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Rival energy brand takes a cheeky swipe at Red Bull's marketing with fun parody ad!

By Mel Peck

October 16, 2013 | 5 min read

Viral insight data compiled by the VAN team.

Top Branded Virals:

Felix Baumgartner’s now infamous Red Bull Stratos Jump became one of the most popular branded videos of 2012. Now, a year after the record-breaking stunt took place, Red Bull has marked the anniversary by releasing a full POV – multi-angle video, complete with mission data and never before seen clips. The footage has already clocked up nearly two million views in just two days, not bad for what is essentially just a re-hash of an old campaign.

Whilst the video itself is not really anything 'new', it’s a good example of a brand getting extra mileage from a single concept. Let’s take a quick look at the stats as they stand today…Going all the way back to March 2012, Red Bull released a video showing test jump footage for the event that generated over 12 million views. Then, over the next 7 months the brand uploaded a further 6 related videos to its YouTube channel; including training clips; CGI footage; compilations of some of Baumgartner’s top freefalls; and teaser trailers – all of which clocked up a further 15 million+ additional views for the campaign. Then there was the live video streaming event, which saw a further 8 million people tune in and of course the official YouTube video which notched up an impressive 35 million views. But it doesn’t end there. Nope, Red Bull followed up the jump the very next day with yet another video celebrating its success - BAM! 3 million more views in the bag.These figures don't even include all the many third party uploads and the extensive news coverage the campaign received. It makes for a pretty smart example of a brand getting the maximum viral impact from a campaign.Meanwhile, it looks like Red Bull isn’t the only soft-drinks company using space exploration as a marketing theme. Also trending this week is an amusing comedy ad from a lesser-known energy beverage brand called Nos. The video popped up on our viral radar largely thanks to its timely release, which coincided with the anniversary of the Baumgartner’s Stratos Jump. Using the slogan, ‘Don’t stunt. Drink Nos’, it makes a cheeky side dig at the marketing hype around Red Bull with a fun parody sketch.

Elsewhere in the wonderful world of viral advertising; Samsung has unveiled ‘The Developer’, a musical short film to promote the Samsung GALAXY Note 3, featuring Lionel Messi, in a dramatic retelling of actual projects completed by the Messi Foundation. Plus, Volvo has released it’s latest 'live test' video, following up the success of its Hamster Stunt with a new ad featuring a bright red truck speeding through the back allies of a small Spanish village with a drove of rampaging bulls hot on its heels, (or should I say wheels)!Top UGC Virals:Banksy has been taking YouTube by storm recently, topping our list of most shared UGC videos for a second week running. As part of his New York residency, the Bristol born artist has just unveiled his latest video artwork – this time it’s a slaughterhouse delivery van filled with plush animal toys, squeaking through the slatted boards of the truck as it tours the meatpacking district. According to the audio guide on the Banksy website, the video is “either some sort of comment on the casual cruelty of the food industry, or perhaps something vague and pretentious about the loss of childhood innocence.” Either way, I don’t think those toys are in for a happy ending! :-(

Also trending this week, Professor X tries explaining to Wolverine that his powers are a liability in an amusing little sketch that debuted during "The Pete Holmes Show" panel at New York Comic Con.

Elsewhere; cute family videos are the theme of the day - with a birthday message from one super sweet little three-year old girl to her mum and a young couple's fun pregnancy announcement video going viral.Don't forget to join the #KittenCamp Snackz mailing list for weekly updates on top trending videos and follow @JoinVAN for the latest viral gossip and ad industry news!

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