Viral Videos - Do they work?

After making the social issues video for class, I thought it would be interesting to do my next blog post on viral videos. So, I was looking around for something to write about when I came across an apparently popular video I must have missed!


The video, which came out sometime this past summer, features a girl who apparently can out catch a pro baseball player. The video -- which was actually an ad for Gatorade -- was so popular it was even picked up on NPR. Click here to listen to a segment done on the video.

I was surprised to learn that the video was part of a marketing/advertising campaign, as the mention of Gatorade was so subtle I hardly even noticed it!! I suppose that is the best type of advertising (because no body likes in your face ads). However, it leaves you wondering if it really made the desired impact.

Then again, Gatorade sure was talked about following the videos release... I'd be interested to see what the impact of the video was. Did anyone else see this and think it was real? Anyone see the ad and actually purchase Gatorade as a result?

Zombies in Plain English

I'm a few days too late for a Halloween themed post but I came across this video today and I thought it was too cute to pass up...



I've decided I'm a huge fan of the Common Craft Show videos. When we first started watching them in class I thought they were so-so, but after trying to explain what a wiki was to my dad (not an easy task) I realized just how helpful the videos are. You can see more common craft videos on the website or visit Lee LeFever's YouTube site for more!

Podcast - Growing Up Online

This week we had an assignment due in our Social Media for Public Relations class where we had to design and record a podcast, editing and all. My group, which included Ceci Garcia, Christine Pegg, and Wiltson Bramson, did our podcast on growing up online and differences in internet/social media use between generation y and generation z. We based a lot of our discussion off of the PBS program Growing Up Online which we watched as a class last week.

Although our discussion was kept quite brief -- the length of the podcast was supposed to be 5-10 minutes -- we each took the opportunity to touch on several different aspects of social media such as Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube. I have included the show notes below so that you can get a better idea of what the podcast covers:

:05 – Intro

:26 – Shannon introduces the show and welcomes the guests.

:41 – The panel introduces themselves.

1:23 – The Hot Topic is introduced for discussion: growing up online.

1:33 – Shannon discusses generation definitions for better understanding of discussion. Concept of "Gen C" is introduced.

1:58 – Shannon asks panel to comment on the differences they feel exist between Gen Y and Gen Z/C in regards to internet usage

2:09 – Ceci discusses YouTube and its impact on users

3:42 – Wiltson discusses Facebook usage

5:21 – Christine discusses MySpace and its effects

6:04 – Shannon and Wiltson weigh in on Facebook and MySpace

6:46 – Shannon discusses cell phones and SMS (text) messaging and how it has affected the generations

8:16 – Wiltson weighs in on texting

8:49 – Ceci discusses Second Life in regards to the generations

10:35 – Shannon and Wiltson respond with commentary on Second Life

12:09 – Closing

12:20 – Outro

You can listen to the podcast by clicking here.

JetBlue Has Grandmother Arrested For Refusing To Delete An Unflattering Video Recording

Love. It. Talk about bad PR...

Sometime in mid to early August, Marilyn Parver was arrested for refusing to delete footage she took of an altercation that occurred on a JetBlue flight. Read about the original altercation here.

Once the issue was resolved (well, kind of) the story went away for the most part. However, after the whole thing had more or less blown over, JetBlue had to go and make the situation even worse. JetBlue decided to email Parver and continue to chew her out for not deleting the video!! The Consumerist discusses the new development here.

Come on now, JetBlue. What were you thinking? If chewing Parver out the first time didn't work, what made you think it would now? As if the original bad press wasn't bad enough, social media has aided in further tarnishing JetBlue's reputation. Post pissy email, JetBlue has to deal with the fact that Parver has posted the video on YouTube!

Here's the video:


Its pretty clear Parver didn't do anything worth getting arrested over. What do you guys think JetBlue should've done? How could they have handled the situation better?