NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- No viral meme can last forever, right? As good as Old Spice's "Responses" campaign was, it's peaked and is now in a downward slide, losing 70% of its audience on the web last week.
Mind you, down 70% for Isaiah Mustafa still meant more than 11 million views for the customized YouTube responses alone and four of the top 10 slots on the Viral Chart. All versions of the Old Spice videos -- ads, responses and Odor Blocker videos -- have racked up 130 million views on the web since February, according to Visible Measures.
The question now is what, if anything, agency Wieden & Kennedy will do to keep the Mustafa magic alive. Paid placements? Another ad? Another web stunt?
One thing we do know: Mr. Mustafa is going to be a whole lot busier. He's landed a role in the latest Jennifer Aniston film "Horrible Bosses" and now has a holding deal at NBC.
It's a little early to assess the results of the campaign, but Old Spice is picking up market share. Although so is Gillette, whose "Perfect Length" advertises a different category but grew 123% in views last week.
Joining Old Spice on the chart this week is a new collaboration from YouTube, director Ridley Scott and Korean electronics giant LG, "Life in a Day." The campaign is soliciting video footage from people's daily lives that it's calling a "global experiment to create the world's largest user-generated feature film." Most views so far (2 million) are on the promo video. The resulting film will premiere at Sundance in January.
The Most-Watched Ads of the Week
| Rank | Last Week's Rank | Brand | Campaign | Agency | Current Week's Views*
| % Change in Views** |
Watch
|
|
1
|
1
|
Old Spice
|
Responses
|
Wieden + Kennedy
|
11,309,342
|
-68%
|
|
|
2
|
8
|
Gillette
|
Perfect Length
|
Jack Morton; BBDO
|
2,159,215
|
123%
|
|
|
3
|
NEW
|
LG & YouTube
|
Life In A Day
|
NA
|
2,158,010
|
NEW
|
|
|
4
|
2
|
Old Spice
|
The Return of The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
|
Wieden + Kennedy
|
2,143,315
|
-62%
|
|
|
5
|
3
|
Old Spice
|
Odor Blocker
|
Wieden + Kennedy
|
1,993,413
|
-42%
|
|
|
6
|
4
|
Old Spice
|
The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
|
Wieden + Kennedy
|
1,928,529
|
-36%
|
|
|
7
|
7
|
EMC
|
EMC 20% Guarantee
|
Sharethrough
|
1,903,151
|
77%
|
|
|
8
|
5
|
Dentyne
|
Dentyne Pure
|
Platinum Rye; Sharethrough
|
1,210,476
|
-3%
|
|
|
9
|
NEW
|
Victoria's Secret
|
Temperature Rising
|
Razorfish; Sharethrough
|
963,783
|
NEW
|
|
|
10
|
10
|
Evian
|
Live Young
|
BETC Euro RSCG
|
939,553
|
12%
|
|
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.