Google reveals biggest ads on YouTube for 2012 – MLA’s ‘Barbie Girl’ parody at #7 but (ooops) 36m YouTube views ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ overlooked
Google has released its Australian YouTube Viral Ad Zeitgeist, the list of this year’s biggest ads on YouTube in Australia.
From satirical music videos to movie trailers and spots selling meat, the ads on this year’s list proved especially diverse – demonstrating again that the definition of advertising is evolving in the digital age. But what appears to be a major oversight, McCann’s ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ video for Metro Trains – which has scored over 36m views on YouTube, is not included.
“Lambassador” Sam Kekovich and Melissa Tkautz, who made headlines urging Australians to fire up the barbie earlier this year, remained on the list at 7th place with ‘Barbie Girl’ via BMF. But Australia’s beef producers are nipping at their heels: a spot reminding meat eaters that real Australians eat steak came in at 8th place also created by BMF.
When it comes to viral ads in Australia, there’s no question that radio personalities Fitzy and Wippa are top of the charts. The dynamic DJ duo from Sydney locked down first, second and fifth place on the list by reimagining hit songs from a distinctly personal – and Aussie – perspective. The NovaFM stars scored top billing with a parody of Korean sensation PSY, entitled “Aussie Battler Style.” They landed fifth place with “Cookie Jars,” a self-deprecating swipe at Wippa’s reputed battle with cookie addiction. And their bogan send-off of Carly Rae Jepsen’s song “Call Me Maybe,” came in at number two.
Says Karen Stocks, head of new products & solutions for Google in Asia Pacific: “Fitzy and Wippa’s success demonstrates there’s a real appetite for Aussie ads on YouTube. It’s an appetite that other local businesses have yet to satisfy.
“YouTube is a global platform with local reach: Australian audiences are asking for more local content on YouTube – but most Aussie marketers have yet to answer their call. The opportunities for marketers who understand, and meet, this demand are huge.”
Australians love trailers for movies and games so much that Google decided to release a separate ranking for this category. Blockbuster game franchises Call of Duty and Halo both secured spots on the top 10 trailers of 2012, but it was Hollywood superhero franchises that reigned supreme: spots for Iron Man 3, Dark Knight Rises, and the Avengers all performed well.
Many of these videos demonstrate that the definition of advertising is evolving in the online age. Few of the ads on this year’s list would have been recognised as “ads” ten years ago – with the running length of the third place winner “Gymkhana FIVE: Ultimate Urban Playground; San Francisco,” coming in at more than nine minutes.
Says Stocks: “Advertisers may think that the formula to video success is an open secret, but ads don’t need to be slick 30-second TV spots to find an audience and succeed on YouTube. Online, marketers have the opportunity to reinvent their ads. They should challenge themselves to think popular, not premium, and focus on creating ads that people love to share.”
Top Ten Viral Ads on YouTube in Australia, 2012
1. GANGNAM AUSSIE BATTLER STYLE – by Fitzy and Wippa, NovaFM
2. CALL ME MAYBE – AUSSIE BLOKES VERSION – by Fitzy and Wippa, NovaFM
4. A DRAMATIC SURPRISE ON A QUIET SQUARE – turner benelux
5. BATTLE SCARS PARODY ‘COOKIE JARS’ – by Fitzy, Wippa, Guy Sebastian & Lupe Fiasco, NovaFM
6. TOMORROWLAND 2012 – OFFICIAL AFTERMOVIE – Tomorrowland Channel
7. BARBIE GIRL – AUSTRALIA DAY 2012 – by Sam Kekovich, Melissa Tkautz and Justice Crew via BMF
8. THROW ANOTHER STEAK ON THE BARBIE! – Nothing Beats Beef via BMF
9. SEDUCTIVE MOTION – Samsung Televisions via BETC London
10. CARSALES.COM TVC
11 Comments
So what happened to that insanely popular ‘dumb ways to die’? Was that all bullshit or have google overlooked it?
What, no ‘Dumb Ways to Die’?
What is defined as an ‘ad’? It appears a music video can be an ad but the original Gangnam style doesn’t rank…
ps. Carsales must be doing something dodgy with their media buy as they have 49 dislikes and some awful comments on that video
Got more views than any of these…..
‘Dumb Ways to Die’ was a ‘public service message. ‘Spose that’s not an ad?
Also it was released in November. Probably too late for the Google slowcoaches to have noticed it for inclusion. Who knows?
That only ads that had a paid YouTube component got on this list. There’d be a few that missed out accordingly.
This list is about rewarding advertisers who give $ to YouTube, and encouraging others to do the same.
Quite a few blitzed carsales. Agree on the paid media, should keep a list of this so we know who paid and who didn’t.
Umm, who gives a shit if DWTD didn’t make the list. If i’d done it, i wouldn’t want it recognised as an ad, that would only kill its credibility with the audience that really matters.
The fact that DWTD and Carlton Draught Beer Chase aren’t on this list is odd.
But why?
DWTD and Carlton weren’t in the top 10 in Australia. Read that again.
Most internet people who saw them (36 million on DWTD to date) were not from Australia.
So viral success.. but just not to Australians. Or probably their intended audience.
Shhhh.. Don’t tell the client..
You’re wrong.
Ask yourself how car sales could get 1m + ‘views’ yet only 21 likes.
The answer is paid pre-rolls… Those annoying ads that you tune out of or skip over when you’re trying to watch someone else.
They count as views. That’s what YouTube is trying to sell. That’s why this chart exists.
Don’t tell the car sales client that though.