smoky on film. The art of makeup in television is rarely subtle. Enter the HD camera and now aging actresses (and actors) who have been relying for years on film tricks like silks (they soften the light and fill in those rascally nooks and cranneis) now must get their makeup spray painted prior to going on camera at the academy awards.

While the consumer loves the HD (high definition) cameras, the on camera talent does not because these HD cameras see everything... spying into those little age lines, wrinkles and smile lines never seen by prior generations of cameras. According to a recent Trendcentral, story, cosmetic makers such as Christian Dior, Smashbox and Cargo have now introduced every day lines of cosmetics that are HD friendly. So rest easy the next time you are out with Paris Hilton partying and the Paparazzi starts to swarm, if you are wearing the right makeup, the HD camera is going to love you!

Watch Now, Watch Often.... Pure Beauty

Dancing with the Universe is one of those videos that you need to watch every morning. You will surely be seeing it everywhere if you haven't already. It was posted June 20, 2008 and it already has been viewed a million times. What's so beautiful about it? What makes it so effective? It's a simple idea, yet it works in every culture, on every point of the earth. So please, take a second out of your busy life and watch this video, and then watch it again when you are stressed out. Where the Hell is Matt?

Advertising

Beer. It's an advertising favorite. We all have seen the Bud Bowl and the Miller ads, but the creativity doesn't stop at the US border. Here's a wild beer commercial -- done for Guiness. Not sure how much they spent on this little puppy, but it wasn't cheap. While I think it's quite original, I am left wondering why this is a beer commercial? Answer -- we have to remember that in Europe they play it subtle. Tag line makes sense -- good things come to those who wait, but I would not hand this commercial a Golden Lion. But, as I always stress, when it comes to recognition. what's important is -- did it drive traffic or sales... did it achieve it's objective?

The campaign has been around for a while, and boy does this advertiser spend money. We don't see their ads much in the states, but they are very original. Just click around YouTube for a while and you'll see.

Here's an all time favorite.... Guiness: Rhythm of Life.

Making sense of the Online Video Jungle

If you are unenthused by the content your remote control's finding, your keyboard might be the a better fetcher, but where to begin?

Today TED announced that 50 million of its talks have been viewed on the web, with over half being seen outside the U.S. borders. So what's it all about? Well here's a list of the Top 10 TED talks. Great stuff. TED's most watched talk has been viewed by 2.5M viewers to date and features neuro-scientist Jill Bolte Taylor, who had a stroke and understood what was happening as it all went down. So who else made the Top 10? Were they celebrities? I believe only two are recognizable names -- Tony Robbins (Why we do what we do) and Al Gore (Averting a climate crisis). Great stuff here.

But just how do you sort out all the online content? There is no TV Guide-like solution, or is there? Well here's a half step from, you guessed it, TV Guide. But, mind you, this is all about traditional TVs crossover with the online viewing universe. Here's another one from Yahoo.

Here's a rather confusing site called OV Guide. Hard to look at but they are packing a lot of info in there.

But on the Internet, you would expect a smarter way to do the traditional stuff listed above and here it is, brought o you by a big name from the Rock & Roll world has a new beta site that offers help making sense of the cavalcade of online video choices. Rocker Peter Gabriel has helped launch a new site called The Filter... which uses smart technology to help you find content you care about. It uses an intelligent platform (through ranking evaluations) much like Netflix to help narrow down the areas of online content that you like and therefore might like in the future.

Finally, here's a neat musical video from YouTube. Nothing brilliant, nothing earth shattering about it... but it's good listening. Hip Hop Violin.

Get watching.

Click Here for a Ride on the Emotional Roller Coaster Amigo

Let's look at some videos and then examine the emotions they create, as well as which are most memorable. We'll start with some funny stuff. You'll see why soon.

The first two are a little racy friends. The first one is built off an old joke. Keep Your Trojanz in the Car

No surprise that this one -- a contraception commercial -- was banned. DUREX

This one will tear your heart out. I am reluctant to share it for fear that viewers will 'kill' the messenger, but here it is. NEWBORN -- I think this one is for a life insurance company, just like the next one.

WARNING, this one's another heart wrencher. More Time - Japanese Life Insurance Spot

Let's finish with a lighter piece to drive the point home. Levis - High Speed Change (UK)

So, are you tired? Which of these commercials was most memorable? Probably not the funny, lighter videos. The heavy ones are really draining. I have seen them probably six times now and it doesn't get any easier. They exhaust me. The emotional roller coaster is one name for the ride you just took if you watched the NEWBORN or MORE TIME. That doesn't mean your brand needs to take a heavy, emotional ride, but remember, emotion is what works on film and video... not PowerPoint slides.

Great Commercial & Great Golf, Sketchy Video

Every once in a while the commercial gods come up with a spot that makes you proud to be an Amercian. Look for a lot more of this during the Olympics. Anyway, I ran across this old favorite in my archives... it's called the "Quiet Commerical" created the much embattled beer maker, Anheuser-Busch. It's pure beauty.

If you watched the U.S. Open yesterday playoff this past Monday between Rocco Mediate and Tiger Woods, you were gifted with an amazing match. The big question is what did you actually see on the web? For most of my watching time the video and sound were dramatically out of sync by as much as 30 seconds or more! Clearly MSNBC could not handle the viewing burden, although the PGA site fared a lot better keeping the video and sound in sync in real time. It will be interesting to see the traffic numbers for the site... not everyone could take the day off yesterday.

For golf lovers make sure to check out some technique PGA video tips on the site.... good stuff. I hope to put them to work this weekend!