Was this the first ever successful (profitable) Viral Marketing?

danhughes · 11-08-2009, 01:39 PM

About 10 minutes ago, a childhood illusion of mine was destroyed.

The illusion that had been created was so powerful that (at the time) it caused me significant loss of social standing. I became a seriously uncool 14 year boy!

17 years later and I have mostly recovered from this life changing event

But what could have caused the unraveling of such childhood angst?

Netflix!

I was quietly scrolling through the new movies released this month to watch online. I was just about to watch Short Circuit 2 when I noticed another movie.

The myth surrounding this movie had me so well fooled that even as a (mostly) normal 32 year old, I could not believe Netflix was showing it.

The movie is called Faces Of Death. Urban Legend has it billed as an actual snuff movie. With that in mind, you can probably understand why I refused to watch the bootleg video of it at my friend Andy's house, 17 years ago.

Obvioulsy (now

) the movie is a fake. It was made in 1978 for a cost of $450,000. To date it has made about $65 million dollars. That number is about to go up quite significantly as it's re-released on DVD and in HD on Blu-ray later this month.

So my question is this...

Can you think of an earlier example of intentional (or unintentional) Viral Marketing that was profitable before 1978?

urban renewal · 11-08-2009, 02:22 PM

How about the Bible?

danhughes · 11-08-2009, 02:38 PM

Ha... A good answer. That would definitely qualify as a first. I'm just not certain that commerce was a primary objective for that one

Louise Green · 11-08-2009, 02:45 PM

The first viral anything that I remember online was Hamster Dance

Gene Pimentel · 11-08-2009, 02:50 PM

One of the first online viral things I remember is the Baby Dance! Remember that silly thing? It was everywhere. They even ended up making a physical product out of it and it was in all the novelty stores. Not sure which came first though, the Hamster Dance or the Baby Dance!

danhughes · 11-08-2009, 03:19 PM

Ah.. the age old question of what came first... the hamster or the baby. That sounds like a whole other kind of scary movie!

The first specifically online viral marketing that I can think of was the footer that Hotmail added to each email sent through them in the early days:
"Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com"

11-08-2009, 01:39 PM	#1
danhughes Bullsh*t Vigilante War Room Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Cary, NC, USA. Posts: 112 Thanks: 10 Thanked 21 Times in 13 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Was this the first ever successful (profitable) Viral Marketing? About 10 minutes ago, a childhood illusion of mine was destroyed. The illusion that had been created was so powerful that (at the time) it caused me significant loss of social standing. I became a seriously uncool 14 year boy! 17 years later and I have mostly recovered from this life changing event But what could have caused the unraveling of such childhood angst? Netflix! I was quietly scrolling through the new movies released this month to watch online. I was just about to watch Short Circuit 2 when I noticed another movie. The myth surrounding this movie had me so well fooled that even as a (mostly) normal 32 year old, I could not believe Netflix was showing it. The movie is called Faces Of Death. Urban Legend has it billed as an actual snuff movie. With that in mind, you can probably understand why I refused to watch the bootleg video of it at my friend Andy's house, 17 years ago. Obvioulsy (now ) the movie is a fake. It was made in 1978 for a cost of $450,000. To date it has made about $65 million dollars. That number is about to go up quite significantly as it's re-released on DVD and in HD on Blu-ray later this month. So my question is this... Can you think of an earlier example of intentional (or unintentional) Viral Marketing that was profitable before 1978?

11-08-2009, 02:22 PM	#2
urban renewal Active Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Seattle Posts: 38 Thanks: 4 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts	Re: Was this the first ever successful (profitable) Viral Marketing? How about the Bible?

11-08-2009, 02:38 PM	#3
danhughes Bullsh*t Vigilante War Room Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Cary, NC, USA. Posts: 112 Thanks: 10 Thanked 21 Times in 13 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Was this the first ever successful (profitable) Viral Marketing? Ha... A good answer. That would definitely qualify as a first. I'm just not certain that commerce was a primary objective for that one

11-08-2009, 02:45 PM	#4
Louise Green Marketing Since 2002 War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 1,474 Thanks: 402 Thanked 478 Times in 182 Posts	Re: Was this the first ever successful (profitable) Viral Marketing? The first viral anything that I remember online was Hamster Dance
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11-08-2009, 02:50 PM	#5
Gene Pimentel DomainProfitsClub.com War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Oswego, NY USA Posts: 2,991 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 946 Thanked 1,639 Times in 652 Posts Social Networking	Re: Was this the first ever successful (profitable) Viral Marketing? One of the first online viral things I remember is the Baby Dance! Remember that silly thing? It was everywhere. They even ended up making a physical product out of it and it was in all the novelty stores. Not sure which came first though, the Hamster Dance or the Baby Dance!
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11-08-2009, 03:19 PM	#6
danhughes Bullsh*t Vigilante War Room Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Cary, NC, USA. Posts: 112 Thanks: 10 Thanked 21 Times in 13 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Was this the first ever successful (profitable) Viral Marketing? Ah.. the age old question of what came first... the hamster or the baby. That sounds like a whole other kind of scary movie! The first specifically online viral marketing that I can think of was the footer that Hotmail added to each email sent through them in the early days: "Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com"