[Re: Loose Cannon: Super Bowl Predictions, Direct Newsline, Jan. 29, 2007 (directmag.com/loosecannon/loose_cannon_superbowl/)]:
Thank you for another great column! And thank you for making sense of this “YouTube”-inspired viral advertising bandwagon. It brings to mind the Mentos/Diet Coke fountain videos. The product sales might have soared after the video hit the ‘net but really, people weren’t discovering for themselves the delicious taste and satisfying minty freshness of the respective items. They were making fountains in their back yard. And when the fountains lost their appeal (and Mythbusters busted the science behind the chemical reaction) people went back to buying Pepsi.
As a marketing professional, I have a question for you: Do you think this Super Bowl consumer advertising was the brainchild of the “agency of record” for the various brands or is it a way for the brands to skirt the “agency of record’s” price for designing a Super Bowl ad?
As a TV viewer, I sincerely hope this fad dies quickly. I do not want to see America’s Dumbest Home Advertising between America’s Funniest Home Videos.
Tobey Miller
Data processing technician
Advanced Direct Inc.
Greensboro, NC
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