The Guardian Viral Video Chart is quickly becoming a firm Friday favourite, with it even making my Bookmark list today. But what got my attention this morning was the realisation that it’s actually someone’s job to sift through the viral video haze and pick out the top dogs – literally! The number one video this week, Bizzle gets some Dunkers, is simply a half dog, half man wolfing down a snack for 1 minute 29 seconds. Before I knew it, I had 3 colleagues huddled round my computer all watching a dog and his dairylea!
For those not persuaded by Bizzle, the chart also picks out some festive treats. The list compiled by Josh Halliday (how appropriate!) features a mix of home made videos and the usual household names with slightly bigger budgets. A personal favourite for me is the video entitled ‘Harvey Nichols Christmas walk of shame’. If this video was designed to get you talking then job done – within minutes I had forwarded this round to my closest friends and a few choice people that have not only done the walk, but the train of shame as well!
Each week I continue to be impressed with the creativity and ingenuity people have when it comes to video production. I work on some fantastic projects at TNR, but it can be so refreshing to take a step back and look at the unlikely viral videos doing the rounds. It didn’t feature on this weeks list but my top rated video of the week, courtesy of YouTube, is All I Want For Christmas – HMS OCEAN. It’s a brilliant take on Mariah Carey’s classic, with servicemen and women aboard the ship celebrating the news of their return home after seven and a half months away. The video has stormed it’s way to a million views already (as of Friday 9th December), with broadcasters even picking it up. The power of viral video continues to dominate with the BBC even contacting HMS Ocean directly through YouTube via the comment post, requesting to run it on national TV.
The news agenda is more aware than ever of viral videos. Only last month the notorious deer chasing dog Benton proved a simple video can sometimes be enough, from Newsnight to CNN covering his deer chasing adventure across Richmond Park.
And finally, for anyone still not quite feeling festive yet, sit back and enjoy some lambs singing Jingle Bells – why? Who knows, but that’s the joy of YouTube.
Post by Elizabeth Herridge, Project Manager @ TNR Communications
