NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Two significant new video campaigns battled it out for the top slot on the chart this week: Google's "Chrome Speed Tests" and Toyota's "Swagger Wagon."
Both got some blog coverage last week; Google because its Chrome browser is taking share in the web browser market from Firefox and Microsoft's Internet Explorer; and Toyota because, well, since when do you use YouTube to sell a minivan? Each video gathered a bit more than 1.8 million views last week.
Google not only released "Chrome Speed Test" on the web last week, it also released a great making-of video, also with nearly 500,000 views on YouTube alone. By the way, it took 51 different takes to get the potato fired though the slicer at the moment AllRecipes.com loads onto the screen. Google is no stranger to the chart and has proven itself very adept at creating and distributing videos touting products like Chrome, the Nexus One and new search features such as Googles. Part of that is good creative and part, well, it's nice to own YouTube.
The Toyota video was created by Saatchi & Saatchi and directed by Eastbound and Down producer Jody Hill. Toyota's "Swagger" video is part of the larger "The Sienna Family" campaign, which has been running on TV since February. Toyota's Sienna YouTube page has 10 other videos telling the hilarious backstory of the family, all with more than 100,000 views apiece. And yes, if you'd like the MP3, Toyota will give you that too. The campaign itself is a notable bit of humor amid more serious efforts to rescue Toyota's battered brand.
In all, there were five new campaigns on the chart this week, including work from Google, Toyota, TomTom GPS and Gillette. Returning spots came from Nestle, Evian, Old Spice, Pepsi and Lane Bryant.
But why is it that, if there's a beautiful ad on the chart, it comes out of the U.K.? Retailer John Lewis' video, set to Billy Joel's "She's Always a Woman," was uploaded back in April but was picked up by a few blogs last week, which triggered sharing and a 9th-place chart position.
The Most-Watched Viral Video Ads of the Week
| Rank | Last Week's Rank | Brand | Campaign | Agency | Current Week's Views*
| % Change in Views** | Watch |
1 | NEW | Google | Chrome Speed Tests | Bartle Bogle Hegarty | 1,863,270 | NEW | |
2 | NEW | Toyota | The Sienna Family | Saatchi & Saatchi | 1,854,575 | NEW | |
3 | 3 | Nestle | The Butterfinger Defense League | Threshold Interactive; Zenith Optimedia; Sharethrough | 1,458,839 | 9% | |
4 | NEW | Gillette | Uncut | Greenlight Media & Marketing | 1,420,270 | NEW | |
5 | 2 | Old Spice | Odor Blocker | Wieden + Kennedy | 1,350,321 | -19% | |
6 | 4 | Evian | Live Young | BETC Euro RSCG | 1,068,648 | 7% | |
7 | 5 | Pepsi | Oh Africa | NA | 849,188 | 47% | |
8 | NEW | TomTom GPS | Star Wars Voices | Pool Worldwide | 812,047 | NEW | |
9 | NEW | John Lewis | Never Knowingly Undersold | Adam & Eve | 737,862 | NEW | |
10 | 1 | Lane Bryant | So Not What Mom Would Wear | Zimmerman | 551,787 | -81% | |
Source: Visible Measures ---
Michael Learmonth is a reporter at Advertising Age. You can find the original article here.
The data used for The Top 10 Viral Video Ads Chart was sourced from Visible Measures.
*See our Top Ad Campaigns page for our methodology.
**Indicates percent change in views compared with the same period the week before.
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