The plan to shanghai the Net is working! And it's all in the name of getting you to buy junk or subscribe to services you don't need and don't want, or to do something you don't want to do ---

--- or convince you that you're something you're not.

It's called "vial marketing" and it's been going on for a while. But now it's really picking up steam and shovelling on the coal are the ad and PR companies promoting 'product,' services or campaigns for, and on behalf of, cynical manufacturers, marketeers and corporations with strictly self-interest agendas.

Not only is it effective, it's cheap because YOU, the targetted marks, are paying for it, and one of the latest companies to be trumpeting success used a fake video and GooTube to boost one of its hair products.

"More than 1.8 million viewers have clicked onto the six-minute clip titled Bride Has Massive Hair Wig Out since it was posted Jan. 18 on YouTube," said a caption in The Toronto Star.

And, "The Toronto production agency behind the 'bride wigout' video calls the YouTube film a 'net seed' and says more such ad-related material will soon be appearing," says the CBC.

"You plant your seed on the net, you nurture it, you watch it grow and then, hopefully, you watch it become a phenomenon that everyone's talking about, which is exactly what happened with the wigout video," it has producer Robbie McNamara stating, adding:

"It's the future of advertising, and the future of entertainment in general, to allow the general population to be involved and to be interactive. It's the power of the new age media, where people pick and choose what they watch and what they want their friends to see."

Obviously, if the agencies have their way, people won't be picking or choosing anything vested interests don't want them to see. Because by one means or another, you'll be force-fed advertising bilge on GooTube and the like and pretty soon, you won't know if what you're seeing/hearing is real or just some "smart" ad-scam.

Ask Virgin.

Meanwhile, 22-year-old Jodi Behan, the Canadian actress who starred in the ad, says in her MySpace page:

"... lets get back to the old im finding it nice to strip away all the junk and narrow down to whats most important. if i could talk about shopping. there really isnt that much to buy out there if you have a set of beliefs... you dont go to stores that carry sweat shop products, you dont buy leather and fur, you dont need make up because you learn to love what you have, you prefer to be outside rather than inside a mall, you dont have money to spend anyway, everytime you buy something it weighs you down and limits your freedom to move because 'you cant leave a whole closet full of your belongings' because you think you are nothing without them. sure shopping helps the economy but lets have less children and start trading again and grow our own food and build our own homes and give each other a bit of space'."

Indeed.

. Slashdot it!

Also See:
something you're not - German anti-p2p viral ads, November 8, 2005
The Toronto Star - Is wiggy Bridezilla for real?, January 31, 2007
CBC - YouTube's Bride Wig Out revealed as 'net seed' for ad campaign, February 4, 2007
Ask Virgin - b3ta.com Virgin Money ads, October 31, 2006