ASIA-PACIFIC, OCTOBER 18, 2010 – Without any doubt, the brilliance of a viral is in its verisimilitude. It also serves as a double-edged sword, posing a danger of causing havoc and panic if it’s taken a little too seriously.
That’s the conundrum Phillips Electronics now faces for their Singaporean guerrilla ad of a bear burrowing into a public dust bin. The 10 second video was first uploaded on Singapore’s citizen news site, Stomp.com by "Phillips3d" and found a place on YouTube (since removed), stirring curiosity for viewers and alarm from Singaporean authorities. As panic swept through the Singaporean suburb it was shot in, Phillips finally admitted that it was meant to be PR ploy, and that the bear is a mascot. The company is now undergoing investigation for violating Singapore’s safety regulations.
Back on the homefront, the city is buzzing over Pier Roxas. ‘Missing’ posters of him have popped up around Metro Manila, and there have been random texts to people asking to add him on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to help him recover his memory of the eight days erased from his memory. The YouTube vid best explains his sitch, as having woken up in the Manila harbor area with no recollection of how he got there (he borrows his name from Roxas Boulevard) , and left with a bruise on his face, lipstick on his collar, a key, a parking ticket, a Smart Gold SIM and a Nokia N8 cellphone. Cat’s out of the bag with the last item, which he used to film his plea for help. No matter, as people are steadily buying into it, offering help and asking about his condition via social networking and text–the suspiciously attractive Pier has over a thousand friends on Facebook.
Over the weekend, the Pier Roxas contest mechanics were revealed on a Nokia microsite, asking the public to email their own versions of Pier’s story.
So herein lies the challenge of viral and guerrilla advertising, mixing in that perfect formula with the essence of reality and just a touch of the spectacular.
