Honda Insight Lights Up The Web

I am honestly a sucker for great site takeovers. Not the synced banner ads that Apple does all over the NYTimes (yes, I do think those are cool too), but the truly unique, innovative, how-did-they-do-that takeovers -- the ones that, in some ways, Wario himself started.

Honda Insight is the latest brand to capture my attention with one of these. By partnering with Vimeo, they created a fully immersive video page takeover that dims the lights and shows you a pretty cool sunrise. And, it's all in sync with the music. Check it out!

Elf Yourself. Your friends. Your sister. Your co-worker...

Flashback to 2006.

While I am sitting at my desk at work minding my own business, a curious link gets emailed to me. Something about elves, it reads. Of course I click on it, only to find myself laughing hysterically at a small dancing elf with my coworker's face affixed to its body. The elf moves awkwardly across the screen, flashing a few hints of spirit fingers now and then.

Marketing gurus hailed this amazing ElfYourself.com concept as one of the most successful viral campaigns to date. With 11 million elves created in just 5 weeks, who could argue?

Ah, and now we head back to 2007.

Based on the success last year, the elves are back. After a launch in mid-November, the site has already had more than 41 million elves created, crushing all industry expectations. It equates to 35 elves made every second.

Interestingly enough, not many people can name the brand responsible for this stroke of genius. OfficeMax (yes, that's who it is) has a logo placed on the page but doesn't incorporate any other branding into the site. While much of the success can be attributed to the fact that it isn't covered in advertising, brand recall should still be a consideration.

For those of us who aren't big fans of little people in tights, there is also ScroogeYourself.com.

Play With Your Food

KFC has hopped on the viral marketing bandwagon with its new campaign for Teriyaki Boneless Wings. Artist Phil Hansen has created a one-of-a-kind mural of Colonel Sanders and the process was videotaped and then uploaded onto YouTube. Don't worry, the full 8-hour production was sped up for the most efficient viewing experience possible. What better way to showcase your new product than to have someone coat their hands and feet in teriyaki sauce then paint a mural on the wall (wow, I think Michaelangelo just turned over in his grave). Consumers are able to bid on the actual painting beginning on July 18.

Between McDonald's and their mommy correspondents to videos of a guy painting with buffalo sauce, has marketing taken a desperate turn toward viral and social media trends?