Big time publications such as the Atlanta Wire and the LA Times started calling the trend "unwelcome right around Valentine's Day last week, but does the ad still work even after it's caught onto the tail end of the fad? People say that the Harlem Shake lost its coolness after it went mainstream. The only good news is that they did another video featuring Nascar driver Jeff Gordon that was closer to the original video of the dance.
I think it's safe to say that viewers are still stuck on the trend for the time being; however if Pepsi is going to continue to utilize the dance for their advertisements, they should probably stick with the Jeff Gordon ad. At least it's more humorous than watching a bunch of cans and bottles bounce around. Either way, I agree with most people in thinking that the ads won't be running for much longer.
Trying to capitalize on viral content is always a gamble. Normally, they have a very limited lifespan, not in the sense of how long they exist, but in the sense of how long people still find them funny or interesting. Its hard for a company to capitalize on the height of viral popularity. Also, part of the allure of viral content is that it is often user or community driven. When corporations start getting involved, it becomes much less appealing. In fact, corporate productions are almost exactly the opposite of viral content.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I love it. I think the Harlem Shake is just fabulous and I've watched way too many videos. That being said it truly is a hit or miss when it comes to viewers. Many people view this as a "bandwagon" fad that is now just too mainstream to be cool anymore. This only adds to the mainstream of it, a major corporation creating an advertisement around it; so honestly if the Harlem Shake wasn't already dead - this probably killed it.
ReplyDelete