| A study by Sharpe Partners, an interactive marketing | | | | perceived. |
| agency, revealed that 89% of adult Internet users in | | | | To illustrate the above, have you seen The |
| America share content with others via e-mail. This is | | | | Subservient Chicken? |
| excellent news for those companies who use | | | | Created for Miami Advertising Agency Crispin Porter |
| self-propelling "word-of-mouse" e-mail techniques to | | | | and Bogusky by The Barbarian Group, the Subservient |
| sell their products. | | | | Chicken is a viral marketing promotion of Burger King's |
| The study generated some interesting results | | | | line of chicken sandwiches. |
| regarding the type of content that is most often | | | | The campaign is based on a web site that features a |
| forwarded, as well. The most popular content is | | | | person in a chicken costume. The actor performs a |
| humorous material. | | | | wide range of actions based on a user's input, showing |
| The second most popular category is news, followed | | | | pre-recorded footage and appearing like an interactive |
| by healthcare and medical information, religious and | | | | webcam. It takes, literally, the advertising slogan "Get |
| spiritual material, games, business and personal finance | | | | chicken just the way you like it". |
| information and sports/hobbies ... in that order. So it is | | | | There are more than a hundred commands the |
| easy to see that humor is the best content for your | | | | chicken will respond to, including: |
| viral e-mail campaign. | | | | - Michael Jackson dance moves such as moonwalk |
| Cartoons, jokes and funny video clips are among the | | | | - River dance |
| things that can be added to an e-mail to ensure that it | | | | - The elephant |
| will go viral. People will want to pass along something | | | | - Lay an egg |
| that makes them laugh. | | | | - Walk like an Egyptian |
| They are a lot more likely to hit the forward button and | | | | - Yoga |
| send your email to their friends and relatives if it is an | | | | - Rage |
| "advertainment" rather than an advertisement. | | | | - Spank |
| Not along ago, about 35 million people got an e-mail | | | | - Taco Bell |
| containing a picture taken in Disneyland. It took a minute | | | | - Fight |
| to see it but there was Donald Duck lying prone in | | | | When told to do anything the Subservient Chicken |
| front of the famous Cinderella Castle. The title of the | | | | thinks is offensive, like perform sex acts or take off his |
| picture was "Bird Flu has hit Disneyland". It was a viral | | | | mask, the chicken walks up to the camera and shakes |
| e-mail advertising Disneyland and used the edgy | | | | a scolding chicken finger in disappointment. If he is told |
| strategy of making light of what's serious ... and it | | | | to eat food from rival fast food places like McDonald's |
| works. | | | | he approaches the camera and places his finger down |
| I'd guess that most people who own a computer have | | | | his throat but when told to eat Burger King he has a |
| seen that picture ... and thus the advertisement for | | | | more positive response. The chicken responds to the |
| Disneyland. The bird flu epidemic is newsworthy and | | | | command "smoke crack" by smoking but when told to |
| has the potential to attract an enormous amount of | | | | "smoke a bong" he waggles his finger scoldingly. He |
| attention to any brand that might, for whatever reason, | | | | hasn't mastered the entire "bad things" dictionary. |
| associate itself with it. | | | | Burger King's Chicken Fights campaign was recently |
| Remember that people are much more likely to share | | | | introduced. The two cockfighting chicken characters |
| a joke or a funny picture than anything else so you | | | | are modeled off this chicken. |
| would be well advised to include humor in your e-mail | | | | There seems to be no end to the variations on the |
| campaign. | | | | theme from Burger King. There has also been a lot of |
| Be careful, however, as some people are offended by | | | | criticism leveled at the chain about the Subservient |
| certain subjects. Try to maintain a certain level of | | | | Chicken but for now it looks like Burger Kind is crying |
| political correctness and sensitivity. That being said, | | | | all the way to the bank. |
| some make a huge amount of money being the exact | | | | A successful viral campaign isn't always in good taste |
| opposite. I just depends on how you want to be | | | | ... maybe that's what makes them so tasty. |