Yesterday, TechCrunch blogged about a young man who made a pretty awesome video for a McDonald’s jingle contest. He made it to the finals, and only then someone found out that he is the same guy who a dozen or so years earlier had held up a McDonald’s at gunpoint!

Well, here’s something that’s so ridiculous it couldn’t be made up. McDonald’s teamed up with MySpace to create a new jingle for the 40th anniversary of the Big Mac. The original song (two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce…) was created back in 1974. Over 1,000 user created songs and videos were submitted - the winner’s jingle becomes the official Big Mac song and will be featured in a McDonald’s Big Mac TV commercial.

Enter 29 year old Tamien Bain, who held up a McDonald’s at gunpoint when he was 14, was convicted as an adult and served 12 years in prison.

I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry, but one thing is for sure. This dude knows how to make a pretty bangin’ video! And he also just discovered a new way of making a video go viral.

Big Mac Chant

Tags: video, contest, mcdonalds, viral

Absolut Vodka did the right thing. They hired Zack and his friends to make some ultra-surrealist humor. And I, for one, was ROFL! Observe:

Hat tip to my brother Dave for IMing this link to me (hey, you got funny commercials? Send ‘em my way!). Watch all three in the series here.

Tags: viral, humor, creative inspiration, advertising, commercial, zack galifianakis, absolut

1) Thou shalt be brief. This is one for Advertisers to bear in mind as well as Creators, and to me, it’s the most important. With the internet cultivating such short attention spans in its users, you gotta make your point, then wrap it up, especially when you’re making an ad. 60 seconds is plenty. 30 is better.

2) Thou shalt play by the rules. This one’s simple. Read the creative brief, contest rules, instructions, etc., and follow ‘em to the letter. If they ask for an .mpg, don’t send an .avi. If they say “no more than 3 minutes,” don’t submit a video that’s 3:45. Don’t give contest administrators any reason to disqualify your entry before it even gets viewed.

3) Honor thy target demo. Is the advertiser trying to reach women 35-54? Men 40+? Pet owners? Gamers? Make your video a mirror of that target viewer, so when they watch, they see themselves.

4) Remember thy deadline, and keep it holy. Don’t be late with your submission, and don’t ask for an extension. It’s not fair to the people who were on time.

5) Thou shalt not be a poor sport. Be humble when you win, and gracious when you don’t. Congratulate the winner(s) sincerely and affably, or don’t say anything. You may not agree with the judges’ decisions, but they were made for a reason. Besides, if you hit the target every time, it’s either too close or too big, right? Get ‘em next time.

6) Thou shalt get involved in the community. As creators, we all strive to be original and unique, but we do have at least one thing in common: each other. Interact. Read and subscribe to related blogs. Comment and ask questions of other creators. Learn as much as you can, and offer help to those who ask it of you. We’re at the forefront of this burgeoning advertising medium, and in a few years’ time, we’re going to be the seasoned experts, so we’re gonna have to know what the hell we’re talkin’ about.

And finally,

7) Thou shalt not enter a contest in which I am also competing. Because face it: I don’t need the competition, and neither do you.

Obviously, I’m kidding about the last one. I actually welcome the competition, and quite enjoy it. There are a TON of outstanding video creators online, and when I see a good video, it always makes me want to step up my game a little more.

The couple I would add to this list are:

8.) Thou shalt use the highest possible video production standards. I know not everyone can shoot in HD or has a pro audio guy hangin’ around, but boy some of those techy things makes video go from fun to Pro in 0.83 seconds. But you don’t have to be rich. Just holding the camera well, framing up your shots and using lights wisely will vastly improve your video.

9.) Thou shalt be creative. No one wants to watch the same ol’ tired ideas. We get so excited when we see that someone really put some time and energy into planning out their video. Really making it something witty and smart and tight. You’ll stand out. Especially when Liza and I have to go through and review 200+ videos in an assignment.

Tags: video, contests, xlntads, brett slater, how to

Levoyage “Midlife Road Trip”

Congratulations, guys. I can’t wait to watch more episodes of your show.

The two runners up go to a couple of great show ideas we really love:

GreenSkyMedia “The Price of Admission”

Jayne “Leaving the Farm for a Road Trip”

Tags: xlntads, news, assignments, video, series, road trip, winners

First, a small bit of housekeeping. We had some annoying and persistent problems with our video encoder on the My Road Trip assignment. We want to make sure everyone who entered is being considered so we’ve had to take time to push all those videos through the gauntlet. Thanks for your patience. We’ll have those winners announced as soon as we can. Apologies for the slight delay.

Second, the Fourth of July was awesome, right? Yay, America! Me, I just got back from a long holiday weekend in Bar Harbor, Maine. I probably should have dropped in on Slater while I was up there, but alas. Anyone else from up in that neck of the woods? Boy, that’s beautiful country!

Third, we are working very hard on our semi-secret, totally awesome new project and we’re really excited about it. I want so badly to tell you all about it, but I guess I have to wait just a little longer. But believe me…. this is going to rock.

And finally, if any of you are going to be in the Philadelphia area this weekend, why not come on down to the YouTube gathering at Independence Park on Saturday? Nalts will be there. So will I. Come hang out and have some fun with us. Don’t forget to bring a smile… there will be a lot of cameras.

Tags: news, xlntads

The winners are:

kahit 1227’s ID Theft with 82,306 views! Nice work, guys. They earn the top prize!

The next top places in order of views go to:
ZackScott’s Sick Mailbox with 31,508 views
ThreeVolts’ Too Much Junk with 11,581 views
MattyGahan’s Dirty Mail Lady with 8,698 views

Great work everyone! We’re very excited that we got such a great turned.

Tags: proquo, video, viral, advertising, commercials, xlntads

Those two new videos are:

StockyardFilms‘ “Couple Dude”

and

laerscip’s “A New Dude”

Congratulations to you both!

We’re afraid to say that this might just be the end of our fabulous Bud Light assignment. But fear not! We have many more great assignments in store, ready to launch. Stay tuned!

Tags: bud light, dude, xlntads, community, video, advertising

It’s actually a ‘viral video’ for Gatorade. Not sure how the drink fits into this, but I just love watching it again and again. And sharing with you. Ergo - she’s viral, baby!

[Thanks, AdPulp!]

Tags: viral, video, advertising, gatorade, funny

Congratulations and the top prize of $5000 are going to our friend…

BlindLyleFilms for their video “Blind Lyle” (isn’t he cute!)

We have 5 Runners up who are taking home $200 each for their efforts:

onelightpro – Cleaning Our Streets
philmgeye – Nice Guys Finish Last
prazmedia – Children in need in Kenya
desertcity – Net 10 Donkey Rescue
jabinibarra – Does your cell phone company support youth role models

Congrats, everyone! You did a fantastic job for Net 10, we hope you enjoyed making them.

Tags: net 10, phone, commercials, video, advertising, xlntads, assignments

Have you looked at our new Road Trip assignment? It’s almost summer and you know what that means! Wouldn’t it be great to have XLNTads pay for your trip? C’mon and enter. You don’t have to actually shoot your road trip for this assignment - just tell us where, how and why you’ll be traveling in an interesting video. We’ll pick the best, and send them on their way!

If you have any questions, post them in the comments here, and we’ll answer them right away. Thanks!

Tags: road trip, xlntads, assignments, video