Viral Marketing

^ I generally don't like viral marketing, at least not the 'let's trick the public into liking our product' type. 'Amateur' websites promoting a product, fake blogs, seemingly meaningful catchphrases attached to a url that leads to something not even remotely related all seems rather underhanded and wasteful to me. If your product is actually that good, then you shouldn't need to trick me into finding out about it. It should be obvious. You should be able to put up a picture of your product, maybe with some text extolling it's virtues (why it is better than the competition, not why I need it now even if I had never wanted it before), and that should convince me that your product is worth buying. Creating a 'sensation' to sell your product suggests that your product isn't worth the bubble wrap it is packaged in. (I may be overly generous in this sense - bubble wrap has given me numerous hours of entertainment, and I doubt some of the things advertised through viral marketing campaigns would do the same thing.)

^ The method that bugs me the most is having something that seems meaningful or interesting attached to a url that then links to the companies website. The reason it bugs me so much is the waste of the sentence. Often, I look at the phrase and I think "that would make a good inspiration of a poem or a painting, a song, a sonnet, or a sculpture". There's depth, meaning, or purpose that could be behind the phrase. And then... and then it is thrown away, used simply to prop up a lousy gaming console or a pair of shoes. It's a waste.

^ This is why, when a certain webcomic decided to hijack a viral marketing campaign, I decided to join in, even if I was a little late. The following text was apparently put up, with no explanation, on billboards in New York. The webcomic they lead to is one of the best out there, and also happens to be one of the first links you'll get if you search for any of these terms in Google (due to people doing exactly what I'm doing - linking to the comment page with this text as the link text).

THE ALGORITHM CONSTANTLY FINDS JESUS
THE ALGORITHM KILLED JEEVES
THE ALGORITHM IS BANNED IN CHINA
THE ALGORITHM IS FROM JERSEY

^If you're curious who the actual marketing campaign was for, I suggest you follow one of those links, click on 'News/Blag' at the top left of the page, and then go to the first (bottom) post from April 19th. Oh, I think you might also have to read the comments to get the full story. Alternatively, you could just 'ask' me. I might even give you the answer.^

CirKus.