Top 10 Viral Marketing Stunts
Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 marketing stunts that went viral.
Transcript
00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 marketing stunts
00:08 that went viral.
00:14 Who would have thought that simply adding someone's name to a product would make it
00:21 go viral?
00:22 Well, that's exactly what Coke did in 2011 with its "Share a Coke" campaign.
00:26 The cola giant added people's names to its bottles and cans, and the world went absolutely
00:31 nuts for it.
00:32 People everywhere went searching for their own names and their friends' names.
00:35 They were taking selfies with their bottles outside of stores, on public transport, and
00:39 indeed with their friends.
00:41 Not only did it increase Coke sales, but it added a new level of togetherness and belonging
00:45 to the Coke brand.
00:46 And the campaign has evolved in various different ways since, with the likes of must-have pop
00:50 culture quotes, nicknames and symbols replacing the names on the bottles.
00:56 Taco Bell has an eclectic history of publicity stunts.
01:01 I mean, remember when it pretended to buy the Liberty Bell?
01:03 Back in 2014, it was faced with a mammoth challenge - promote a new Taco Bell app in
01:08 a marketplace that's drenched in social media noise and competition.
01:12 So what did it do?
01:15 Well, it risked its millions of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter followers by temporarily
01:20 closing down its channels, and redirecting all fans to its new app with the hashtag "Only
01:26 in the app" tagline.
01:27 It even worked with Twitter to reset its follower count to zero.
01:30 The blackout stunt was a massive success though, with the brand reportedly recording mobile
01:35 orders in 75% of its stores just 24 hours after the campaign launched.
01:46 You've gotta have your wits about you on social media when April Fool's Day comes
01:52 around.
01:53 Tinder capitalised on the prank-filled day by announcing it was going to be introducing
01:57 height verification for its users.
01:59 All you needed to do was upload a photo of yourself standing next to a commercial building,
02:04 and Tinder would analyse your height and officially verify it for you.
02:07 The reaction on social media was hit and miss.
02:10 Some loved the idea, and some were outraged.
02:12 Regardless, it earned Tinder a lot of increased social media and news article presence online,
02:18 and even though it was only a joke, it permanently put the idea of Tinder height verification
02:23 up for debate.
02:38 This publicity stunt took to the streets of London to promote Nat Geo's upcoming one-off
02:42 special "T-Rex Autopsy", back in 2015.
02:45 The brand created the illusion that a T-Rex was being transported on the back of a truck,
02:50 on its way to National Geographic HQ for said autopsy.
02:53 The replica T-Rex had commuters scared, excited and snapping away as the dino made its way
02:58 around the busy streets of the capital, complete with a blood-stained tarp, a gape mouth and
03:03 a twitching leg.
03:05 The stunt went instantly viral, with radio, TV and social media outlets everywhere reporting
03:10 on the tyrannosaurus spotting.
03:15 Apple is the king of streamlining, be it design, functionality or marketing, and its "Shot
03:32 on iPhone" campaign is a perfect example of how a simple message can carry a lot of
03:37 weight.
03:38 In the mid-2010s, Apple started using the "Shot on iPhone" slogan while promoting
03:42 superb cinema-quality ads that were, indeed, shot using the iPhone.
03:46 The idea was that you could achieve these amazing shots yourself, using the device.
03:53 Okay, so Apple invested a lot of budget and extra equipment to achieve these shots, but
04:01 nevertheless, the campaign did wonders for promoting the iPhone as the go-to device for
04:05 capturing everyday moments in immaculate detail.
04:08 It also helped fuel the idea of entire feature-length movies being shot on iPhones.
04:22 Many of us practically lived in video calls in our home offices after the pandemic hit
04:27 in 2020, and Zoom saw this as a golden opportunity to entice new users to its platform.
04:36 The brand held monthly background challenge competitions, urging remote workers to share
04:40 their creative digital backgrounds for a chance to win prizes.
04:44 Not only did this urge existing Zoom members to experiment with the platform's capabilities,
04:49 but it urged users from other platforms to make the switch to Zoom in fear of missing
04:52 out on the background craze.
04:54 Aside from Zoom's own monthly competitions, companies everywhere started their own friendly
04:58 contests, with each meeting becoming a new opportunity for fun and creativity.
05:12 The exciting thing about Tesla marketing stunts is that they're usually rooted in realistic
05:16 future endeavours for the brand.
05:18 So, back in 2018, when Elon Musk said that SpaceX would be sending his personal Tesla
05:23 Roadster into orbit, everyone listened up.
05:25 The Roadster was successfully launched, put into orbit, and remains in space to this day.
05:30 And the entire event was live-streamed, with viewers able to watch the Roadster and its
05:35 Starman mannequin float on by.
05:37 The event made the Roadster the first production car launched into space, and Musk claimed
05:41 that the stunt was a way to promote the idea of humans visiting other planets.
05:45 Whatever way you look at it, it's cool.
05:47 And hey, in 2091, there's even a chance we'll see that Roadster again, when it passes
05:51 Earth a couple hundred thousand miles away.
05:54 Grand control to Major Musk!
06:06 Back when this ad was launched in 2007, social media giants like Facebook and Twitter were
06:11 still very much in their infancy.
06:12 So, for a marketing campaign to go viral, it had to be really good.
06:16 The Cadbury's Gorilla ad, which saw a person in a gorilla suit drumming along to Phil Collins'
06:21 "In The Air Tonight", catapulted itself into the pop culture zeitgeist.
06:33 Its mixture of absurdity, a catchy tune, and the question of whether it was a real gorilla
06:37 playing made the advert instantly iconic, and it's still referenced and talked about
06:41 to this day.
06:42 Oh, and yes, it also helped Cadbury's sell more chocolate, with sales reportedly being
06:46 boosted by 10%.
06:48 The meaning behind the ad?
06:49 Cadbury's brings happiness, and gorillas look sick playing the drums.
06:58 This energy drink brand has faced a lot of flak over the years for its "Red Bull gives
07:02 you wings" slogan, but with this marketing stunt, at least the brand was close to delivering
07:07 on that claim.
07:08 In 2012, Red Bull teamed up with scientists in an attempt to complete the world's highest
07:13 skydive.
07:14 Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner stood up to the challenge, and the world watched
07:18 via livestream as he took the leap.
07:27 The entire fall took about 10 minutes.
07:30 Baumgartner broke the sound barrier in the process, and several world records to boot.
07:34 For Red Bull, this was an interstellar example of on-brand marketing, with the brand further
07:39 solidifying its adrenaline-fuelled identity.
08:04 The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
08:13 Almost everybody will have either participated or have known someone who took part in the
08:17 ALS Ice Bucket Challenge back in 2014.
08:20 The social media sensation saw people from all over the world having buckets of ice poured
08:24 over them, as a means to promote the awareness of the disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis,
08:29 or ALS.
08:30 People did it in their backyards, bathrooms, workplaces and anywhere else they could dump
08:34 a bucket of water.
08:35 And each challenge typically saw participants challenging their friends and family to follow
08:40 suit.
08:41 And yes, the celebrity participation aspect helped boost the campaign to unbelievable
08:44 heights as well.
08:54 The 2014 social media whirlwind raised over $150 million for ALS research, and is one
09:00 of the most memorable viral social media events ever.
09:10 So which viral marketing stunts do you remember?
09:12 Did we miss any big ones?
09:14 Let us know in the comments below.
09:24 And as always, thanks for watching!