YouTube is apparently quite popular. My impression is that when the kids aren't stalking each other on the Facebook or "rocking out" with the Guitar Hero, there's a good chance they're glued to the YouTube. And I even know some old people who use it to look up awesome Matlock clips. This cross-demographic YouTube-iquity makes advertising types salivate with anticipation for some reason. Accordingly, Google simply had to add YouTube to their arsenal in their quest for global mind control. I think they paid, like, a bazillion dollars for it or something.
So, anyway, what's all the fuss about? Well, apparently, considering the site's most popular videos page, we (i.e., humanity) have nothing better to do than watch some idiot dancing, a baby laughing, or puppets exploding. Seriously. A sad commentary on mankind, perhaps, but that's a subject for greater minds than mine.
No, I want to talk about "Chocolate Rain," a strangely mesmerizing little music video that totally deserves its place amongst the all-time viral greats like the Numa Numa guy and the Farting Preacher. Now, I didn't include a link to the song just now, but that's because I wanted to warn you: if you watch and listen to "Chocolate Rain" even once, be prepared to have the resultant earworm burrowing into your brain for days to come.
So how does Tay Zonday, the maestro behind this magnum opus, achieve that infectious effect? Why, by repeating the chorus of the song (it's all chorus, really) no fewer than 48 times! (Yes, I counted, and yes, I think I may have incurred some brain damage.) Well, it's the repetition and that bizarrely deep voice coming out of that tiny, child-like body, and yes, to be completely fair, some weird form of musical talent — not the kind that will put Tay on Top 40 radio, mind you, but talent nonetheless. In any event, the mixture of these curious elements has worked wonders with the YouTubers — as I write, "Chocolate Rain" has received more than 13 million views.
And this is where the advertising comes in.
It was only a matter of time before someone said, "Hey, why not use those millions of views to help us sell Product X?" Well, that someone turned out to be Dr Pepper, and the product in question is their new Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr Pepper drink. The Pepper people hired the production company True Entertainment to craft a viral video around Tay, his song, the rapper Mista Johnson, and a bevy of scantily clad beauties.
And here's the crazy part: it works. "Cherry Chocolate Rain" is still a terrible song, but with Johnson rapping here and there, it's somewhat less awful than the original, and in any case, the awfulness is part of the fun. Unlike many other ad efforts that have tried to piggyback on viral videos, the True Entertainment spot plays to the strength of its inspiration.
Like the original, it's completely silly and delightfully kitschy (albeit, I suspect, far more intentionally). There's Tay, making like he's Jay-Z, surrounded by beautiful girls. There's Tay, flashing a diamond-studded grill. There's Tay, getting splashed by buckets of liquid chocolate. All in all, it's just pretty damn funny, and it doesn't hurt that Zonday seems completely comfortable mocking his original, earnest effort. (Of course, as the song notes, he was "paid a hefty, hefty fee" to do so.)
But has the ad gotten a lot of views? Absolutely. Why exactly? Well, let me walk you through how it worked with me.
Having already seen the original, I wanted to show it and a funny parody I saw to my brother, who was visiting. Conveniently, YouTube groups related videos via tags, so by simply typing "chocolate rain" into the search bar, I was able to find both the clips I was looking for. While I viewed those, a still from the Dr Pepper video was also visible.
In the still, Tay is seated on a couch with two typical video vixens by his side. Now, I can't speak for everyone, but I think my reaction was pretty typical when I thought, "Huh, how the hell did the 'Chocolate Rain' guy actually get a couple of women like that to appear in a video with him?" My curiosity was piqued. It was a mystery.
Naturally, I clicked the link and quickly noted the rather elaborate and expensive-looking production values of this new video. Almost immediately, I thought, "Well, this has to be an ad of some kind. But for what?" Who was behind this masterpiece? I had no choice but to watch to the end. And there, just seconds before the final notes, it was revealed: a two-liter bottle of some groundbreaking Dr Pepper beverage.
Which is another clever thing about the ad. Unlike a lot of others, even some very funny ones, it is extremely successful in alerting you to what, exactly, the ad is about. By not revealing the product immediately — that is, by drawing the viewer in with a bit of mystery rather than sprinkling product placements liberally throughout — the producers actually increased the chances that a viewer would remember precisely what the video was an ad for. It worked on me, anyway. After watching the clip just once — that is, after having spent the first couple minutes wondering, "Who did this?" — "Chocolate Rain" and Dr Pepper were instantly and irrevocably linked in my mind (whence they will never leave, I fear).
Of course, I personally think Dr Pepper tastes downright ugsome, but that's kind of beside the point. What matters, as far as Dr Pepper is concerned, is that millions of YouTubers were made aware of their new product, and among them, no doubt, are a good many who actually like their nauseating concoctions.
Ergo, "Cherry Chocolate Rain" is a great ad, and a most fitting subject for this inaugural "On the Spot" ramble. My hat's off to Tay and company for this delightful waste of time.
