It’s so easy to buy TV media these days even a child can do it. My son Brian spent $2 on Google AdWords to promote his webseries Guitarings (a collaboration with Kyle Gass of Tenacious D) and, after picking his programming schedule and demographic mix, sure enough, on Monday night at 3:19am on Versus, his 30 second TV spot ran, nationally. Haha. Awesome.
Here’s the spot:
I wonder at what point clients are just going to set up an account with Google and make their own media buys?
And ok, so at 24 my son’s not exactly a “child.” But it made for a better opening line to this post.
Watched The Happening today for 20 minutes. My wife Caroline had not seen it and I had told her how absolutely terrible (and irresponsible, because of the suicides) it is and she was mildly curious. So, we caught it midway on Showtime. It started with the so-bad-it’s-funny scene where Mark Wahlberg talks to the plastic plant. Here’s a clip of it. Oops, Twentieth Century Fox pulled all uses of this clip for copyright reasons. Why? What’s wrong with these people? When will Hollywood learn that YouTube and all of its friends (like, in this case, reddit) are EXCELLENT promotional mediums for copyrighted content? No one is going to watch an entire movie for free on YouTube but people will certainly watch a bunch of scenes from a movie for free on YouTube/friends and then, more interested than before, would be more likely to watch the ENTIRE MOVIE in the theater, or on DVD, or on Showtime. Right?
When I make my movie (I am writing an excellent horror movie with Caroline) I will release almost every scene on the Internet ahead of time and then people will want to see it all put together on a glorious big screen. Done.
I don’t know if Google Wave is it but please, someone, make something new. I like multi-tasking and instant information and interactivity and I find email too linear, uncomfortably transactional, increasingly dull and, well, old-fashioned. I want to know everything important now and I don’t want to “see below” or “scroll down for details,” particularly now that I read on my phone.
That’s it.
Send me an email (bruce@barbariangroup.com) with your thoughts.
I have been wrestling with how to write-up my completely uninspiring Oscar night. I was on Oscar.com using what was supposed to be an online, updated instantly, running poll amongst fans. (The Oscars are kinda like the Super Bowl in my household. I acutally picked 21/24 this year. An easy year.)
Anyway, here is what I got, for about an hour. I guess I am speechless because it’s been over a week since the show ran.
When is someone going to give me some kick ass companion content?
My daughter cleverly produced a TV Show for YouTube title Important Doctorly Breakthroughs!!!! It’s a ridiculous handmade video show but it’s also an interesting layering of YouTube clips that run sequentially, called a playlist. You simply press play and it runs. In effect, like watching television.
I think there’s something very interesting in curated playlists. Like I’d like to see a playlist from Will Farrel or Jack Black or Michael Cera, right? Maybe a celebrity playlist on YouTube could generate significant eyeballs. huh
Well, one thing for sure, I’m looking forward to the Second Season of Doctor.
on February 25, 2009 at 11:31 AM
filed under: Viral Marketing
Boston Globe Article yesterday about viral marketing and promotion and the need, or lack thereof, to pull down a site after its initial launch. The best bit, of course, is a reference to our Subservient Chicken as the “granddaddy of the genre.” Ha.
The most interesting part is the suggestion that the internet is becoming littered with remnants of past web campaigns. I kinda like that notion. Viral campaign pollution. Someone should make a bot that cleans it all up, like in Wall-E.
Sitting here after a long vacation watching The Presidents on the History Channel on, yes, Presidents day. Ha. It’s really well done and an interesting angle on the history of this country. Or maybe I’m still on vacation and just need something mindless to watch while folding laundry.
Anyway, made me think about the so called rankings of best Presidents to the worst Presidents. Summarized nicely here it’s interesting to consider the role a President plays and how history will remember them. The best ranked Presidents (Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt) happen to be in office at times of intense significant positive change and/or generally good times (Truman, Reagan, Jefferson). I hope Obama has such a legacy. That would be awesome.
