The collective insanity of the internet

In case you've missed it, the internet is currently going nuts about Rebecca Black's DIY pop single "Friday" which has over 45 MILLION views.

And by nuts, I mean nuts. The rabid frothing vitriol unleashed on this poor girl is proof that just because something can go viral doesn't mean you want it to.

It's just a kind of crappy pop song (I suppose using "crappy" and "pop" in the same sentence are redundant) recorded at a vanity studio by a 13 year old. Yet the response has all the reasoned intelligence of a digital lynch mob.

There is a lesson here for companies that want to harness the power of social media.

First of all, don't allow comments. If you really want to allow comments, moderate them ALL first. And if you don't want to moderate, than use Facebook connect to force all commenters to reveal their identity, which should keep all but the worst trolls in check. NEVER just allow comments. The people on the internet don't deserve that right any more.

That play on words slogan may not be so great after all

Just saw an ad for Maggi (a bullion cube producer) all about mom cooking great food and families. Their slogan is "It's hugging good"

I don't know about you, but the only thing that brings to mind is the rather less family friendly "it's f*cking good".

If that really was the intention, I have one word for the marketing genius behind that one.

FAIL

#Winning

The agency I work with (Command Associates) has won a Grand One for best B2B site. Big congrats to our brilliant art director for creating the site look and feel. Small congrats to me for being the one who worked with him on this!

See Grand One's list of winners

The exception that proves the rule

In case you haven't seen it, someone has actually pulled off a viral video. This was probably the best way to make it happen: choose a glamorous but funny spokesperson, and parody other popular viral videos. Who knows if it will help sell more Smartwater, but at least it's up to 6 million views on YouTube.

Watch the Jennifer Aniston "sex tape"

P.S. Good name for a video too