To recap: YouTube is now telling me what specific videos in my viewing history lead to each of my recommendations on a one for one basis.
Tonight, after being drawn to the "Name a Star Gift Box" video because I've always thought the idea of selling stars is awesomely absurd (it's been done before), the next thing I noticed was that this would apparently be similar to "We Like Sportz" by The Lonely Island, a tour de force in deadpan irony that I've watched at least fifteen times.
I hoped this treatment of a potential ironic gem would live up to its predecessor:
And in parts, it sort of did. For example: "cuatro weeks." But after watching the entire two minute video, I honestly couldn't tell if it was in earnest or not. So I headed over to vat19.com, and sure enough, the Name A Star Gift Box is totally for serious -- it costs $34.95.
I ask you, is this a brilliant marketing tactic, making me so curious to know whether this was a joke that I actually checked out a new website? Or was this a total marketing fail, in that it points out how utterly ridiculous spending money on a star naming kit actually is?
Maybe I'm being cynical and underestimating the viewers who watch this, take it at face value, and think, Wow! They store my record in The British Library!
Either way, it reminds me of my earlier post about the Family Guy / Wall Street mash-up. By mimicing a popular YouTube trend, this video gets recommended to people like me. And what's certainly true in marketing is, more impressions means more sales. But would I, a guy who loves "We Like Sportz" in part because I hate "Sportz," buy a star naming kit?
Not on your life.
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