The brands which know secrets of viral advertising win people’s hearts. This year, the range of public favorites included know-all Isaiah Mustafa holding a bottle of Old Spice shower gel, a guy in Levi’s jeans who embarked on a trip across America, sport celebrities commissioned by Nike to star in spots about their future and many more. Let’s look back to explore which videos, to our mind, were the most contagious this year.

Frito-Lay, a world-renowned producer known for its commitment to offering natural and healthy products on the snacks and chips market, announced that in the coming 2011, it would produce 50% of its products using all-natural ingredients. The brand confirmed that it would exclude any artificial additives, flavours, ingredients, preservatives, and MSG from the recipes of such products as Lay’s, Tostitos, and SunChips.

Gap launched a new project to deliver more discounts to its fans ahead of Christmas through a holiday-themed ‘race’ of reindeer. For five days, the brand has been inviting its fans to visit the www.projectreindeer.com page and participate in the competition of the North Pole animals for a chance to pay less at the participating Gap stores across the U.S. The idea behind the project is simple: to save a Gap venue, you had to say the name of the winner of the every day’s challenge and get a discount he or she carries. The competition, which has been running December 15-19, is now over. 

In 2010, Pepsi proved that anyone anywhere can motivate and inspire Americans to move the world forward. Since February, all 50 states have participated by voting in the Pepsi Refresh Project. With over 61 million votes cast via www.refresheverything.com, the Pepsi Refresh Project is on track to award more than $20 million in grants to over 400 ideas in 2010.

Ahead of Christmas, Levi’s is launching a competition, which echoes the major theme of the brand’s latest ‘Go forth‘ campaign and is supporting the idea of its latest project dedicated to craft, Levi’s Photo Workshop. The brand teamed up with the Hipstamatic community to kick off the ‘Holidays Captured’ contest, which revolves around sharing the festive spirit and taking hilarious digital stills, which encompass the vintage style of film photography.