NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- A little over five years ago, YouTube ushered in a new genre of video advertising, one that succeeded on its ability to rise above a world of pet tricks and backyard stunts, to entertain and to be passed around. Call them "viral" videos, super-sized TV ads, branded videos or just plain commercials, a few of them have crossed a significant psychic milestone: 100 million views and counting.
Last week, the roller-skating babies of Evian's "Live Young" campaign reached the mark after a little more than a year on the web. This, without any significant TV exposure in the U.S. and very little overseas. It's advertising that entertains. And it got us thinking: What are the most-watched viral ads of all time?
We put the question to our friends at Visible Measures, and the answer surprised us. It turned out the No. 1 viral campaign of all time is a consistent sleeper hit, not often among the weekly top 10 on Ad Age's Viral Chart, and not connected to a big, well-heeled brand or fancy creative agency. Rather, it's a cool gimmick that consistently delivers laughs along with cringe-inducing voyeuristic destruction.
The No. 1 video advertiser of all time is Blendtec, whose "Will It Blend" series has been around in the same form for four years, accumulating 134.2 million views. The key? The brand found what works and stuck with it. Each of the more than 120 original clips has the same kitschy music, the same tagline, variations on the same stunt and the same host, Blendtec CEO Tom Dickson.
While brilliant, Mr. Dickson has to thank Steve Jobs for Blendtec's biggest hits, including laying waste to an iPhone in 2007 and an iPad in April.
What's remarkable about the top 10 is that viewers would voluntarily watch an ad 100 million times, let alone 23 million times. Not surprisingly, given the recent growth of web video, most of the entrants are recent campaigns, launched within the last year or two. All but one, Pepsi's "Gladiator," came after the launch of YouTube in 2005. (The ad, starring Britney, Beyonce and Pink, appeared on TV in 2004.)
In addition to Blendtec, Evian and Pepsi, the list includes two Old Spice campaigns (including the newly famous "Your Man" Isaiah Mustafa), Microsoft's Xbox Project Natal, Dove's "Evolution," DC Shoes' "Gymhana Two," and "T-Mobile Dance." While the chart stops at No. 10, special honorable mention goes to Nike, which holds the No. 11 spot for its "Write the Future" campaign, as well as the Nos. 12 and 13 spots for early viral efforts starring Kobe Bryant and Ronaldinho.
While great creative is the key to keeping interest and generating pass-along, time also helps. It took Evian and Blendtec more than a year to get to 100 million views. The next campaign to do it will probably feature Old Spice's Isaiah Mustafa, not for the original "Man Your Man Could Smell Like" TV ad, but the "Responses" campaign, where Mustafa recorded customized replies to folks like Kevin Rose, George Stephanolopous, Gizmodo and Biz Stone.
The Top 10 Most-Watched Viral Video Ads of All Time
| Rank | Brand | Campaign | Agency | All Time Views
| Launch Date |
Watch
|
|
1
|
Blendtec
|
Will It Blend?
|
In-House
|
134,256,499 |
October 2006
|
|
|
2
|
Evian
|
Live Young
|
BETC Euro RSCG
|
103,867,704 |
June 2009
|
|
|
3
|
Old Spice
|
Responses
|
Wieden + Kennedy
|
57,132,669 |
July 2010
|
|
|
4
|
Pepsi
|
Gladiator
|
AMV BBDO
|
46,742,892 |
January 2004
|
|
|
5
|
Microsoft
|
Xbox Project Natal
|
World Famous
|
42,698,599 |
June 2009
|
|
|
6
|
Dove
|
Evolution
|
Ogilvy & Mather
|
41,100,418 |
October 2006
|
|
|
7
|
T-Mobile
|
T-Mobile Dance
|
Saatchi & Saatchi
|
35,487,575 |
January 2009
|
|
|
8
|
Doritos
|
Crash The Super Bowl 2010
|
Goodby Silverstein & Partners
|
34,168,845 |
January 2010
|
|
|
9
|
Old Spice
|
Odor Blocker
|
Wieden + Kennedy
|
33,986,750 |
March 2010
|
|
|
10
|
DC Shoes
|
Gymkhana Two
|
Mad Media
|
32,872,531 |
September 2009
|
|
Source: Visible Measures
---
Michael Learmonth is Digital Lead 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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