Very Sneaky Viral Marketing

The online community of Toy Story fans you was abuzz this weekend about a video that showed up on Youtube. A Youtuber by the name of MrCrazycommercials uploaded what was apparently the original "Los-o'-Huggin' Bear commercial that aired in 1983. MrCrazycommercials claimed that he personally owned one of these toys in his youth. Before I go any further, please watch the video in question:

Pretty convincing. The video distortion and slightly poor sound quality really make it look like something that could have been taken from an old VHS tape. I was knew that that Lots-o was a toy that was created just to be a Toy Story 3 character, but for a brief moment this commercial had me doubting myself. The dead giveaway that this video is simply very clever viral marketing by pixar comes in the very last second when the voice say mentions the company "Huggin' Toys." A quick google search and a little bit of common sense will tell you that there is no suck toy company. Just to make absolutely sure though, I looked into MrCrazycommercials' profile. He has uploaded a lot of videos for toys that apparently inspired some of the new Toy Story 3 characters, like the Glow Worm toy I mentioned in a previous post focusing on the Bookworm character. If that wasn't enough evidence I also noticed that a user who commented on the video swearing it was real had uploaded a large amount of disney related videos. Finally my suspicions are further confirmed on The Pixar Blog.

As soon as most people figured out that it was all a ruse, and as soon as Toy Story 3 director, Lee Unkrich, embarked on a promotional trip to Japan, a Japanese commercial for Lots-o appeared on Youtube.

These videos are a brilliant use of viral marketing on Pixar's part. They are doing a great job at stirring up interest in the film and they make the character seem even more real. I said I love when Pixar uses real-life toys in their films and this is a fantastic way to invent their own toy but make it seem like it was a real vintage toy. They are selling their film and their toys while adding a little extra layer of realism to the character. Bravo Pixar!

Stretch

Today's character for examination is Stretch. Stretch is a rubbery, stretchy octopus with suction cups on its tentacles. Stretch is going to be voiced by none other than Whoopi Goldberg. Whoopi has always been an interesting actor and I'm sure she'll being a lot of fun to the character. From the most recent trailer it appears that Stretch is going to be a part of the whole mysterious conspiracy against Andy's toys that we know Lots-o and Ken are going to be involved in. I am guessing that Stretch is going to mostly act in a "faceless henchman" type of role. I'm also really digging the nice detail of the little sparkles that cover her.

How about those Lots-0 commercials? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of them.