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This new viral campaign by Volkswagen features a giant slide installed at a Berlin subway station celebrating their new Fast Lane campaign. This new campaign, FAST LANE – Driven by fun, “is dedicated to everyone who loves to go beyond the regular, who is curious for new stuff and who simply enjoys to speed it all up a little.” They have found a simple yet effective way to demonstrate their campaigns new philosophy while engaging their target market. This campaign takes the focus away from the actual cars and it celebrates the feeling of driving them.  Subway stations have been the venue for many different viral campaigns because they are high traffic areas that are typically seen as boring and mundane. These guerilla marketing campaigns introduce a new level of fun and excitement to a commonly predictable commute.

Volkswagon has also put on similar “events” with modded shopping carts in a grocery store and a “rocket powered” elevator

This week Arrested Development alumni Jason Bateman and Will Arnett premiered their first viral video for their new production company DumbDumb, a sponsor driven comedy enterprise that specializes in branded content. DumbDumb is a first of its kind production company; backed by Barry Diller’s IAC and partnered with Ben Silverman’s Electus, it makes only comedic advertising content to be distributed virally. The first short viral video titled The Prom Date is the first of three “Dirty Shorts” webisode videos sponsored by Orbit Gum. The video series is built around Orbit’s brand promise to clean up dirty situations and this particular video features Bateman playing an angry dad, Aubrey Plaza as his angst filled teenage daughter, and Arnett as Skip her prom date/social studies teacher. The 5 minute web feature is absurdly funny, nailed their brand message, and could possibly mark a new era of branded advertising content taking product placement to a whole new level. By taking popular comedy actors and allowing them to produce content built around the established brand message it delivers funny, viral content that viewers and fans are much more likely to go out of their way to watch and share. After viewing this first feature it seems DumbDumb is destined to be a success, attracting viewers with its edgy content and the chance to see Bateman and Arnett work together again, that is until the rumored Arrested Development movie finally comes out.

Video game developer Ubisoft just released an exciting new trailer for the newest release in the Tom Clancy series Ghost Recon, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Instead of showing game footage the new ad opted for live action with visuals and special effects that parallel a big budget movie. Using real actors playing out scenes as the game’s characters make the game’s world seem more realistic and move the focus on the storytelling rather than the actual game play. It also does an excellent job using special effects to showcase the game’s high tech gadgets and weaponry without taking away from the storyline. This ad is extremely effective because it is exciting, different, and gives the viewer a realistic, captivating glimpse into the world of the game. There have also been reports that this was merely a teaser and a longer twenty-minute trailer/short film will be released later this year.
Using movie quality, live-action sequences for game trailers is becoming increasingly popular after the groundbreaking ads released for Halo 3 by District 9 director Neil Blomkamp. Following this popular spot released in 2007, there have been successful live action trailers for last year’s Halo: ODST and Assassins Creed 2.
One could speculate that these types of ads are being released in hopes of building hype and gaining support for a full-length movie adaptation of the game. Movies based on video games are becoming increasingly popular (and better) with the upcoming release of Prince of Persia next month and the seemingly non-stop speculation of a Halo feature. Regardless of the reasoning, these cinema style commercials are very effective and hopefully become a long-standing trend in game advertising.

Muscle Milk, a protein drink made by CytoSport beverages, has recently launched a new campaign featuring viral videos and special edition bottles. The campaign also features Shaquille O’Neil, who recently became only the 5^th player in NBA history to score 28,000 career points, as the spokesperson and star of the viral videos. “Special Edition” bottles are featured in almost every beverage campaign and viral videos are no longer considered the pinnacle of new media, but what makes this campaign stand out is how the viral videos are delivered incorporating the actual bottle. It is part package advertising, part viral campaign, and part augmented reality campaign. The drink container will include a link on its packaging that consumers can visit to view the videos by holding the bottle with a special marker code in front of their webcam to watch O’Neil jump out of the bottle!

Unfortunately, this special-edition Muscle Milk will be released exclusively in Ohio, O’Neil’s home state, for now. The videos are not exclusive however; anyone can visit the campaign’s page, and print out the interactive marker to view the videos. Although this campaign was likely very expensive and will only reach a small market to its full potential, it is very interesting to see how marketers utilize relatively older technology (webcams) for new exciting ways to reach customers. Also, it serves as another unconventional medium utilized by Shaq to market his brand; following his incredibly popular Twitter, his business with Efuel, and the unforgettable Shaq Fu video game.