Viral videos are one of the Internet’s best entertainment mediums. They teach, impress, and–perhaps most importantly–help you pass the time.

Companies know this. When they commission top international advertising firms to produce Internet videos, they use “going viral” as a measure of success. Marketing videos can help bolster a company’s reputation, increase sales, and foster positive associations in consumers’ minds. Or, as the Microsoft and Nokia videos below prove, they can lack product association, but still be viral.

Here are the best viral marketing videos of 2009–so far. It’s only late October. Companies still have time to release new viral hits. Only time will tell what kind of random and fascinating content will hit the Web next.

The BaaStuds

Samsung chose to promote its LED TVs using LED lights mounted on…sheep. This sensational video employs skilled shepherds and cameramen to create un-baa-lievable results. Views on YouTube (at time of writing): 9.5 million

MegaWoosh Waterslide

Microsoft sponsored this video of Swiss stuntman Bruno Kammerl executing a mind-blowing waterslide jump. Clad only in neoprene, Kammerl flies more than 100 feet into a tiny pool of water. How a waterslide jump relates to Microsoft’s Office Project 2007 is something of a mystery, but that’s just who fronted this flabbergasting fake. Views: 3.6 million

The Acrobutt

MSI laptops are so lightweight and durable that you can catch them in your buttcrack. At least, that’s what the company proved in its bizarre viral video, featuring young men in spandex hucking laptops into…you guessed it. Views: 2.3 million

What Kids Don’t See

German porn company Beate Uhse advertises its built-in child lock with a video reminiscent of an adult Rorschach test. If you’re curious as to how boobs can morph into a tweety bird, here’s your chance. Views: More than 800,000

Bruce Lee Plays Table Tennis

Ad agency JWT Beijing released this video for the Chinese release of the Nokia N96. The video features Bruce Lee playing ping pong using only a kung fu weapon–and beating his (very capable) opponents. The video is a jaw-dropper, though it’s unclear how it relates to the phone. Views: 600,000+

Mattress Dominoes

British company Bensons for Beds filmed mattress factory employees clutching mattresses, then falling like dominoes. The slapstick-style video ends with one employee and his mattress landing on a conveyor belt. A woman jumps into bed with him, and the couple gets loaded onto a Bensons truck. Views: 700,000

How’d He Make That Phone Disappear?

A man filmed this entire video on a new Samsung I8910 HD video phone. Towards the end of the video, he makes the phone he is holding disappear, though it can still make videos. He claims to have used no special effects. It was up to viewers to guess how he’d done it. Views: 1 million

Vanilla Ice Says Sorry

Virgin Mobile Australia released this video of Robert Van Winkle (formerly Vanilla Ice) apologizing for his first album. His apology, which is sincere, covers both his sound and his look. The shock value of this video lies in its uniqueness. Views: 885,000

Monopoly City Streets, a new version of online Monopoly you can play through Google maps, goes live September 9. The game, co-sponsored by boardgame company Hasbro, allows you to build and trade property with other participants in real time.

The online game will last four months. Hasbro plans to promote its new Monopoly City Edition, a 3-D version of the game, through Monopoly City Streets.

“Google Monopoly”–City Streets’ other moniker–promises to be a powerful promotional tool. If you win, according to the City Streets website, you “become the richest property magnate in existence.” That promise, coupled with the ability to outplay your friends and bulldoze or build jails on other people’s properties, has already earned the blog close to 900 followers at time of writing.

Earlier this month, Wired claimed the sneak peek version of City Streets wasn’t that much fun. As a social media experiment, however, it just might work.

By pitting players against their friends, promising the winner fame, and adding fun new features, Hasbro is rekindling interest in the game of Monopoly. The global approach is also a clever move. I bet they’ll get sales out of this. If enough sales result, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more board games integrating with social media this way.

The chances of winning such a David and Goliath battle are usually small. But once in a while, a single person manages to stick it to the man–and win. We collected five true life stories of people who succeeded in facing down larger entities, often using nothing but a set of iron-clad values.

