The Viral Video that wasn't ... well Viral
So you remember that video of the wedding party dancing in to Chris Brown's "Forever"? It was hugely popular. Right now it has over 21 million views.
I was listening to the radio today and Kidd Kraddick was talking about it and he said I thought it was kind of odd that they were dancing in to a Chris Brown song a week after he was accused of domestic violence. And they were talking about the quality of the sound of the video, and how it sounds ... DUBBED.
And apparently, the original song was another really popular dance hit from about ten years ago that I can't remember the name of off the top of my head but you'd know it if you heard it. But Sony Music caught a hold of the video, and thought up a brilliant PR idea.
What if we take this great video, dub this song over it, get the couple on some morning shows, and see how far it can go?
How far it went? After the couple was on the Today show, Chris Brown's record sales went up 300%. He was convicted of domestic abuse yesterday. YouTube monetized the video as well and made a fortune on the VISA ads (etc) they sold. They also posted a link to buy the song on iTunes, and shortly there after "Forever" was number 6.
None of this is confirmed, of course. Why would Sony admit it? But I really liked the video, and sadly I like the song, but he (Chris Brown) is probably not going to be on the recieving end of my dollars any time soon.
I really liked the video, so now that it's rumored that it was all a PR stunt that Sony brilliantly cooked up to save Brown's image, I'm sad. And I feel tricked.
And viral means it gains steam and popularity through consumer word of mouth, and isn't pushed on us by mega-corporations. So that video wasn't viral. Sony got that couple on TV and that's how news of that video spread. That isn't viral.
That's brilliant PR, but it isn't viral.
I was listening to the radio today and Kidd Kraddick was talking about it and he said I thought it was kind of odd that they were dancing in to a Chris Brown song a week after he was accused of domestic violence. And they were talking about the quality of the sound of the video, and how it sounds ... DUBBED.
And apparently, the original song was another really popular dance hit from about ten years ago that I can't remember the name of off the top of my head but you'd know it if you heard it. But Sony Music caught a hold of the video, and thought up a brilliant PR idea.
What if we take this great video, dub this song over it, get the couple on some morning shows, and see how far it can go?
How far it went? After the couple was on the Today show, Chris Brown's record sales went up 300%. He was convicted of domestic abuse yesterday. YouTube monetized the video as well and made a fortune on the VISA ads (etc) they sold. They also posted a link to buy the song on iTunes, and shortly there after "Forever" was number 6.
None of this is confirmed, of course. Why would Sony admit it? But I really liked the video, and sadly I like the song, but he (Chris Brown) is probably not going to be on the recieving end of my dollars any time soon.
I really liked the video, so now that it's rumored that it was all a PR stunt that Sony brilliantly cooked up to save Brown's image, I'm sad. And I feel tricked.
And viral means it gains steam and popularity through consumer word of mouth, and isn't pushed on us by mega-corporations. So that video wasn't viral. Sony got that couple on TV and that's how news of that video spread. That isn't viral.
That's brilliant PR, but it isn't viral.
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