As I panned the internet for something interesting to blog about, the same topic, no matter how hard I tried to avoid it, kept slapping me in the face over and over again. No, it wasn’t Justin Bieber’s glorious locks that were causing the now ever-present facial lacerations; it was the staggering amount of “dislikes” his YouTube videos have, in particular his music video for the song “Baby”. The video is the most viewed video in YouTube history, garnishing over 500 million total views to date.  As Spider-Man’s wise Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility”, and for Bieber his great power of wooing tweenies across the world has, in turn, earned his top video over 1 million “I dislike this” clicks…a responsibility no 17-year old should have to burden, even if that 17-year old is the one person solely responsible for bringing back the bowl-cut.

However, for once it seems Bieber’s popularity, or in this case “dislikability”, has been overcome. The conqueror is Rebecca Black and her music video for the song “Friday”.  If you haven’t heard this song yet, believe me, you won’t be saying “we so excited” after hearing it, and Friday might go from your favorite day of the week to the one you most despise because the slightest mention of it conjures lyrics of this song in your head. If you have heard this song, then don’t worry, because the hatred you feel for it has already been accompanied by more “dislike” clicks than Bieber’s top ranked video. All this disliking has happened in a little over a month, and with a fraction of total views “Baby” received.  “Dislike” marketing at its finest.

With “dislikes” being handed out to those two videos in record rates, it got me thinking, what makes an online marketing video actually worthy of a “like”? Two recent examples of online video marketing instantly popped into my head. The first is a continuous running series of videos you may have already seen during one of your late night YouTube video viewing binges.  The “Will it Blend?” series put on by blender manufacturer BlendTech has been turning eyes and destroying well-known products like the new iPad 2, a copy of Halo 3 (I still have nightmares after watching that one), and even a World Cup Vuvuzela for nearly three years now.

The second example is a more recent online video campaign for the movie Limitless, starring Bradley Cooper. Two of the movie’s promotional videos have actually been accepted as “authentic” by some crazed YouTube viewers. One of the videos shows a man hacking into video screens in Times Square, and it actually looks like a typical YouTube video if it wasn’t for the strategically placed trailers of the movie that gave it away.  You can view the other, far more obvious promo video here. Even try and call the phone number to order the “clear pill” if you want; you never know, it might actually come in the mail next week (just beware of the side effects).

The reason these videos have had such success is because they tread off the beaten path of traditional video advertising, but still stay true to their product. If you are showing off your product by destroying other well-known products, or fooling hordes of YouTubers into thinking they too can hack into Times Square video screens, you are certain to earn a few “likes”; just be sure to avoid Rebecca Black at all costs.