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The latest Snickers ads with Master P and Patrick Ewing got me thinking why this hasn’t happened more often.

Have you ever received a creative brief that left you scratching your head for great ideas? Me neither. But in a hypothetical case where that were to ever happen to you, this seems to be a fix-all solution to keep in your desk drawer.

What solution you may ask? Insert “has-been” celebrity*

Nothing breaks through the clutter more than content with an old celebrity. Currently, the leading benefactor of this advertising band-aid has to be MC Hammer. Mr. Hammer has promoted everything from Nationwide Insurance to ESPN Monday Night Football. He was even featured in Cash4Gold’s Super Bowl spot this past February. Seriously, he has become the Peyton Manning of former celebs. While I know his cameos help solve his past money issues, I wonder why Hammer won’t share the spotlight or better yet why haven’t brands moved on to other faded stars?

There are plenty of out of work former celebs that would make for great advertising.

I come from the school of thought that ads should have some level of utility. Not just from the goal of trying to get people’s attention in a very fragmented and saturated advertising world, but in a weird “we owe them at least that much” way. If someone is asking for your time/interest, the least they could do is provide you with something. I don’t mean that an ad has to say “here is a tip on how to refloor your kitchen on a budget. PS, switch to AT&T.” Utility can take a variety of forms, be it entertainment, information, a technology, or, the newest one I have come across, giving you money to gamble on sports.

After seeing Parry Gripp’s latest viral hit, , I realized that he’s gotten really good at two key elements of viral hits:  cute animals and catchy music.  So what are the others, you ask?  I’ll detail each of them with examples below.  While I’d love to see (or create) a video that contains all ten, most “hits” only feature a perfect execution of one of these components.
Note:  This list is for viral videos in general, not specific to branded efforts.

I wish I had more examples handy, but I’ll start with one. Went to NYC for a weekend recently and found this in a subway car:

I commend the media buyers and traffickers for a timely ad placement.

Last week I popped in my local neighborhood Arby’s to pick up a delightful lunch. As I was walking in, I saw a sign in the window advertising 5 regular roast beef sandwiches for $5.49 (or something close). As a pretty savvy investor I realized what an amazing deal that was. The sandwiches are good cold so I can just pop ‘em in the work fridge and I have an easy cheap lunch option for the week. Done and Done.