Visible Measures Blog

Michael Jackson's This Is It skyrocketed onto The Top 10 Online Film Trailers Chart this week as the pop icon takes his final bow. Replete with concert rehearsal footage, dancer interviews, and behind-the-scenes shots, This is It seems to have captured the attention online video audiences, generating 2.3 million views this week and taking second place on the chart. Anticipation for the film has grown so much that Sony decided to release the film nationwide (making it eligible for this chart).

Volkswagen's The Fun Theory is this week's most-watched viral video ad campaign. The DDB campaign, which asks "can we get people to do boring things if we make them fun?", has enjoyed a week of significant growth, jumping over 80% to surpass 2.4 million views. To date, the campaign features three spots, but has invited audiences to upload their own "fun theories" to add to the campaign. Of the videos released by DDB, Piano Stairs seems to be having the most fun, attracting the majority of the views for the campaign thus far. This also marks the very first time an automobile campaign has reached the top spot on our chart.

After an arduous road to the silver screen, Paramount's Paranormal Activity shocked Lionsgate's Saw VI and took top honors at this past weekend's box office. The low-budget "horror phenomenon," as Time called it, brought in an opening $22 million, while the latest installment in the Saw franchise took in $14.8 million. While Saw VI benefited from broader distribution, a pre-established fan base, and larger production and marketing budgets, it failed to equal Paranormal Activity's online video buzz.

With Halloween one week away, online audiences are gearing up for a ghoulish weekend at the box office. Ultra-gorey Saw VI and kung fu-undead hybrid The Vampire's Assistant are set to hit the silver screen after a week of significant growth in online video. The latest in the Saw franchise peaked above 1 million views this week, growing a strong 33%, and taking third place. It's also maintained a position on the chart for a full ten weeks, the maximum possible. The action-packed The Vampire's Assistant experienced the most growth on the chart, jumping 86%, and taking fourth place with just under 407,000 views. The other vampire flick on the chart, Twilight's New Moon, threw down a massive 18.1+ million views this week, increasing 77%.

Soulja Boy's dominance over the 100 Million Views Club could be in jeopardy. The latest installment of The Twilight Saga, New Moon, has made massive gains since our last update. At its current growth rate, New Moon just might top Soulja Boy's Crank Dat by the end of the year. Since our last update, the vampire romance has driven more than 163 million views (!!) to reach 383 million views total. With the film set for release in just a few weeks, viewing activity could surge.

It turns out that viral video audiences like fun. Tribal DDB's new campaign for Volkswagen, The Fun Theory, explores ways of making some of the mundane activities of life more entertaining. The three spots for the campaign feature people hopping giddily up and down piano stairs, throwing trash into a seemingly bottomless bin, and recycling glass for video game points. The Fun Theory lands second place this week, falling just short of Evian's dominating Live Young campaign, which sucked down over 1.34 million views. This is only the second auto ad we've had on the chart.

On Thursday afternoon, the world watched as the media reported that a small boy had floated away in a homemade weather balloon. Later, of course, everyone learned that the boy had been hiding in the attic the entire time... and the story went into overdrive. As the drama of whether or not the whole thing had just been a massive hoax, related video clips were hitting the Web and spreading rapidly.

We're excited to announce the release of our new Web site, www.visiblemeasures.com. The new site showcases Internet video data from the top-performing videos across the entire universe of online video. Our goal with this update was to consolidate our industry-wide data and make it more accessible so that you and the online video community at large can use it as a resource to better understand the world of Internet video and its applications for brand advertising. 

Strength in numbers seems to work for webisodes. The Station, combining the Internet video star power from a number of vloggers, splashes onto the Top 10 Webisodes Chart for September in second place with 14.7+ million views. The web series features Shane Dawson, Carl Shay, sxephil, LisaNova and others in multiple comedy sketches. Despite the powerhouse cast, The Station fell short of challenging Fred, which generated 21.4+ million views to stay in first place.

As it opens nationwide this weekend, Where The Wild Things Are is surging in online video. After maintaing a position on the chart for the maximum number of weeks allowable – 10 – Spike Jonze's adaptation of the children's classic has jumped nearly 15% in views to reach 572,000+, enough for fifth place on the chart. The chart features two other films opening this weekend: Paranormal Activity and Law Abiding Citizen, both making their debut this week. It will be interesting to see how these new films on the chart fair against more established Where The Wild Things Are at the box office.

Without uploading a single clip, Verizon made its debut on The Viral Video Ads Chart this week. A user recorded the There's A Map For That spot, a direct assault on AT&T's 3G network, from Monday night football and uploaded to the Web. The clip has subsequently generated a significant amount of interest, enough for 290,000+ views and sixth place on the chart. T-Mobile, the other telecomm giant on the Chart, lands eighth place with nearly 250,000 views.

Internet video has been inspiring broadcast television for some time now. The Simpsons jumped on the train early by satirizing "Noah Takes a Photo of Himself Every for Six Years." South Park mocked everyone's favorite heros and villains from online video, like Star Wars Kid, Dramatic Gopher, Chris Crocker and more. Tosh.O on Comedy Central rips on the Web's most bizarre clips. Neil Patrick Harris' Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog made it onto the 2009 Emmys. And the list goes on and on.

Ten weeks from its offical release, James Cameron's Avatar debuts on the Top 10 Online Film Trailers Chart at fifth place. Cameron, the director of Titanic, Aliens, and Terminator, conceived Avatar fourteen years ago but was only able to realize the film with today's technology. This is Cameron's first work to hit the silverscreen since Titanic in 1997. And, as securing a position on the Chart tens weeks from its release indicates, Cameron fans have been ancitipating the action fantasy film's release.

In a rare event, no new ads made the Top 10 Viral Video Ads Chart this week.All the brands, agencies, and ads have returned from last week, which begs the question: Where have all the new viral video ads gone?

With its official release set for today, Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story is on the up and up. The film jumped nearly 200% this week, pushing through the 1 million views mark, enough for third place on the Chart. The majority of these views are coming from Moore's recent PR push with a number of interviews. 

Who would have thought that FunnyOrDie frontman Will Ferrell would fight on the behalf of insurance companies? In the latest FunnyOrDie exclusive, Ferrell teams up with MoveOn.org for a satirical spot which seems to have struck a chord in the current political climate. Protect Insurance Companies debuts at first place with 1.8+ million views, beating Evian's stalwart Live Young campaign by nearly 500,000 views.