Release that inner power.

If you haven't seen the esurance ad featuring Kaz Nomura (known as PWRFL Power), then you've probably been living under a rock.

(For those of you who haven't seen it, here's your AWESOME LINK OF THE DAY: http://www.esurance.com/pwr)

I've talked to a lot of people about the ad, most of them are turned off by it, but those who have heard Nomura's other stuff or are already a fan of his PWRFL Power stuff are happy to see him getting a little of the limelight. It's an effective little ad, combining Nomura's amazing guitar work, awkward, yet distinct voice, simple lyrics, and a silly caricature of him into a delightful little slice of 30 seconds of TV time. I'm happy to see companies and advertising agencies add a little style and flair to their ads instead of patronizing their audience. Some goods examples of this are the Linerider ad for McDonald's and the stop motion ad for Gogurt. I will admit that I'm kind of worried about large companies like McDonald's stepping into the viral marketing world, but it can't be all that bad right?

Well...

I'll share with you guys (if anyone read's this) my fears of corporations abuse of viral marketing. Since it's inception (I guess), small companies and mom 'n' pop shops have been using word-of-mouth and local reputation as a way of getting new business, since they don't generate enough money to pay huge marketing agencies to make flashy ad campaigns for them. Some businesses have used some very cheap, yet effective ways to gain attention. One of the best examples of this, that I can think of right now is Mystery Science Fiction Theater 3000, who encouraged fans to videotape episodes and pass them on to their friends. But, companies like Burger King, Outback Steakhouse, and Mellow Mushroom have taken advantage of these methods and have begun using them themselves (i.e. Burger King's "Subservient Chicken, Outback Steakhouse's use of Of Montreal's 'Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)", and Mellow Mushroom's website designed by the same people who did Homestar Runner). It's cheap, it gets attention, and it's been proven to be effective. That's dangerous for small business who depend on viral marketing in order to get new business. With all these corporations stealing all the imaginative young folks working for small marketing firms, or ripping off a smaller company and their ideas, it steals more attention to these smaller businesses.

"But Sebastian, people are smart enough to not buy into THE MAN'S bullshit, local businesses will be able to stay afloat and eventually, people will get tired of the same bullshit being fed to them over and over."

I wish I could say that's true, but people still have been eating at Micky D's and Burger King for over 50 years right? And the number of overweight people has increased over the last 50 years? RIGHT? So no, people really don't get tired of the same bullshit over and over, it's just that large corporations have found a way to appeal to that group of people who have learned better than to (ugh I hate saying this) conform to the same standards and practices.

Whatever, I'm still not going to eat at Outback Steakhouse, their food is nasty.

I'll still listen to Of Montreal though.