What do E.T., White Castle cheeseburgers and Stone Cold Steve Austin have in common? Absolutely nothing, and that's what makes Stone Cold E.T. the perfect viral video. It makes no sense and shouldn’t be funny, but throw all three together with a video camera and you get comedy gold. I’ll admit that you need to know a little wrestling to really get the nuances in this video; but even for those who have no wrestling interest, the ridiculousness of the combo is what makes it so hilarious.
Stone Cold E.T. instantly catapulted itself into my top 3 favorite YouTube videos of all-time and joins the likes of Crying Wrestling Fan and GI Joe Pork Chop Sandwiches. As of the writing of this post, Stone Cold ET has 471,000 views on YouTube, which blows my mind. This thing deserves to be in the millions - it really is the bees knees. I gauge the success of a viral video on how quickly I want to share it with everybody I know. Within one minute of seeing Stone Cold E.T., I was forwarding the link on to all of my social contacts online. Over the past week, anybody that enters my home must first watch the video before even saying hi. You might be coming over to share that you got that huge promotion or that you and your wife are expecting your first child, but before sharing the big news you will be sat down and forced to see Stone Cold E.T. order a couple of White Castles to go…and maybe a drink.
Every company wants to get their content to go viral and some even try to manufacture buzz on their own. What most companies don't understand is that you cannot set out and just create a viral video. Unfortunately, the Internet decides what is going to go viral, not the companies themselves. You cannot simply create buzz, otherwise there would be a ton of Viral Video Specialists and experts out there. Oh wait, what was that? There are people that claim to be viral video experts? If anybody guarantees that they can make your video viral, please run as far as you can in the opposite direction in a Usain Bolt-like fashion. These are the same people that love QR codes and push full-page newspaper ads even though newspaper readership is at an all-time low. The best of the best sell a full page ROP with QR codes included, these people are what I like to call, out of touch. The best viral content starts conversations, for both the good and the bad, and as a company, you must be ready to take part in this conversation.
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| Stone Cold E.T. likes whoopin' ass |
White Castle is clearly the winner here due to the exposure that Stone Cold E.T. brings. In a video like this, it is rare that the company being pranked is not cast in a negative light. The drive thru staff showed extreme patience throughout the entire video and offered no reason to dislike White Castle. So far, 471,000 people have been exposed to the White Castle brand (which apparently stands for excellent service and crappy hamburgers). The company has a real opportunity to build upon this buzz. If I ran White Castle’s social media team, I would link this video to Facebook and Twitter to try to gain momentum. Obviously, current licensing agreements with Universal Pictures and WWE would instantly prohibit White Castle from officially promoting use of these characters in advertisements, but a couple of retweets and Facebook links should be within the realm of possibility. There is a chance to stand out and be special and acknowledge that as a company, you can be real. Of course this video is flying around White Castle coporate, it should be flying around their social media channels as well.
The good companies monitor what is being said about their brand, both good and bad. Sometimes a little nugget like Stone Cold E.T. makes its way into pop culture and could catapult a brand into cult status. Will this happen with White Castle? Probably not. Their sliders taste like dog food on a tiny bun. I haven’t had White Castle in over 10 years, but I might have to give them a curious chance, something I never would of done before this video. I’ve talked about this video and have showed it to everybody I know, exposing my small group to their brand. This is what a good viral video can do for a company, even if they did not originate the content. On the flip side, a viral video can be at the detriment of some companies, as was the case with United Airlines when their baggage carriers damaged a $1,200 guitar. United Breaks Guitars has now been viewed over 12.5 million times. The next natural phase of this video is the sure-fire follow-up, which won’t be half as funny as the original (because you can’t manufacture viral). If nothing else, Stone Cold E.T. has firmly cemented itself as a personal first-ballot YouTube hall-of-fame candidate, a video that I will view for years to come. White Castle has a chance to build on this – all they have to do now is make an edible burger.
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