Top 10 Viral Video Ads of All Time

Ad Age recently published Visible Measure's listing of the all-time most popular ad videos, ranked by the number of views.

Not to keep anybody in suspense, the #1 brand, based on viral video views, is:

Blendtec's "Will It Blend" series

The long-running "Will It Blend?" meme has attracted more than 170 million views over time. That's an amazing marketing success for a brand that was never a household name until the videos struck a chord with viewers and became an online hit.

The rest of the top 10 list consists of (in descending order of cumulative views): Evian, Old Spice, Volkswagen, DC Shoes, Microsoft, Pepsi, Old Spice, Old Spice, and Dorito's.

Notice some patterns?

1. Old Spice makes the list three times. That says a lot about the P&G brand's viral appeal and its agency's marketing smarts. Did you see any of this summer's Mano a Mano in El Bano videos or notice the action on the Old Spice Facebook page? Old Spice knows how to get people smiling, nodding, and talking about its brand.
2. Pepsi brands (Pepsi and Dorito's) are represented twice. Pepsi is very much a visual brand and in 2011, it didn't use Super Bowl ads but instead launched an online campaign, "Refresh," that got millions of people involved in voting for local nonprofit projects all around the country. (Pepsi's FB page has more than 5 million "likes," BTW, not too shabby.)  
3. Viral = Entertaining and/or funny. Every one of these top ads makes the viewer smile or even laugh out loud--and want to share that experience with friends.