The 20 Most-Viral Ads of 2012 (So Far) You'll laugh, you'll cry. But most of all, you're likely to share

It's only the middle of May, but already we've had some runaway viral hits in advertising this year. Unruly Media, which runs the global Viral Video Chart, has just released a list of the most-shared ads of 2012 (so far). We've posted the top 20 below. It's a varied group of spots—with dancing and singing, cursing and fainting, running and good old-fashioned pitching. President Obama even makes an appearance. Check out the full list after the jump. And don't resist the urge to share.

Click to Read More →

Man Proposes to Woman via Audio Ad on Pandora OK, this is getting a little ridiculous

Nerdy couples are awesome. They do nerdy things for each other that cause both of them to squeal in delight. Recently this phenomenon has extended all the way up to nerdy marriage proposals. We've seen the infographic proposal, the crowdsourced Photoshop meme proposal and the Web banner-ad proposal. Now, a man with an apparent appreciation for radio commercials has proposed via Pandora ad—with the audio professionally recorded by a voice actress. The guy offers a play by play over on his Tumblr. He writes: "She heard her name, and then heard it again, and she started picking up things in the car because she thought I was playing a joke on her … then she realized that this was actually happening and she just looked at me in awe with a smile on her face. When the ad ended with a pause I said, 'I know this isn't the most traditional proposal, but Maggie, will you marry me?' " Awww. Hear the audio after the jump. Via @VanHoven.

Click to Read More →

Google Shows You Where an Email Goes After You Hit Send A behind-the-scenes look at the journey

Google takes us backstage with The Story of Send, which explains what happens when you send an email. It's kind of like they're asking themselves why they're so awesome, and then answering that question, but it's still a clever way of both congratulating their renewable-energy efforts and explaining the inner workings of something people do every day without necessarily understanding the mechanics of it. I also think they're getting sick of all the remaining jokes about tubes, so they're trying to nip that mess in the bud once and for all. Either way, it's evidence of good citizenship from the Google compound.

Guinness Turns a Submarine Into a Branded Underwater Bar Contest winner parties at the bottom of the ocean

What shall we do with the drunken sailor? Sign him up for a tour of duty on the Guinness submarine! The vessel comes complete with a "deep-sea bar" and Austin Powers pop-art interior design with lots of rubber discs simulating bubbles. This is no dive bar! The groovy environs were built by architects at London's Jump Studios, working from concepts by Evelyne Gridelet, who won a "Sea Experience" competition celebrating the brand's 250th anniversary. Guinness's promotional line, "Alive inside," was the contest's theme, and it thankfully held true for Gridelet and guests when they rode in the craft to the bottom of the seas around Sweden's Stockholm Archipelago to celebrate her victory. The design strives to convey the feeling of immersion in "a dynamic, flowing experience." I'm thinking that after a few pints, that was one mellow submarine. More images after the jump.

Click to Read More →

Keep Your Kitten or Puppy From Becoming the Town Whore Lighthearted PSAs remind you to 'Fix at Four'

With their fluffiness, big trusting eyes and adorable attempts to learn how to operate their oversized paws, kittens and puppies are the essence of the word squee. But take that fluffy kitty or puppy and multiply it by six. Now, you need to provide a load of living creatures with veterinary care, food and water, love and attention, space—and let's not even talk about the number of litter boxes or walks in the park necessary to corral the byproducts of six adorable poop machines. The solution, for many, is a pit stop at the local overcrowded animal shelter—or worse, alongside a highway.
     Most people do spay or neuter their pets. Utah-based Best Friends Animal Society says more than 80 percent of pet owners jump on the snipping bandwagon. But Best Friends says there's still a lot of confusion about when animals should be sterilized (at 4 months old). So, with the help of TM Advertising and MRM in Salt Lake City, it launched the Fix at Four campaign. The creative features furry friends as they face the daunting task of parenting much too soon. The campaign, created with a bare-bones budget, spans video, TV spots, online ads, merch, posters and screensavers, all housed within a website centerpiece that utilizes a cutting-edge continuous scrolling navigation technology called Parallax.

