This is a superb example of a corporate viral marketing campaign that works because it is done so well. Fox Broadcasting has produced a live action version of the introduction of their long-running animated show The Simpsons and uploaded it to the video search engines.
I found it at Google Video where you can download the clip for your PSP or iPod or you can email it or grab some code to paste into your blog, which I’ll do, because it’s done so well and it’s funny. And that’s why their viral campaign is creating buzz.
UPDATE 3/9/06: I was wrong about the source of the Simpsons video. I assumed it was Fox because that was the name associated with the Google account that uploaded the video. But Reuters has a report today crediting UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB with the viral campaign. Interestingly, the article states that the video was released as “as part of a word-of-mouth brand building exercise.” It doesn’s say which brand it was intended to build, but if it was for BSkyB, I’d say that for all it’s success, the campaign was a failure. If it was for their parent company, Fox, it was a success.
Here’s an example of the normal The Simpsons opener in case you have been living under a rock for the past several decades and have never seen The Simpsons.
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