Can you believe it? We are about to ring in 2020 and enter a new decade. But before we do—let’s take one more look at 10 marketing campaigns that went completely viral and set the internet on fire in 2019.
This year’s viral campaign winners (according to us) could not have be more varied, risky, edgy, meta, or impactful in both uniqueness and execution.
Let’s see who had the imaginative goods to capture our attention and land a spot on this year’s list.
So, in no particular order, here we go!
1. Shane Dawson’s The Beautiful World of Jeffree Star
We begin in the heart of the YouTube influencer world with two massive creators, Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star. With a combined subscriber count of nearly 40 million subscribers, Shane produces a BTS-style documentary featuring Star. The 80-minute documentary amassed over 15 million views and culminated with a collaboration makeup line called Conspiracy. Did it work? With over 40 million in sales…absolutely!
2. Nike’s Dream Crazier
Nike found themselves going viral for some push back they were getting for their Dream Crazy campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick in 2018. However, they also gained many supporters. So, this year Nike took another stand with their Dream Crazier campaign. This powerful ad featured women from across the athletic spectrum breaking barriers in sports, with narration by Serena Williams. With over 11 million views, this campaign definitely found its audience.
3. & 4. Peloton’s The Gift That Gives Back and Aviation Gin’s The Gift That Doesn’t Give Back
Where to begin… By now, you know about the Peloton ad with a woman being gifted a Peloton bike for Christmas. This seemingly innocent ad went viral for all the wrong reasons and the blowback was so bad that Peloton’s stock price dropped!
However, someone saw a perfect opportunity to capitalize—Ryan Reynolds. Yes, that Ryan Reynolds. The Aviation Gin owner worked his magic to find the actress from the doomed Peloton ad (who was receiving most of the hate) and produced his own very meta response to the controversy. This definitely wins the award for creative quick thinking!
Peloton:
Aviation Gin:
5. Gillette’s We Believe: The Best Men Can Be
2019 was another year where discussions about equality have only increased—especially when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community. Being a very divisive topic for many—most brands have kept things “safe,” choosing not to focus on such issues. It is understandable—the risk for a brand is very real. However, a brand nobody expected to break the mold was Gillette. Gillette released a 2-minute short film surrounding toxic masculinity in January that has gathered over 30 million views. Their first ad featuring a trans man being taught to shave for the first time (by his father) dropped about 6 months later. Both were powerful and both deserve a spot on this list.
Toxic Masculinity:
First Shave:
6. John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners’s Christmas 2019
Now for something different. Featuring what is possibly the cutest dragon ever animated—okay, scratch that, it is the cutest dragon—getting ready for the holidays. Beautifully animated and a message that warms even the iciest heart—the originality of this campaign is the exact type of feel-good ad that we could watch all day. Kudos to the mind and skill that crafted this campaign!
7. Amazon’s Not Everything Makes the Cut
Amazon seems to make the list every year—but we can’t deny their creativity and their marketing genius. Let’s get one thing straight, Amazon has been at the center of a lot of bad press lately and they know it. So rather than try and avoid it, Amazon decided to poke fun at themselves this year in perhaps one of the funniest ads this year. Featuring a slue of “failed Amazon products” and lot of familiar faces our marketing hat is off to Amazon…well done.
8. Aviation Gin’s The Process
Wait—wasn’t Aviation Gin already on this list? Yes. But our writer is a huge Ryan Reynolds fan so…here we are. As the story goes Reynolds was having a drink, loved the gin, and asked the bartender what it was. The brand was Aviation. Reynolds loved it so much he found the company owners and bought an ownership stake in the company. He doesn’t just own a majority—he is highly involved in the company’s branding, marketing, and sales. Here is a taste of his viral (and meta) marketing genius.
9. Hotel.com and Poo-Pourri’s #FirstPooWithBoo
Okay so this one is not as “viral” as the rest. But after visiting VidCon this year and seeing a presentation from the creative minds behind Poo-Pourri, we knew they needed to be on this list. Their approach and creativity for a “bathroom odor eliminating” product line is truly hilarious. This was also a great example of brand collaborations that any brand can learn from. Hotel.com and Poo-Pourri combined forces to create this ad that has collected over 1.5 million views—and for a product featuring bathroom odors, that is pretty impressive. Best of all, these brands know exactly what they are doing with their tongue-in-cheek delivery—and we are all the better for it.
10. Zola’s Easy Wedding Planning
Finally we have an entry that is still in the news as of the time of writing that has been going viral for both those who love it and those who don’t. What has been commonly called “the Hallmark ad,” featuring the wedding of a same sex couple, is actually an ad by Zola that was featured on the Hallmark channel. The short version of the story is the ad aired, people got mad, the ad was pulled, other people got mad, and now the ad is back. Needless to say, Hallmark has been in a PR pickle. Is the ad amazing? Not really. It’s pretty straight forward—but nevertheless, viral is viral.
That’s a Wrap! See You Next Year
We did it! As you can see from this year’s picks that viral campaigns are not just popular ones, but ads that caused discussion, made us laugh, made us cheer with excitement, or even made us cry.
No one can ever really predict what will go viral, but if we understand what makes our customers and audience tick, we can create something magical.
If you are ready to “hit refresh” on your marketing and build a strategy that is going to set you up for success in 2020, get in touch for a free 1-hour consultation.
You never know…your next campaign could dominate YouTube and you could be on our list next year!