A US stunt from Pepsi Max showing stock racing driver Jeff Gordon in disguise, taking an unsuspecting car salesman for a faster-than-expected ride, has topped the AdNews Viral Video Chart this week.
The 'Test Drive' prank showed the iconic racer with fake facial hair and daggy attire in order to take a car salesman on a speeding, stunt-filled journey. Gordon was armed with a hidden camera in a can of Pepsi Max and glasses which filmed everything that he saw. It attracted more than 27 million YouTube hits in just over a week, and was shared an enormous 727,000 times on Facebook. It was also shared 35,000 times on Twitter.
The video has been lauded by fans on
Twitter via its hashtag #GordonTestDrive, with one dubbing it a
"stellar example of hilarious branded content". Others said
it was "marketing as its finest", "genius" and
"hilarious".
View the Chart here.
In second place was another hidden-camera stunt, this time coming from Danish beer brand Carlsberg. The video showed consumers testing the strength of their friendships, heralding the idea that having "true mates called for a Carlsberg". It showed users calling a friend in the middle of the night and asking them to save them from Asian gangsters holding them hostage during a poker game.
The spot had far less YouTube hits than Pepsi Max, with under two million, but was shared over 68,000 on Facebook and 5,577 on Twitter.
In third place was a promo spot introducing the new Samsung Galaxy S4, followed by an ad for French toilet paper brand Le Trefle. Other brands to feature were Chanel, with a video showing how its iconic suit jacket first came to fruition, and an ad for deodorant brand Old Spice showing a dog as its new director of marketing.
The AdNews Viral Video Chart ranks Australia's most popular brand-funded videos based on a combination of views and natural sharing.
The chart is updated fortnightly based on data from video sharing sites such as YouTube and activity on Facebook and Twitter. Note that the chart shows total views, not the number of views generated in the past fortnight, so those with a higher number of cumulative views may appear lower down in the top ten.
What do you think of this week's chart and the top-ranked video? Let us know your thoughts below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5mHPo2yDG8
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