1. The Fed Up Artist
A New Zealand artist forces a big bank to give him all his savings–in $20 bills.

Image: MARTIN DE RUYTER/The Nelson Mail

In late July, New Zealand artist Roger Griffiths applied for an $80,000 mortgage through Westpac, a multinational bank he had patronized for 25 years. Griffiths had more than enough collateral to meet the bank’s required 20% deposit.

The self-proclaimed successful artist was disappointed when Westpac rejected the loan, citing Griffiths’ lack of regular income. However, when he heard about the bank losing $111 million after taking receivership of clothing manufacturer Lane Walker Rudin Industries, he decided to get even.

Griffiths withdrew his entire savings of $190,000 from the bank–in $20 bills. The bank had to count the money in front of him, then place it in a large carry bag. It took some effort for the bank to get all the cash in one location before Griffith’s 9 a.m. deadline.

“It’s about time normal people took a stand,” Griffiths stated in a media report.

(Source: Stuff.co.nz)

2. The Irish Bread Baker
An Irish food expert earns her way back into the country by selling bread.

Image: The Daily Green

Tessa Fowler knows a lot about Ireland. The Wyoming native has written about Ireland for magazines, and is an expert on Irish food. That’s why she was stunned when, on her sixth trip to the country, Irish immigration officials refused to let her into the country. She didn’t have a return ticket, so she had to make her way back to America.

Fowler won’t be let down easily. She plans on returning to Ireland. Lacking funds, she is financing her trip by selling gourmet Irish breads around her hometown. By selling soda- and Guinness breads door to door, she hopes to raise $2,000 for her next attempt. Judging by the publicity she is receiving, her plan should be on track.

(Source: Michael Lavery, Herald.ie)

3. The Christian who Stood by Sundays
A devout Christian wins an eminent sports announcer job, despite never working on Sundays.

Dan Walker is a devout Christian. As such, he refuses to work on Sundays. Yet this soccer show host landed a job on the BBC’s Football Focus, despite the fact that important games happen almost every Sunday.

“I don’t even watch football on a Sunday,” Walker said in an interview. “Obviously as a professional I keep abreast of the scores but I spend Sunday at church and with my family.”

He claims to have been denied other jobs because of his firm Sunday stance. But the BBC hired him anyway.

“To be given it means even more for me because I’ve made my stand but still been handed this opportunity. I’ve grown up watching Football Focus, so now to be presenting the show really is a dream come true.”

(Source: Ananova)

4. The Middle-Aged Woman with the Big Voice
Susan Boyle vs. Society

Image: Wikipedia

Susan Boyle could be the quintessential underdog. The Scottish singer endured nicknames like “Simple Susan” growing up. She never married, and didn’t have much of a career. At the age of 48, she still lives in her family home.

However, Boyle has one serious singing voice. Until she appeared on Britain’s Got Talent earlier this year, not that many people knew about it. When she first walked onto the stage, Simon Cowell almost rolled his eyes. The audience did the same when she informed them that she wanted to be a professional singer.

Then, Boyle sang. Her rendition of Les Miserables’ “I Dreamed a Dream” won her global acclaim. She became an instant celebrity. As a result, the media–which earns part of its keep by pushing stereotypical images of young, beautiful women–was forced to question why people didn’t take Susan Boyle seriously when she first walked on stage. Whether she intended to or not, Boyle taught the world a lesson about judging a book by its cover.

(Source: Wikipedia)

5. The Standalone Bidder
A moneyless college students wins land at a BLM auction–and saves it.

Tim DeChristopher sees oil drilling as a threat to the future of the environment. That’s why this former University of Utah seniorsat in on a BLM auction in December 2008. There, he started bidding for drilling and oil rights on Southern Utah land. He ended up winning about $1.7 million worth of rights, on almost 22,500 acres near Arches National Park.

The catch was that he never had the money to buy all that land. Instead, he bid up the prices, keeping other prospectors away from the land.

