During my second wind of late afternoon coffee doses yesterday Kat sent me a link to an advert for a German power company called Epuron.

Within the first 20 seconds of this 2 minute video I had already sent it to a friend via GTalk I’d been speaking to in London:

    “Damian: Watch this… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErIfMX2Uvv8  don’t know where it’s goin’, but think you’d enjoy it…”

The simple charisma of the main character won me over. At first I thought him a mime, which would explain the hint of sorrow in my laughter.

A reply from London:

    “Colin: Ha ha, poor guy.”

Apparently it yielded the same reaction - if 30 something seconds delayed.
We had both stopped what we were doing, eagerly watching to see what our bold but likable protagonist was going to do next.

At the risk of spoiling the ending for those who are reading this without watching the ad (that’s the subtle ‘watch it now or you’ll only have yourself to blame’ disclaimer) - then came the twist.

Without asking, I’m pretty sure my friend in London sent it to at least one contact. I later found out that it was awarded best film advertising at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes last year, this advert was so good that the German Federal Ministry of Environment took notice.

The power of viral... how’s that for a natural force?