Click to Read More →

Corona Light's Mark: Is He a Poor Man's Stan? Goodby returns with second rhythmic ad

Meet Mark, an office drone who tweets, posts, tags, links, pokes and shares in zombified fashion through most of this Goodby, Silverstein & Partners spot for Corona Light. After switching from a boring "brown-bottle" beer—presumably Bud Light or Miller Lite—to Corona Light, his frustratingly predictable life morphs into a rockin' partysphere of salsa dancing and crowd surfing. There's even a pony in there somewhere. This is the brand's second recent outing that employs addictive, rhythmic editing and mostly still photos to tell the tale of a young dude's emancipation from the humdrum through beer. It's pretty amusing, but there's just one catch. Mark's no Stan, the hero of the earlier spot. Judging by the comments on YouTube—the most accurate gauge of public opinion in the known universe—Stan has Mark beat by a mile. Stan just seems cooler, even before he grabs a Corona Light. Stan dreams of talking sheep; Mark's pony never says a word. Stan's regimen might be dull, but at least he logs off the computer for some workouts at the gym. Mark's a hopeless cyber addict, eyes glued to screens of all shapes and sizes as he feeds his snowballing social-media obsession. The guy must work in advertising.

Death Is Just a Door to an Ad-Supported Afterlife Your continued existence, brought to you by our sponsors

What if reincarnation were like buying an app? Would you be able to afford the premium version, or would you have to settle for an ad-supported afterlife? Could you pay the monthly licensing fees on memories that involve copyrighted material? These are the entertaining and mildly haunting questions posed by British tech humorist Tom Scott (who also recently launched the popular Klout parody tool Klouchebag.com). Scott's new video imagines a login process for the newly deceased, who find their consciousness uploaded into "The Life Network." If you had plenty of money in the bank, you can be reborn as an attractive immortal with a dizzying intellect. For the working class, there's the advertising-supported option, in which the sky is slathered in ads and "your personal brand preferences may be altered to align with those of our sponsors." Then there's the "value option," which makes reincarnation start to sound like more of a living hell. Via Geek.com.

Energy Drink Makes the Most of the Buttered-Cat Paradox Age-old physics law inspires Ogilvy ad

It's an old law of jocular physics: the buttered-cat paradox. Falling toast always lands on the buttered side, and falling cats always land on their feet. So, combine those two forces in opposite directions, and you can create infinite energy. Ogilvy & Mather Brazil harnesses that power in an amusing spot for Flying Horse energy drink, generating enough to keep the lights on in an entire neighborhood and allow a couple of mad scientists to get their party going. Laugh on, and hope the same formula hasn't actually found it's way into your beverage. Via Ads of the World.

Volkswagen's Winter Offer Lasts Until Hibernating Bear Wakes Up Another natural wonder by DDB Stockholm

DDB Stockholm always comes up with fun ways to promote winter offers from Volkswagen. Last year, it advertised the Passat 4Motion with a billboard placed directly on a lake of ice. The offer lasted until the ice melted and the billboard sank. This year's effort was more bearish. The agency somehow finagled an actual bear, trained a webcam on him, and offered a special deal on a Tiguan 4Motion until the bear woke up. ("A winter adjusted offer for a winter adjusted car," read the Web copy.) The bear's hideaway was streamed online. It's funny to see him all cozy and rolling around in there. A contest also offered prizes to the person who most closely guessed the time when the bear would wake up. The grand prize was not the bear.

Tiny Man Frolics in Giant Cleavage in Fiat Ad Pure class from Leo Burnett

A new campaign by Leo Burnett Argentina promotes the Fiat Palio as "The car for the best time of your life," even if you're the kind of shallow moron who would count your girlfriend's boob job among those times. And even if you claim to find "fake" women unattractive, as the guy in this ad does. And if all that doesn't insult you, the Big Lebowski montage ripoff probably will. Someone needs to drop a marmot in this guy's bathtub. Via Copyranter.