BLM agents saw through DeChristopher’s fraudulent bid. They opened an investigation to figure out whether he had violated any federal laws.

Meanwhile, the BLM planned to put the land back up for auction. While the land rights were slugging through the adminisphere, the Bush administration left office, paving the way for the more environmentally-friendly Obama team. Obama Interior Secretary Ken Salazar ended up rescinding 77 of the auctioned leases, claiming they were too close to national parks, according to the LA Times.

In April, DeChristopher was charged with two federal felonies. But the land he bid on was saved, making his protest a success for the environment.

Honorable Mention: The Mouse in the ATM Machine
A mouse makes a nest out of $20 bills.

Image: Oregon Mouseworks

This Oregon mouse could be considered a regular Joe. Whether he stuck it to the man on purpose will always be a mystery.

A woman discovered the mouse living inside an ATM machine at the Chevron station where she worked. The mouse had set up a nest made of chewed $20 bills.

“The mouse had chewed up two bills and damaged another 14 to make his nest, but the bank replaced all the money that wasn’t extensively damaged,” according to Fox. The mouse escaped with his life, though the bank salvaged the remains of his nest. The little critter is the only Joe on our list to stick it to something (the bank) while being stuck inside something (the ATM machine).

(Source: Fox News)

You may know that I’ve spent the past year writing a novel. The art of it is pretty much complete, or at least as complete as my current skill and talent allow. Now the business begins. Whether or not my words ever reach the shelves of some big box retailer or coveted Amazon listing is at the mercy of a variety of publishing conventions that I’m trying to understand and master. One of those is called a synopsis, which must represent the plot, characters, tone, and whatever makes my book special enough for an agent to determine it’s salable.

I’ve written the synopsis no less than ten times. I wrote one in the beginning to try and understand where my story was going, and several other iterations emerged as my story changed and grew. They helped me figure out my story for myself. But what I understand now is that none of that matters. The real purpose of the synopsis is to sell the story. The synopsis is the sizzle.

With the goal of selling the novel, I wrote my synopsis yet again. Then I shared it with my trusted advisors, friends who already know the story, already like it, and more importantly, like me. Is it any surprise I received rave reviews? After correcting the spelling and grammar errors pointed out by my group of ardent supporters, and encouraged by their praise, I sent it off to some people who knew better – you know, people who have actually sold books.

Upon reading their feedback, I spent the rest of the day in a deep funk. They agreed it was not quite ready. Okay, that I could have taken, especially considering that each gave some fairly specific advice about how to improve the piece. Trouble was, the advice didn’t quite jive. And even considering the critiques individually, I couldn’t agree with any of them on the whole.

So I did what I do. I worked my way through a bag of tortilla chips. Then I called some other wise counsel and whined.

• It’s too hard.
• I don’t know what to do.
• Even if I knew what to do, I wouldn’t know how to do it.

Whine, whine, whine. To which my trusted friends replied: trust your gut. And take action. Just keep going. Annoying, but true. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a book, creating a new flavor of bubble gum, or launching a company. Whatever you create is your baby, and no one knows a baby like its mama.

So the whining had to stop, and the work had to begin again. My ardent supporters were right. They keep me going. My challenging critiqers were right, and I’ve chosen which advice to pursue. My friends-who-listen were right. No one could make the choices but me. And my gut is right, even when I punish it with too many corn chips and exta hot salsa.

And my synopsis? Only about a hundred times better than before, so long as you disregard the salsa stains.

Tell me, does your gut know what to do?

Image Credit: another sergio, Flickr

Susan Piver is the author of several books including Quiet Mind: A Beginner’s Guide to Meditation and her latest,  How Not to Be Afraid of Your Own Life. I had the good fortune to take a brief meditation instruction from Piver at a recent writer’s workshop. Although my jury’s still out on inner peace, I have to admit, five minutes of concentrated nothing certainly was the medicine I needed that day. It was enough to make me want to know more, so I asked Ms. Piver if she’d answer a few questions.

