Prankvertising: John St "ExFEARiential"

Toronto based ad agency John St. have recently created this spoof of the current prankvertising trend. Advising possible clients they'll do anything to get there brand noticed, from fires, kidnapping or inciting riots. The video has impeccable production values and is a great way for an agency to get their name noticed. I personally think that prankvertising is a bit forced and feel the trend will die down as quickly as it began. Out of everything to come out of it, this spoof video has to be my favourite!

Prankvertising: LG "Elevator" and "Stage Fright"

Another of LG's prankvertising videos today. The brand has a real affinity for trying to ramp up sales by scaring people! This video was created by the Amsterdam creative fim, SuperHeroes for the brand in 2012. Again, the video is proof that these types of prank videos create massive internet hype with over 20 million views on this Youtube clip. This prank is a bit more mellow than the last, but still catches out the ad's participants. Remember when viewing that there is a high chance that everyone featured in the ad is a paid actor!

I usually don't feature two advertisements in a blog post, but breaking with the rule today to show the final selection of LG's stint into prankvertising. Created by the same agency as the "Elevator" video, this ad claims to prove how lifelike LG's monitors are by affecting men attempting to use a public urinal with images of beautiful women. The video was uploaded in April of this year and has over 6 million views as of today. 

Prankvertising: LG "Meteor"

Prankvertising is a new trend in video advertisements, and there is no doubts to why companies chose to do it. Done successfully, prankvertising often results in viral videos and increased word of mouth. A pertinent example is this video ad by LG created by Grupolink, a Chilean firm. The ad shot into the public domain, with 14 million views and over 600,000 Facebook shares as of today. Commonly known as the most brutal version of prankvertising yet, many doubted the validity of the stunt, assuming participants were paid actors. The ad also was deemed in poor taste by some media outlets, given the current crisis in Syria.

I'm not entirely sold on the concept of prankvertising, but will show a few examples over the next few days and maybe a satirical view or two.