Making Viral
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkwh4ZaxHIA]
Nice video, ey? A seemingly amazing feat of engineering. Is that dude crazy? Or did he have superior preparation and testing before he slid down the slide?
It got thousands upon thousands of view when first released, and, undoubtedly, had its share of critics and hoax-hounds. Turns out they were right: it was a crafty move by an agency for Microsoft Deutschland…
Marketing giant MRM Worldwide, who created the campaign on behalf of Microsoft Germany, issued a statement saying: “We really enjoyed the discussion about whether our film was real or not.
“At the beginning we didn’t want to tell at all, but after reading several people’s comments, who were seriously thinking about trying this on their own, we decided to reveal officially that we used some digital magic to make the film.
“DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT TRYING THIS! IT’S JUST A MOVIE.”
The spoof was created in a series of stages: first an MRM employee registered a website for make-believe engineer “Kammerl”, where the viral was hosted from.
For the footage itself, a stuntman was used to slide down a slope, secured by a rope.
This was added to an animated sequence of a body flying through the air, with another real shot of the stuntman jumping into the pool at the end.
The entire sequence was then meticulously edited to make it look like a single take.
MRM said the point of the viral campaign was “to entertain people and to demonstrate the unbelievable possibilities of good planning”.
“With Megawoosh, we developed a viral campaign for Microsoft Germany which generated unbelievable response in communities, in just a few hours,” it added.
I’m not sure this type of manufactured viral program is in the best interests of the customer. Sure, it got heaps of short-term attention and response — and it was probably cost-effective. However, I’m not convinced this makes a lasting, favorable impression for Microsoft’s efforts in Germany.