The name of your last book is intriguing – what do you mean by being ‘afraid of your own life’?

SP:  Most people are too afraid to simply be who they are. Most of us have trouble even figuring out who we are — our unique personal presence — through all the advertising, parental admonitions, and cultural conventions. Instead of knowing ourselves, we try to stereotype ourselves in our own minds to fit neat categories. Meditation practice can help enormously. It teaches you to observe with who you really are, without judgment. 

 
In terms of work life, or entrepreneurial pursuits, what are some situations where people might be afraid of their own lives?

SP:  I don’t know about you, but i spend most of the day reassuring myself that my existence is basically nothing to apologize for. Forget about expressing myself creatively, which is what any entrepreneurial pursuit requires — it takes enormous courage just to stand in your own shoes. Again, meditation or other spiritual practice can help you relax. 

  
Business and spirituality are not necessarily considered to be complimentary. How can a spiritual practice enhance business performance?

SP:  I don’t really see much of a split. You can be a spiritual business person without cheating either occupation. If you look at spirituality as the act of being who you really are from moment to moment (which i do), then there is no problem, no split whatsoever.

Can you give us one practical application we can all use at our desks right now?

(or coffee shops or sofas or wherever you happen to be!)

SP:  Pretend you’re someone who loves you a whole, whole lot. Ask them to tell you what you most need to hear today.

 
That’s sound advice we can all use, even if we can’t crunch into the lotus position (which, by the way, is totally unnecessary for mediation). Chill out, relax, and for goodness sake – unplug! If you want to know more about Susan Piver and her books, check out www.susanpiver.com.

Have a great weekend!

Image Credit: drab makyo

Fortunately, business owners have options for revival. This basic 12-step program provides a method for recalibrating your business and finding new clients. Use it as a skeleton, and customize as needed.

Breathe

It’s normal to feel your gut wrench if you lose a client–especially a major one. Take a moment, a day, or even a week to recoup. You’ll need your wits about you to find new clients.

Reach Out

If a client moved on due to extenuating circumstances, like a job loss, send them an email offering to help out any way you can. Stay networked. You never know when you’ll need each other again.

Discuss

Tell your friends, family, and the people in your network about your situation. Discuss new opportunities. Send ten people you haven’t contacted for a while a simple email saying hi, telling them about your situation, and asking them if they might know of anyone who would be interested in what you have to offer.

Evaluate

Sit down alone. Evaluate your company’s strategy. How has the past year looked? How about the past three? Have you reached your previous goals? What are your new ones? Do you have the resources to reach them? Is your existing product/service still a viable one? What needs to change for you to reach your goals?

Change

Adinkra symbol for change

After evaluating your business, chances are, you’ll need to find a way to change something, even if it’s as minor as improving the way you network. Write down at least three ways that your business needs to change. Save that information for the next step.

Revise

Revise your suite of offerings–products, portfolio, service list–to reflect the changes you need to make to your business. If the changes are minor, write down an action plan on how to make them within the next month. If they’re major, find people who can help you execute them. Mentors and assistants can be invaluable.

Educate

You may need to update or gain new skills. To do this, educate yourself. Your local library is an easy place to start. Or have someone else help educate you via a workshop, class, or conference.

Hunt

Search for new prospects who might be interested in your revised and expanded offerings. Make a list of their names and organizations.

Target

Approach your prospects in a way that best suits your business. That could be through targeted networking, social media, email, a phone call, a free service, or any other offering you find appropriate.

Be Seen

People do business with people they know. Make sure that people have a chance to get to know you. Make it a point to attend anything that might help you eventually score a deal with your target client. Conferences, networking events, workshops, and community events are places to start. If your targets are remote, join them on forums, blogs, or Twitter.

Nudge

If you’re still on the lookout after completing the steps above, nudge people in the right direction. Remind your existing, potential, and dormant clients that you’re here. Sometimes it takes a few tries before someone bites. Nudge, but don’t bug, unless you’re a talent scout.

