A great idea emerged a few weeks back over at another startup, meebo. We thought it was so good that we readily jumped on board. The concept: With the big game approaching, why not make our own commercials, but instead of shelling out the big bucks for tv time, just post them on YouTube? Folks at other startups felt the same, and the list of participating companies kept growing. By yesterday, a total of six companies each had managed to shoot and edit a short video piece they were ready to share with the world.
I’m really pleased with how ours turned out. It’s great to see what a few volunteers were able to do with a tiny budget (fifty bucks) and only a few days for production. Without further ado, I am pleased to present our first ever “tv” commercial, “One Beer.”
If you dig it, please Digg it.
(Oh, yeah, and that is a new Plaxo logo and tagline at the end of our piece. A sneak peek of things to come.)
Also, please check out the great efforts from the other five companies: meebo, Meez, Multiply, RockYou.com, and Technorati. Some really great stuff!
meebo
Meez
Multiply
RockYou.com
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Not a good ad. The idea of a guy getting fired is a good foundation for a funny ad, but the execution is awful.
Bad funnyness:length ratio, bad acting (especially the boss) and looks to be produced on a tight budget. Put simply, it's too long and too cheesy.
Ah.. I should read the entire post. For 50 bucks it's pretty good.
like the new logo - even if it's a little "web 2.0" cliché. so does this mean some real changes are coming soon - like integration hipcal FINALLY? i mean - how long ago were they bought out? does anyone still remember hipcal!?
It's OK, but it doesn't "feel" like a commercial,... yet.
Intro: The boss should be introduced in the first scene as a jerk, like Lumberg in "Office Space".
"I'm gonna need you to work late tonight, Tom, hmmkay?" he drones.
Tom, our white collar hero, should not be such a suck-up. Tom should mumble under his breath as the boss turns and walks away. His "motive" is he is not a corporate tool.
...then his buds coax him to go to the bar for "1 beer" which is not a hard sell, party ensues at the bar and the group get increasingly smashed.
Money shot: The needle scatches the record as Toms boss walks into the same bar. "Tom, aren't you supposed to be working?"
"You know what boss?" Tom slurrs. "You can go ___ ____ ___ ___ (beep) your own reports". Look of Shock on bosses face. Fade out to indicate passage of time...
Punchline: Tom is walking out of the elevator with a bit of a hangover look and all his office possessions in a white box. He is being escorted by a guard. The new Plaxo tagline is read.
Done: 28 seconds. No need to spell it out for us or the dick joke at the end. It's funny and like a good joke the punchline isn't spelled out.
That's my 2 cents. :)
Hi Plaxo folks, funny enough Mobiya also posted a short trailer on YouTube a couple of weeks ago. Mobiya is a European startup: http://youtube.com/watch?v=9HAwAZSBN1c
A happy plaxo customer.
Sacha