Watch the GoPlast “It’s Amazing!” ad and cringe. Take a few minutes to recover from the unadulterated attack on good taste and then read on to see why it’s an interesting case.
At a modest 2 580 views, the clip couldn’t yet be considered a viral hit, even by local standards, but it is indicative of a characteristic of viral success which has been picked up on elsewhere by shrewd marketers.
The ad has low production value – to the point of being novel. Whether this is intentional or not is ultimately not for me to say (the last thing I want to be is libellous). The point is moot – it’s this comically low production value which is at the root of people’s fascination with it. I have little doubt that if this were to be seeded on reddit, or the like, it would spread like wildfire.
The international equivalent of the GoPlast clip can be seen in (the more obviously calculated poor production of) Rhett & Link’s videos. “Say NO to Crack, Say YES! To Roller Skating” is sitting on 758 094 views while the now-infamous “Ojai Valley Taxidermy” ad has amassed 11 836 908 views.
People enjoy the inherent fun of a campy, 80s VHS look and feel. That’s not to say the way forward is reskinning the treatment for your own clips. Rather, the point is that people generally share a clip with their friends because it is absurd, surprising or remarkable in some way; it has some novelty. And sometimes the best source for inspiration for an intentional “viral” marketing push is an unintentionally remarkable viral hit.