Wait

Keep doing your due dilligence, and opportunities will come.

I was watching one of those cooking reality shows the other day while I was putting a frozen lasagna in the oven and opening a bag of salad. I don’t remember if it was Top Chef or Naked Chef or Chefs with Big Knives or That Hot Foreign Chef with the Really Cute Accent, but it was one of those.

If  you’re not familiar with these type of shows, they assemble a crew of amateur or professional cooks who compete in these *very exciting* cooking challenges wherein they only have a limited number of ingredients – say a pork chop, four anchovies, 2 cans of mandarin oranges, and a bag of rice. The chefs have to make something that tastes good and looks good on the plate, and that is also original. On the show I was watching they had 20 minutes to do it, outside, over a campfire, with some snooty looking Top-of-the-Toppest Chef looking over their shoulders.

And what’s a reality show without an elimination? There were two tied for last. One chef had an amazing idea. She had combined ingredients in new and stunning ways that impressed the judges. Her execution, however, left them hungry. She hadn’t quite manifested her vision on the plate. Her competitor had done the opposite. He delivered a somewhat predictable, ho-hum dish. But he’d done it flawlessly.

Who won? I don’t know because I changed the channel. But I kept thinking about the issue, and I think you should too.

What’s more important in business – concept or execution?

Image Credit: nicholas.boullosa, Flickr

Don’t tell the Buddhist I’m interviewing for her keen business insights next week, but I’m not sure inner peace is right for everyone. Oh sure, you might go around smelling the flowers and noticing the unique chirp of this or that bright yellow bird in the backyard, but will you get anything done?

In the book Overachievement, author John Eliot is offers a convincing argument that relaxing under pressure is the wrong way to go. He counsels would be superstars to forgo the deep breathing and give in to the glorious pressure, trusting it to propel you toward greater achievements than you can accomplish with diligent goal setting and plodding work.

“Stress is the high-level performer’s Power Bar.”

This week I tend to believe him. This week I have virtually no responsibilities outside work. I also have no pressing deadlines. Nothing’s pressing, nothing’s important, and nothing’s exciting.

Eliot says:

“I actually have recommended to some clients to create even more chaos at work so that getting any work done at all will force them to be in the present. It’s a variation of the newspaper reporter on deadline: If your job depends on getting things done in a busy, noisy area, your brain will find a way to concentrate.”

Well when he puts it that way, maybe the Buddhist would agree.

What do you think? Is I-work–better-under-pressure a valid strategy, an ill-advised delusion, or just a hopeless cliche?

Image Credit: Hape_gera, Flickr

The tradition continues. This month alone, Germans released a 24K gold bar vending machine, and an Italian entrepreneur exhibited a machine that makes pizza from scratch. These machines are featured along with 8 other oddities below:

Dog-O-Matic

Source: Slippery Brick

The Dog-O-Matic, an automatic dogwashing machine, is a hit in the town of St. Max, France. Inventor Romain Jarry wants to launch it in Britain next year, but claims that “at the moment people are still getting used to the idea,” according to the Daily Mail. That’s probably because the device looks like a canine waterboarding machine. “It doesn’t take long to wash the dog,” he said. “The longest part is the drying. The dogs don’t seem to get bored. They just sit there and they come out clean.” If your dog makes it through without trauma, your wallet won’t: It costs $21 to wash a small dog, $35 for a medium dog, and $49 for a big animal.

Instant Judaism

Source: Jacob Richman

This vending machine sits in Jerusalem’s central bus station, where it sells booklets on Jewish traditions and laws. The purpose of the sponsoring organization, Hadaf Hayomi, is to “spread Torah knowledge worldwide in a beautiful manner.” Not sure how beautiful vending machines are, but they’re certainly spreading the message. (From Jacob Richman’s blog).

