The Plot Is the Pitch. How Can You Ignore Word of Mouth (WoM) Marketing? Viral Ads: It's an Epidemic. Hit videos reach millions. But Fortune's Devin Leonard asks - can this ever be a real business? (Fortune Magazine) -- One of the big hits to emerge on YouTube this summer was Lonelygirl15, a pouting teenager webcasting from her bedroom who turned out to be an actress hired by three ambitious wannabe producers with plans for an Internet film project. But Lonelygirl15 wasn't the only YouTube smash. Another was "Tea Partay," a music video by Prep-Unit, three well-scrubbed, upper-class New Englanders spitting rhymes Beastie Boy - style about the joys of eating finger sandwiches, playing croquet, and drinking Smirnoff Raw Tea, a flavored malt beverage.
Like Lonelygirl15, the three guys in P-Unit are thespians. The video was created by the New York office of Bartle Bogle Hegarty, a respected British ad agency. Never mind that Bartle Bogle Hegarty clearly conceived "Tea Partay" with YouTube in mind. Madison Avenue has always tried to create infectious ads. Social Media Fails To Manifest As Marketing Medium, Report Liken. Research Shows Blogs, Wikis, Forums Sway Consumer Opinion.