The Terms Production and Reception in Relation to Viral Advertising

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The Terms Production and Reception in Relation to Viral Advertising

Viral adverts are available in a variety of media and genre types.

They are usually passed on via email through the internet, and now

video mobile phones. It is now increasing rapidly as more people now

have the technology to acknowledge the use of viral adverts. As well

as video, these adverts can come in images and sound formats. Viral

adverts are passed from one person to another cheaply, which is why

this types of advertising is suitable for unknown and “less-loaded”

charities, which follows the rule of “spend less, spread fast”. This

could help companies save a lot of money as the only real cost would

be on the making of the advert, which wouldn’t be much as there

usually is no need for special effects. Although, these adverts don’t

usually make profit, the filmmakers gain popularity through the

attention given to the advert. Viral adverts do not have to be

obvious about what exactly they are promoting as it is more to do with

opinion and some form humour, like a spoof. As they usually contain

some level of offensiveness and humour, whether the subject matter is

violent, sexual or even politically offensive, it is all down to

public opinion.

In my opinion, most viral adverts don’t begin as viral adverts; they

are made viral by the public’s opinion and their views. For example,

the Polo VW advert wasn’t meant to be seen by the general public, as

the makers of the advert told The Guardian “I just wanted it for show

reel purposes, not seen by millions of people around the world”.

Little did they know, the advert would “shock” and “create such a

fuss”, the advert issues and debates as to whether to sue the makers

or ban the artefact. Volkswagen was rumored to have sued them and go

ahead with taking legal action against Dan and Lee from the London

based advertising group (the producers).

Viral Adverts are usually produced by low budget film makers, who want

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