Just when we thought that virals were a bit passé, we came across this fellow, made by CCCP. It’s a mockumentary about ‘liquid mountaineering’. The video tries to sell waterproof trainers from Hi-Tec, a British sports brand. It has been viewed 4.5 million times in one month. The Sunday Times – for what it’s worth – called it one of the best hoaxes of this year. We’re not sure if we concur, cause you can hardly call it a hoax – unless you believe that Jesus could do the same. But we like it. The fact that you know it’s fake doesn’t really matter, since the execution is subtle enough to be able to enjoy it – it was directed by Gerrit Willemsen from CZAR. And unlike many other virals, it even conveys a message; If you go Jesus hiking, Hi-Tec is your brand.

We like this one. Mom is waiting for her son to call. But as you know there’s a whole new generation that hardly uses its mobile to make phone calls. Hence the song (that spoofs a well known Dutch song, by Stef Bos) more or less saying “I use Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, all my crap needs to go on the web.” But only when it’s really necessary these guys make a phone call. When it rains for example and there’s no transport. But mom is not buying it; “saka saka boy” (asshole in Sranan) is what she answers him. In the previous commercial we were still surprised that Hi was promoting WhatsApp. Shortly after that we heard the CEO of KPN (Hi’s mother company) say that he didn’t see the decline of mobile phone calls coming – not displaying an incredible amount of vision. As the more versatile and younger brand, Hi has now fully and explicitly embraced the trend of using free online services with the apt pay off “Who needs phone calls these days.” Dynamic times in the telco business. Created by FHV/BBDO, directed by Jeroen Annokkee (CZAR).

This film reminded us of the animation quite recently created by CCCP for the Scheepvaart museum. Both are similar styled, both promote a museum, and both use the same voice-over. Apart from that the film is of course making the museum look quite attractive. And we didn’t know that Naturalis owns one of the world largest collections of organisms; 37 million items! The animation also gives us a peak in the future; who needs to visit a physical museum, when you can make edcuational films like this – which is kind of ironic. Created by Plus One Amsterdam.

Beginning of this month we wrote about a viral – if we may – for the Amsterdam Maritime (‘Scheepvaart’) museum; “No Facebook without the Dutch” it was dubbed. Apparently – and wisely – all of the museum’s budget goes towards online, cause last week we encountered yet another great piece of digital advertising; a site take-over – again a collaboration between One Big Agency, CCCP, and SuperHeroes. When you pull the plug to let the water run away, the Netherlands all of a sudden has become part of Spain and the Dutch news site ‘Nu’ changes into ‘Ahora’. History changes and the news accordingly; queen Beatrix is merely a sculptor now, Dutch brand Philips is called Philips II (after the ruler of Spain in the 16th century), a separatist organization claims to stick to Dutch (a cameo for CCCP’s copywriter and art director); Wesley Sneijder (“Esnaider”) scores for Spain, and Jan Smit (“Juan Smit”) with mustache releases a new album. This time the message is: “Without shipping no Orange” (the royal colour) and again the Scheepvaart museum teaches us how important the maritime history has been for the Netherlands. Usually we ignore banners or – when they obscure a site – search for the ‘delete’ button straight away, but not with this banner that entertained us for almost 10 minutes. It could be a lesson for those advertisers who think that buying banner positions is the same as making an impact – it is not.

This animated trailer promotes a beautifully made interactive new website, created by SuperHeroes, tells the story of Yakult. If we wouldn’t be skeptical about probiotics, we’d start loving Yakult right away – according to evidenced based science probiotics do more or less the same as normal yoghurt, which is probably why the word Yakult is derived from the Japanese word for yoghurt. Never mind though, it’s always good to see an agency being able to show off its skills. What makes things especially crafty is the fact that SuperHeroes used a scaled model that represents the Kyoto area to create the film – here’s the making of. The only pity about that – and we really hate to mention it – is the fact that Amsterdam Worldwide did more or less the same for Onitsuka Tiger (also a Japanese brand) in 2009. Fortunately the consumer couldn’t care less. SuperHeroes worked together with One Big Agency, CCCP, C-41 (Live action production), Magic Bullet (Interactive production), and Lullatone (for the happy sound).

We don’t like brands telling complicated stories – complicated is usually born out of a bad idea. The exception to the rule, though, is complicated as a concept in itself. When for example complicated is an excuse to create something that should go viral, it might just work. Take this nicely executed online film “No Facebook without the Dutch” for the Dutch Maritime (‘Scheepvaart’) Museum that links the rich Dutch maritime history with Mark Zuckerberg to announce the new museum’s Facebook fan page. Clearly not watertight, but easily enjoyable enough to forward online. Created by One Big Agency, CCCP, and Super Heroes.