Most of us who tuned into the annual 4th of July Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest witnessed the raw, animalistic nature of competitive eating. However, the live broadcast failed to capture the true art and elegance of the sport.
Luckily, New Jersey/California-based agency S3 brought in one of the sport’s icons, 34-year-old Japanese former champion Takeru Kobayashi, slowed down his gluttonous performance, and sprinkled in some light piano music. Yes, seeing Kobayashi’s craft in slow-motion isn’t too far off from watching a ballet or, in this case, getting people to pay attention to a 30-second online video. Apparently, S3 excels at the latter.
Admittedly, we weren’t too familiar with S3 before we saw this video. But, we were drawn to the “Distractions” portion of their website, where you can play a variation of the classic Atari game “Brick Breaker,” see the agency’s office make a cameo appearance on The Sopranos and learn about the “blue lady” ghost that haunts S3’s headquarters. Not a bad strategy for increasing user time-on-site, is it? Most agencies could learn a thing or two from these guys.
If you’re in the mood for watching Wednesday’s hot dog eating champ and American hero, Joey Chestnut, in slow-motion, Deadspin has you covered here.