by Les Kollegian

For the past five years I have attended SXSW for an amazing week focused on a combination of film, music, and interactive media. One of my favorite theaters in Austin (and frankly anywhere in the country) is the Alamo Drafthouse. Why? Well… first of all, it’s a small and very quaint theatre. Secondly, they have great stadium style seating complete with bar counters and full restaurant style service during a film for both food and an amazing selection of craft beers. Finally, the theater wants to make the viewing experience for each customer pleasurable, and as such, they request that people not speak, text, tweet, or check email during a film. Usually, this is done by showing a funny short video prior to the main film and they make it quite clear that they will “throw you out” if you break the rules.

Anyway, my friend Nick sends me this YouTube video yesterday – one that ridiculous enough to be turned into a PSA that they now show PRIOR to enjoying a movie. What is it? Well…a woman who was thrown out of the theater left a “complaint” voicemail to share her protest after being booted. I have to say… I am beyond impressed with the brilliance of this video and the forethought that went into saving this voicemail to create not only a PSA, but a video that launched and went viral on YouTube. The short ended up being a huge press generator for the theater so touche to them. By the way, when I say “viral“, let me give you an idea of what I mean. Yesterday (6/6/11) when I viewed the video, it had just over 434,000 views. I got busy and wasn’t able to blog about it until now (6/7/11) and during this 24 hour period, the video now has over 953,000 views. That’s over 500,000 views in a very short amount of time. HUGE!

Anyway, I am going to contribute to the viral exposure by showing you the video below. It’s DEFINITELY worth watching so please enjoy. As well, please don’t text while viewing this video…I don’t want to have shut down your computer. Reminder… you will need sound to truly enjoy this and it IS uncensored, so turn down your speakers in the office.

by Jonathan Marshall

So standing sucks…. it’s just unnecessary? After a while it basically becomes an annoying pain… in the thighs, calves and mainly butt area. Chair pants uses an incredibly technical, space-age/golf bag technology that is activated by an initial “sitting motion” made by you! Now you can sit when you are at the grocery store, lame parties, and even when you want to take a break while dancing without having to go back to your table! The possibilities are endless!

This viral video is one of the many social elements in DDB Vancouver’s new advertising campaign for the BC Dairy Foundation. “The Weak Shop” offers consumers a suite of products to help compensate for limp limbs due to lack of milk consumption.

“Shhhh… It’s like a little nap…. for my legs.”

by Jonathan Marshall

Earmuffs and blindfolds for easily-offended viewers, today’s post contains explicit material… so now you are warned. Today the Jacob Tyler blog features another great viral video brought to us by the Daily Sport, targeting males between the ages of 18 – 34. What more could a man want? Tits, sport and funny shit. The Daily Sport has tried to find a niche by giving little attention to political news or world current events. Instead, its news coverage indulges more in yellow journalism- with stories generally emphasizing celebrities, nudity, bad behavior and toilet humor. Basically a British descendant of Mad, the classic American comic magazine.

The video claims that men have lost their way between yoga, drinking tea, moisturizing, and being considerate in bed. While this 40-second video may not impress some, it will no doubt get passed along in emails, blogged and re-blogged, most likely viewed over 100,000 of times on YouTube, and ultimately drive more traffic to their website.

Even though the video is of better quality than most user-generated content, it is short, to the point and still comes off as a last minute, and relatively low-budget home-made project. While it may sound strange, sometimes an interactive video doesn’t get the same attention from users because it is too well done. It doesn’t have that amateur, raw and unedited content that the majority of viewers can easily relate to. The copy and some of the images are similar to user-generated content as opposed to something an advertising agency or a professional would produce- and that works in this case.