Brother – At Your Side
May 14, 2011Nokia E7
May 14, 2011Top Right Corner interviewed Nokia enthusiasts in New York and Los Angeles for a product demo of the brand-new Nokia E-7. Spots were commissioned through UK-based agency 1000 Heads.
Pizza Hut Lovers
May 14, 2011Top Right Corner and director Alexander Rydell teamed to produce this spot for Pizza Hut’s “Lovers Menu.” The ad was broadcast nationally starting in May, 2011.
Why your friends are now fans of Grover on Facebook
October 19, 2010Muppets have a growing popularity with people outside of the shows target audience age of 2-4. It has become common to see teens rocking t’s with characters such as Cookie Monster and Elmo on them and videos featuring muppets have been circulating the web. Some have even achieved viral status like Grover’s Old Spice commercial parody. In 5 days almost 3 million views – at least ten of which are from me – and Mustafa is nowhere to be seen, towel clad or otherwise.
This isn’t the first pop culture reference on the popular kids’ show. Sesame Street aims to entertain adults as well as kids to encourage co-watching much like Disney and Pixar. While Grover’s Old Spice parody was the only advertisement spoof I could find, Sesame Street has not limited themselves in media exploration. Several television shows have been interpreted into educational muppet filled spinoffs including True Blood The Oprah Show The Closer and many many others. The Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody has almost 16.5 million views, over twice as many as the official Bohemian Rhapsody video. Beaker singing Ode to Joy in a style much like Mystery Guitar Man has over 11.5 million views. My personal favorite, Stand By Me, has drawn in a meager 2 million. The future seems bright for a Sesame Street as they hone in on ways to appeal to more audiences.
Celebrities are also featured regularly on the children’s program. Most noteworthy being Katy Perry who caused a scandal with a low-cut top in a clip of her singing Hot n’ Cold with Elmo. Sesame street did not air the clip because of negative parental feedback but still allowed it to be posted on youtube and addressed concerns on their Facebook page.
Perez Hilton blogged about the video and Katy appeared in an SNL parody 5 days later. Most celebrities from Colin Farrell to Will.i.am have a noneventful experience.
Other sources have helped to promote Sesame Street. Last year Big Bird and Sesame Street turned 40 and Google honored them with a doodle on their homepage. (check Google November 4th for a 41st birthday honor.) Michelle Obama also appeared on the 40th anniversary episode to promote healthy foods and has worked with the nonprofit behind Sesame Street, the Sesame Workshop. There is a wiki dedicated to the muppets along with many fan sites and a live show that is touring the country. All of these have contributed to the fame of Sesame Street but not nearly as much as their expansion into social media.
Creating accounts on some of the more popular social media websites, Sesame Street regularly updates content to continue to draw users back for more. Their Facebook page has 114000 followers and Twitter has over twice as many followers. In numbers alone they are ahead of many in the new social media wave. As Jeff Esposito points out,
“Their accounts on Twitter and Facebook allow parents to check out upcoming content before its aired. It also allows those without children to reconnect with a long-lost part of their childhood.”
We can expect future generations to enjoy Sesame Street in new ways as the show continues the innovation they stared in the 60s. Other companies can learn from the way they’ve expanded into social media and addressed consumer concerns (or the parents of consumers concerns.)
