Nestle Gets Viral … The Kit Kat “Hoax”
The chocolate bar in question
Have you seen the Kit Kat “commercial” starring none other than Jesus himself? Well, not really himself, but something in his image.
It seems that Nestle Amsterdam made a viral “commercial” of an “anonymous Dutch Guy” who took a bite of a Kit Kat bar and an image of Jesus mysteriously appeared in his teeth marks. They produced this on the heels of a week’s worth of media coverage of multiple Jesus-icon discoveries and sent it to two media outlets in the Netherlands. Look, another Jesus in an inanimate object!
Well, the two media outlets ran it, and subsequently the video was picked up all over the world in a matter of days. This was a year ago on Good Friday, and the hits on YouTube continue, as do comments via Twitter, Facebook and in the media. People are still laughing … still insulted … but still talking.
The success of coverage obtained, the viewership and the online dialog generated by this fake commercial is part of the “digital media will kill traditional” onslaught. Yet for world-wide viral appeal, there must be an edge, and typically corporate-America is too frightened to produce something this provocative. Making fun of Jesus on Good Friday? I don’t think so! Poking fun of religious icons in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands is a big nothing. In the US, it’s taboo. Yes, the web is worldwide … but is it a cultural leveler? And if not, what is the ultimate fate of US creative?
Interestingly, most of the online discussion isn’t ripping on the sacrilege, but rather voicing offense over faking the image for purposes of marketing (which never happens in the traditional world, right?) and hoaxing the public with a fake news story.
The case study is fascinating. View, and use your own judgment.
Growing Peer Influence at the Retail Level?
While I don’t shop a whole lot, I have noted that my retail experiences lately have been unusual…not because of the stores or the brands I’m buying…but because of the behavior of my fellow shoppers.
On a visit to a home improvement center, I was stopped in the parking lot by a puzzled looking lady who had a cart full of cabinet and tile samples. “What do you think,?” she asked me. This question turned into a quarter hour conversation as we compared our remodeling experiences and design preferences. Apparently just talking things through eased her mind and she left more confident of her choices.
Then there was the group of ladies I saw huddled around the yogurt at the grocery store yesterday. Pretending to consider which egg brand was worthy of a trip home with me, I eavesdropped on their discussion. They covered probiotic vs. Greek vs. store brand yogurts…concluding with one woman’s endorsement of a yogurt available at Trader Joe’s. To my amusement, the advice of one shopper had two of the ladies decide to forego their yogurt purchase entirely.
Later that day at the mall, a fellow shopper conspiratorially advised me that, if I wasn’t in a hurry, the book I was considering was available from Amazon for a fraction of the cost.
Peer influence can make or break the sale, and most of this influence happens offline. Interactions with fellow retail shoppers seems to be happening much more frequently for me, lately. It has got me wondering…what has changed? Could it be that our fluency with online social networks is reshaping our offline shopping behavior in a significant way? Is the ease with which we solicit peer opinions at the retail level growing? If so, how should savvy retailers harness this at the store level?
I’m buying an Electrolux
Wired is reporting that Electrolux is going to clean up the oceans to harvest the plastic it needs for manufacturing. They want to increase the recycled plastic content of their ‘green’ vacuums from 70% to 100%. They can’t do that now because there’s a lack of available plastic on land to recycle.
Electrolux’s Vac From The Sea project will reclaim plastic in the Pacific, Indian, Atlantic and Mediterranean oceans, as well as the Baltic and North seas. Read More
Now everybody, I’m sure that it would NOT be a good idea to stop recycling plastics so that companies like Electrolux feel more urgency for this project. But if you’re someone who uses recycled plastics in product design, I would get on board now.
Agency entrepreneur? Go to the bank.
MDC Partners, the holding company that owns Crispin Porter & Bogusky and Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners, is announcing a “Million-Dollar Challenge” to hopeful entrepreneurs who want to start their own marcom agency. The New York Times article reported that MDC will choose at least one plan from 10 finalists and invest $1 million in starting it up in exchange for a 51% stake.
Would you trade 51% of your new agency for the capital to open it? Doesn’t sound like a great deal to me. Although, if you need help with your business plan, I could be persuaded to consult for a 10% stake…
88-minutes late
Metra really should bill itself as a form of social networking.
Chicago’s fabulous commuter train service, well-known for its friendly conductors (we love you, Bob), is really one of my very favorite things about this town. Even though our area is constantly under a weather siege of one type or another, trains are seldom late. So as I was sitting on the tracks for nearly an hour and a half yesterday waiting out a thunderstorm, I couldn’t really complain.
On Metra, regular commuters form social groups. Groups sit in the same car and same seat day after day chatting away. We think nothing of engaging our seat mates. By and large we relate to one another, bonded by our commuter commonality.
As we were sitting on the train last night, there was bonding aplenty. We all seemed to be conserving our cell phone charges, and got tired of our iPods. We got up and stretched our legs and some of us got into some interesting conversations. I saw at least two business card exchanges. Riders rallied around a first-time passenger to soothe her anxiety. We all giggled after we were collectively startled by a lightning strike that hit mere yards from our windows.
So today, I am even more thankful for Metra. And for the social networking and community building role it plays. Depending on how you choose to use the time, 88 minutes late can be a very rewarding experience.
How do they do that?
When you’re wa
iting for a light to change and a bus drives by that is entirely covered with graphics, have you ever wondered “how do they do that?” But, before it even gets to that point, can you image all of the pre-production work that goes into it first? Just to give you an idea: first, you are working with images at the size of your monitor while knowing that they will be completely different once blown up beyond life size, so how are they really going to look? Is one of the letter T’s in your headline going to fall within a window seam, causing the word to look like it’s spelled wrong? Is your image high-res enough to look nice and crisp? Is your client’s logo falling in an area that is going to get trimmed off? And after all that is said and done, are you still wondering how the graphic gets applied to the bus? Well, who would know better then Titan Worldwide, the company that does it for a living? Take a look at this video, and you’ll be amazed.