Gold-to-Go

Source: Wirtschaftswoche

Online discounter Gold-Supermarkt.de launched the “Gold-to-Go” machine in May to address increasing demand for the precious metal within Germany. The machine sells 1 gram, 24-karat gold bars, and updates prices every 10 minutes. The company plans to install 500 machines in train stations and airports Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The tiny bars are hardly a good investment: Goldbugs pay 31 Euros cash for a bar worth about 21 Euros. But you can’t beat the bars for novelty points.

Pet Beetles

Source: PhotoMann

According to Doug Mann, who took the picture above, some Japanese kids like to keep rhinoceros beetles as pets. The roadside vending machine above sells them for 100-300 yen each. The males, which have long horns protruding from their heads, are especially coveted. Department stores in Japan also sell the bugs.

Call-a-Ball

Source: We Make Money Not Art

If the urge to play a game of pick-up soccer with your friends ever hits, Call-a-Ball will provide. This soccer ball dispensing machine spits out an RFID-embedded ball when you send an SMS with the vending machine code on it. You can also register to have the machine send a “challenge” message to your friends via SMS. When you’re done kicking, just pop the ball back into the machine.

Schoolgirl Panty Machine

Source: PhotoMann

No, it’s not an urban legend. Though Japan’s famous used schoolgirl panty vending machines were purportedly banned in 1993, individuals continued to report their existence around the country until at least 2001. The panties are supposedly worn by schoolgirls before they make it into the vending machines, where they sell for upwards of $50 a pop.

Rolls Royce-o-Mat

Source: NYTimes

Miami’s Mondrian South Beach hotel boasts one of the world’s fanciest vending machines. The specially designed Semi Automatic machine only takes credit cards. In return, it deposits a variety of luxury items, including 24-karat gold handcuffs, designer vases, jewelry, and a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow (rental only). According to the New York Times, an anti-recession T-shirt is among the machine’s bestsellers.

Marijuana To Go

Source: Geekologie

The pot vending machine featured above dispensed up to 1oz/week of prescription pot. Approved users could choose from five strains, which they would receive in a vacuum-sealed plastic capsule. The machines were installed in California in early 2008, then seized by DEA agents not long thereafter.

Let’s Pizza

Source: NowPublic

“Let’s Pizza,” a vending machine released by Italian entrepreneur Claudio Torghele, makes pizza from scratch in less than 3 minutes. All you need to do is choose one of four types of pizza, pay $4.95, and watch as the machine creates a fresh pie. The machine mixes and presses the dough, adds sauce and toppings, and bakes the pizza in an infrared oven. At the end of the process, you pick up the steaming pizza on a cardboard tray. If you’re a hygiene freak, or simply in a hurry, you could become fast friends with the “Let’s Pizza.”

Tie Vending Machine

(Source: SurferJerry.com)

Another Japanese vending-machine oddity, in case a paper shredder or cup of coffee gets the better of your old tie.

Last night I took my family to party that held at the offices of an advertising agency. Color filled the walls, toys overflowed on desks and shelving, and the main space was open, with vibrant individual work areas arranged at angles around the room. One conference room was called the ‘Imaginarium’. It had comfortable seating and one whole wall made of material that could be written on like a white board. There were signs everywhere for a staff party day – hula skirt optional.

Our reaction went like this:

Me: Wow, what a fun place to work!

My Kids: Wow, I want to work here. You get to play all day!

My Husband: Wow, how do they get any work done?

I suspect that in between games of shuffleboard and basketball they get a little work done. I’m sure they don’t spend the entire day sitting on the ‘comfie’ furniture watching TV on the big screen. And I know the environment must make them effective or else their offices would look the way so many other companies’ lifeless cube farms do.

My husband works in manufacturing, which is a little lower on the creativity continuum. His team is all about the numbers. But they also need to come up with creative solutions to creating greater efficiency and cutting costs and making sure nobody loses a finger in the machinery. So maybe a little color would help them too.

Not all of us can do our jobs in such an exciting environment full time, but I think a little ‘Imaginarium’ could go a long way in a lot of industries.

What do you think? Are creative work spaces only for creatives?

Image Credit: txd, Flickr