Viral Ad Network

Coming Soon: This week the Viral Brand Chart is still buzzing with anticipation for the Superbowl. I’m not quite sure when it became normal to release a teaser trailer to an advert but last week we saw Volkswagen’s ad preview The Bark Side storm in to the top of the chart, now this cryptic clip (rumored to have been released by Honda) has popped up online – apparently we have to wait until Sunday for the big reveal.

Spectacular Man Made Sun Brightens up London 2 Hours Early: Here’s a cool little PR stunt that we’ve been seeding this week. Nobody likes dark winter mornings so Tropicana decided to bring a little extra sunshine to the streets of London by hoisting a giant artificial sun above Trafalgar Square, complete with deck chairs and glasses of orange juice for passers by to stop and enjoy a bit of a sunny boost on their way to work – smiles all around!

Megaupload mega song: Top of the UGC chart this week is the controversial file sharing promotional video from Kim DotCom. The clip, which features several big music industry names including Snoop Dogg and P Diddy, was already trending on Twitter following the shutdown of the Megaupload site earlier this month but was promptly removed from YouTube following a complaint from Universal Music, (despite the fact that the company does not control any rights to the video).

The song itself is a rather dull marketing clip but interestingly it’s been thrust into the media limelight as the latest example of the potential impact of the new anti-piracy movement. It has since been returned to YouTube after a successful lawsuit from Megaupload, but the owners are now facing indictment for copyright infringement and facilitating the wide scale illegal downloading and sharing of movies, music and other material online. The courtroom drama is set to continue for quite some time but the outcome is likely to be a sign of what we can expect of things to come, so watch this space!

Snoring dormouse with sound: On a lighter note, here’s our weekly dose of cuteness and my absolute favorite clip this week, one super sleepy little dormouse.

Lego man in space: Two Canadian teenagers make this brave little dude the first Lego man in space!

Using a helium filled weather balloon, two tiny cameras, a GPS tracking system and a homemade parachute, the pair managed to launch the plastic figure 16 miles into space (that’s three times the height of a commercial aircraft), capturing some beautiful shots of the curvature of the earth against the stunning blue of the stratosphere, before it parachuted back down to earth landing 75 miles away.

Radar: Crazy French prankster Remi Gaillard is back with the latest clip in the Dangerously Funny Videos series, this time he’s dressed up as a giant speed camera, flashing all kinds of traffic from tractors to trains. All appears to be going well until the police show up!

2011 – One Backflip A Day: This guys dad bet him $100 that he couldn’t do a backflip every day of 2011, so guess what he did…

One happy dog: Finally, rounding up the UGC chart with just a little bit more cuteness – most excited dog ever!!!

You can catch up on the full viral listings on the NMA viral Brand chart and UGC chart, powered by the Viral Ad Network.

My Tram Experience: This rather shocking video of a woman having a bit of a crazy racist rant on a crowded public train has already been viewed over 11 million times and shot straight to the top of the UGC last week.

Secretly filmed on a mobile phone, it caused quite a storm across the social media world, with the resulting backlash on Twitter leading to her being detained by the police for her own protection! The video itself is quite an uncomfortable watch but it makes an interesting little case study on the way a story can be picked up by the media and become a meme in its own right.

Bizzle gets some Dunkers: You’re probably familiar with Charlie Schmidt’s Keyboard Cat by now, and with over 20 million views, its own Facebook and Twitter feed and a whole host of mash up videos and fans online, it’s clear that dressing up your pet like a human is a quick way to push it into the viral limelight. So, meet Bizzle – Half dog, half man as he guzzles down some cheesy treats in this hilarious little clip.

Black Friday Shopping Prank: I think this might possibly be my favorite video from the chart last week. Two grown men convincing shop assistants to help them locate an insane list of made up items including an eye removal kit, hair-dye for new borns and pre made toast. If you like this one you might enjoy the follow up video, Xmas shopping Prank #2!

Nando’s Last Dictator Standing: Using some of the worlds most controversial political dictators to advertise a chicken restaurant chain seems like a bizarre decision for a company to make right? Well, that is exactly what Nando’s South Africa did with their risky new ad poking fun at the worlds political rulers.

Featuring a Mugabe look-a-like in a water pistol fight with Col Gaddafi, playing in the sand with Saddam Hussein and singing Karaoke with Mao Tse-Tung, the video (which reportedly cost about £236,000 to produce), has now been pulled due to the massive public backlash directed against the campaign. Epic marketing fail? Well, with just shy of a million views and nearly 40,000 shares already it’s still not doing too badly!

Check out the latest hits from this week’s NMA Brand Chart and User Generated Chart for the latest awesome clips.