And then security broke it up...

Buick "launched" a viral video recently, it flopped. Why? Let's dissect it.


Is Tiger to blame? Nope. Nike proves that Tiger can be viral. Remember the bouncing ball ad?

Is it the premise of using viral videos to sell cars? Nope. Look at the Honda cogs ad.

Well what is it then? I think this is pretty simple and we can attribute this flop to one thing: A lack of honesty.

Certain elements scream out to the viewer that you're being had: The unrealistically long shots of the vehicle, like a frat boy in Cancun who only focuses his camera at the ocean. The sound/dialogue that happens to clear up at the right moment. The proximity to Tiger that seems to get closer as the video proceeds. And finally, the best part. The security guard with the overplayed hand screen.

Look guys, you don't have to fake it for your viral to work. Consumers will find you out and then what are you left with? A bunch of cynical bloggers and viewers trashing your video. Wait a second... Is that what you guys wanted?

Create a bad viral. Get people talking about it. Get it on the top 10 videos. Have people trash and talk about the video while absorbing those beauty shots. Shrug it all off with the, "Well, you know, we're Buick, you know, old guy cars? We don't know this Internet stuff, we just gave it a shot."

Brilliant!